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Auditory Distraction (auditory + distraction)
Selected AbstractsDisentangling effects of auditory distraction and of stimulus-response sequencePSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Urte Roeber Abstract When we pay attention to one task, irrelevant changes may interfere. The effect of changes on behavioral and electrophysiological responses has been studied in two separate research fields: Research on Distraction states that a rare irrelevant change takes attention away from the primary task. Research on Sequences states that any change in stimulus or response incurs a cost or benefit depending on the kind of change. To disentangle distraction from sequence effects, we made task-irrelevant changes rare in one condition and frequent in another while also assessing stimulus and response changes from trial to trial. Participants used key presses to classify syllables presented in two different, irrelevant voice pitches. We found that distraction and sequence interacted to alter reaction times and errors on the primary task and also to alter ERP markers of distraction (P3a). The sequential effects cannot, however, fully account for distraction. [source] Do realistic reverberation levels reduce auditory distraction?APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2007Nick Perham Acoustically treated ceilings and wall panels can be used as part of a strategy to reduce the impact of background sound on the health and performance of employees by decreasing the reverberation times of the office noise. In this article we examine the impact of two reverberation times upon task performance. A cognitive task known to be a sensitive index of auditory distraction (serial recall) was used to assess the degree of distraction associated with two types of ceiling: a hard ceiling, such as plasterboard, and a soft ceiling, such as an acoustically treated ceiling. Office noise (in the range 65,75,dB (A)) was found generally to be disruptive relative to a quiet control condition but there was no difference in performance with regard to the ceiling types. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Finding a safe place to cross the road: the effect of distractors and the role of attention in children's identification of safe and dangerous road-crossing sitesINFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2007Z. Tabibi Abstract Negotiating traffic requires the ability to focus attention on the traffic environment and ignore distracting stimuli. The aims of this study were (1) to examine the effect of distractors on children's ability to identify safe and dangerous road-crossing sites and (2) to examine the relationship between identification of safe/dangerous sites and attention (selective attention, attention switching, sustained attention and divided attention). Participants were 88 children (aged between 6 and 11 years) and 29 adults. Ability to identify safe and dangerous road-crossing sites was assessed using computer presentations of sites with and without visual and auditory distractions. Measures of attention were examined using the Test of Everyday Attention (child and adult versions). The ability to identify safe and dangerous road-crossing sites and performance on the attention tests were found to improve with increasing age. Correct identification of safe/dangerous road-crossing sites was related to selective attention and divided attention for children but not for adults. Road safety training should take into account the development of these skills. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||