Traffic Noise at Moderate Levels Affects Cognitive Performance: Do Distance-Induced Temporal Changes Matter?

Müller, Leon; Forssén, Jens; Kropp, Wolfgang

doi:10.3390/ijerph20053798

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 42 publications

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“…Both found that decreases were found in performing both mental and manual activities as the sound levels increased. On the other hand, at noise levels as low as 40 dB, the negative connotation of external road traffic noise can be responsible for the decline in working performance ( Müller et al, 2023 ). This means that less frequent negative events (e.g., cars or motos pass-by and sirens) combined with natural or anthropic sounds may induce a positive emotional state in the individuals without draining attentive sources.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the restorative benefits of work in smart working structures on vacations in small villages

Maffei,

Ciervo,

Marzocchi

et al. 2023

Front. Psychol.

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IntroductionProcesses of redefinition of work, already in place in the pre-pandemic era, with the advent of COVID-19, have become widely required. A “model of work” that uses new technologies and the development of existing ones to improve workers’ performance and satisfaction has emerged. Smart working has changed how people work and, as a result, spaces must also change to support them. The use of prefabricated movable buildings (PMB) could represent an opportunity to create smart (and co-) working spaces in a regenerative contest. Small villages with historical, architectural, and naturalistic elements and slow-life features are potential platforms where vacation and work could merge easily. This paper aims to establish if working in movable offices, like the PMBs, which provide a high level of visual and acoustics interaction with the surroundings, and which is positioned in small villages’ squares, can affect workers’ sense of restoration and working performance.MethodsIn a laboratory setting, in the SENS i-Lab, a videowall and a 3D spatial audio system were used to compare, in terms of restorativeness and self-reported cognitive performance, the effects of a high-rise building context of a City Business District (CBD), i.e. the control scenario, and of two typical squares of small Italian villages with historic buildings, without (HIS) and with water elements (HIS-W).ResultsThe findings of the experimental sessions showed that when working in close contact (visual and auditory) with historical or water elements, where life flows slowly, workers perceived a higher sense of restoration while job performance was unchanged.DiscussionImplementing smart working policies in small villages that encourage the use of energy-efficient prefabricated movable buildings and that offer a high level of visual and acoustic interaction with the surrounding environment may represent a promising strategy to foster the development of the local economy and contrast the depopulation of small villages, improving the worker well-being and the reducing the impact of their activities of the environment.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the restorative benefits of work in smart working structures on vacations in small villages

Maffei,

Ciervo,

Marzocchi

et al. 2023

Front. Psychol.

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Psychological and Physiological Effects of Low-Level Meaningful Artificial Sounds on Intellectual Tasks

Asakura

2023

Acoust Aust

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The present study aimed to investigate the psychological and physiological effects of low-level meaningful artificial sounds on intellectual tasks. The psychological factors related to the degree of disturbance, concentration, and stress, as measured by subjective evaluation, were compared with the degree of physiological stress, as measured using salivary alpha-amylase activity. The results indicated that human speech and chewing sounds caused similar levels of psychological stress while performing intellectual tasks; however, chewing sounds caused comparatively less physiological stress than did human speech sounds. These findings suggest that depending on the sound stimulus, psychological and physiological stress characteristics may not coincide.

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A common chord: to what extent can small urban green space support people and songbirds?

Hayes Hursh,

Perry,

Drake

2024

Journal of Urban Ecology

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Large, vegetatively diverse, and connected green space is often considered essential to conservation. Yet, these criteria can be impractical when applied to densely populated or under-resourced urban areas and evoke mixed sentiments from people. Conventional urban green space is often smaller, minimally vegetated, and contains open mowed areas that are inadequate for many wildlife species and fail to provide opportunities for nature connection in biodiverse environments. As songbirds are well liked and globally distributed, they present an opportunity to rethink urban green spaces, particularly small urban green spaces, that contain landscape qualities where the needs of people and songbirds converge. We conducted a comprehensive search of peer-reviewed publications to examine the natural, structural, and anthropogenic factors associated with songbird richness in small (<2 ha) urban green spaces. Overall, small urban green spaces that incorporated a variety of habitats and native plant species, particularly trees, supported songbird richness. In some cases, songbird richness in small green spaces was equivalent to richness reported in larger green spaces. Interestingly, connectivity between green spaces was not significant in the majority of articles that examined the factor. This outcome removes a possible obstruction to green space allocation and has the potential to jumpstart the placement of green space into historically and perpetually under-resourced communities. Finally, associations with anthropogenic factors had few positive associations with songbird richness, but this category of factors was also reported the least often. Collectively, these results provide feasible options to improve human health, nature connections, and songbird conservation.

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Traffic Noise at Moderate Levels Affects Cognitive Performance: Do Distance-Induced Temporal Changes Matter?

Cited by 3 publications

References 42 publications

Exploring the restorative benefits of work in smart working structures on vacations in small villages

Exploring the restorative benefits of work in smart working structures on vacations in small villages

Psychological and Physiological Effects of Low-Level Meaningful Artificial Sounds on Intellectual Tasks

A common chord: to what extent can small urban green space support people and songbirds?

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