Classroom distractions: The effect of foveal and peripheral distractions on learning performance in a classroom environment

Distractions in classroom environments—particularly visual distractions—can significantly impact students’ learning and academic performance. This study examines how foveal and peripheral motion-based distractions (i.e., distractions occurring in the center or edges of one’s visual field, respectively) impact learning. Participants were asked to engage in an online lecture video and take a brief test on its content. The participants were randomly assigned to either a control condition or one of two experimental conditions which included an additional distracting task, either in the center of the screen or at the periphery. The findings suggest that while the distraction itself did not significantly impact learning performance, individual differences in attentional control did predict post-test scores. These results support a growing body of research on the importance of attentional control on learning performance in the classroom and in various other environments.