Performance Effects of Noise Intensity, Psychological Set, and Task Type and complexity

Knowledge of the effect of noise on performance is limited and is generally inconclusive. Examination of previous research indicated the need for a systematic and concurrent investigation of the effects of psychological set, type of task, task complexity (single or dual task), and noise intensity. Three states of psychological set were established by telling groups of eight subjects each that noise degrades, facilitates, or has no effect on performance. A control group was told nothing about noise effects. Three intensities of broad-band white noise (55, 70, 85 dBA) were presented over loudspeakers to each subject during the completion of a four-task, adaptive-criterion battery. The only significant main effect of noise was a facilitation of tracking performance. There were several significant interactions of noise with the other independent variables.