Worsened multitasking performance with simulated hearing protection correlates with individuals’ choice not to “wear” it

Introduction Workers’ reasons for not wearing hearing protection devices (HPDs) largely come from performance issues that occur while wearing. Research has shown that such complaints are justified in regard to auditory situational awareness (e.g., speech comprehension), but other aspects of work performance (e.g., multitasking ability) are rarely characterized. Further, the relationship between HPD-related performance worsening and the choice to wear an HPD has not been objectively characterized. We address both gaps in the literature here. Methods Participants were presented with moving objects on a computer screen and tasked to track a “target” object by hovering a cursor over it. Target objects where identified by auditory commands sourced from the Coordinate Response Measure (CRM) corpus sentences of the form: “ Ready < call sign > go to < color > < number > now ”. The color/number pair indicated the target (e.g., blue four = blue square on screen). CRM sentences were masked by background environmental noise, with sounds either left unaltered or digitally filtered to simulate HPD wearing. After completing 8 blocks alternating between no HPD and HPD conditions, participants were given the option to choose whether or not to “wear” the simulated HPD in an additional block that could earn them bonus pay for their participation. They were then queried as to how much pay they would need to make the opposite choice (e.g., to choose to wear the HPD if they initially chose not to wear it). Results The results show that wearing an HPD can have a significant negative impact on aspects of job performance that include auditory situational awareness (reflected in detecting and tracking the correct target objects) and sensorimotor tracking ability (reflected in how tightly they tracked moving targets). Also, clear preference to listen in the no HPD condition was seen when payment depended on performance. Discussion We believe that performance problems associated with HPD wearing (both auditory and non-auditory) should be addressed if real workplace change in HPD use rates is to occur.