Effects of low intensity, continuous and intermittent noise on mental performance and writing pressure of children with different intelligence and personality characteristics

Mental performance (learning, reading, multiplication) and writing pressure of 66 ten-year-old school children was studied for 2 hours under three conditions: silence (25 dB; 0 noy), continuous (51dB; 2-25 noy) and intermittent (55-78 dB; 2-25 noy) noise. No statistically significant main effects of noise or interaction between noise and personality characteristics were found. However, children with high intelligence solved more items on a multiplication task in noise than in quiet conditions. The reverse was found for children with low intelligence, who were also more affected on the reading task. The results were discussed in terms of arousal theory.