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Acute effects of noise exposure: an experimental investigation of the effects of noise and task parameters on cognitive vigilance tasks

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Summary

Studies of sustained monitoring of sensory information have shown noise-induced impairments only when the level is above 95 dB. Recent results suggest that tasks involving the monitoring of cognitive information may be vulnerable at lower intensities. This last point was confirmed in the present study which used a dual task. Noise reduced the hitrate on a task involving detection of repeated numbers but had no effect on the average estimate of the relative probabilities of two classes of events. Noise did, however, increase the frequency of very inaccurate estimates. The noise effects were not altered by changes in the priority, difficulty or probability of the two tasks.

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Author notes

  1. Andrew P. Smith

    Present address: MRC Perceptual and Cognitive Performance Unit, Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Sussex, BN1 9QG, Brighton, England

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, 0X1 3UD, South Parks Road, Oxford, England

    Andrew P. Smith

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  1. Andrew P. Smith
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Smith, A.P. Acute effects of noise exposure: an experimental investigation of the effects of noise and task parameters on cognitive vigilance tasks. Int. Arch Occup Environ Heath 60, 307–310 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00378479

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00378479

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