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Open-plan office noise: Cognitive performance and restoration
University of Gävle, Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development, Department of Building, Energy and Environmental Engineering, Buildning science - applied psychology. (Miljöpsykologi)ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6668-5044
University of Gävle, Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development, Department of Building, Energy and Environmental Engineering, Buildning science - applied psychology. (Miljöpsykologi)ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4298-7459
University of Gävle, Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development, Department of Building, Energy and Environmental Engineering, Buildning science - applied psychology. (Miljöpsykologi)
University of Gävle, Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development, Department of Building, Energy and Environmental Engineering, Buildning science - applied psychology. (Miljöpsykologi)
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2011 (English)In: Journal of Environmental Psychology, ISSN 0272-4944, E-ISSN 1522-9610, Vol. 31, no 4, p. 373-382Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2011. Vol. 31, no 4, p. 373-382
Keywords [en]
working memory; emotion; physiology; open-plan office; stress; biology
National Category
Psychology Biological Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-9850DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2011.07.002ISI: 000296547100012Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-80053614655OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hig-9850DiVA, id: diva2:434794
Part of project
Buller i kontorslandskap - Experiment och interventionsstudier med normalhörande och hörselnedsatta personer, Afa SjukförsäkringsaktiebolagAvailable from: 2011-08-16 Created: 2011-08-15 Last updated: 2022-12-13Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Cognitive Performance and Restoration in Open-Plan Office Noise
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Cognitive Performance and Restoration in Open-Plan Office Noise
2012 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Alternative title[sv]
Kognitiv prestation och återhämtning under buller i kontorslandskap
Abstract [en]

This dissertation presents four experimental studies (in four papers) with the overall aim to investigate the effects of office noise on cognitive performance and restoration. In the first two papers the focus was on the effects of different sound levels (i.e., the mean level from all sound sources at an office, such as speech, phones, people walking) on performance, fatigue and stress. In the last two papers the focus was on the effects of background speech, as this has previously been shown to be the most disturbing noise source in open-plan offices. Paper I demonstrated decreased word memory performance, increased fatigue and motivational deficits when the background sound level increased by 12 dB, from 39 to 51 dB LAeq. Paper II showed that the sound level effects were more pronounced for individuals with a hearing impairment. Unexpectedly, no effects were found of acute noise exposure on the participant´s stress hormone levels (Paper I and Paper II).

          Regarding effects of irrelevant speech, Paper III showed that cognitive performance decreased as a function of background speech intelligibility, the higher the intelligibility depicted by the Speech Transmission Index (STI), the worse the performance. The results indicated that the STI-value must be less than 0.50, to avoid a negative influence on performance. Further, both Paper III and IV showed that performance is more impaired by background speech if the focal task requires episodic memory and rehearsal—such as word memory and information search. Interestingly, some tasks were insensitive for speech.

          The restorative effects of a break were addressed in Paper I and II (i.e., directly after the work sessions in noise). The break period differed in content between the participants. Paper I showed that a break with a nature movie with corresponding sound increased energy ratings compared to just listening to river sounds or office noise. Continued exposure to office noise gave the lowest ratings of motivation after the break. Paper II showed improved arithmetic performance and motivation after the break with a nature movie and decreased performance and motivation after continued noise exposure. For the hearing impaired participants, however, continued noise during the break increased motivation and performance, while the movie did not.

          Taken together, the current thesis demonstrates that open-plan office noise can have a negative impact on fatigue, motivation and performance. How much performance is impaired varies with the cognitive processes required by the tasks performed and hearing status. Moreover, continued noise exposure during a short break can further decrease motivation and subsequent performance.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Luleå: Luleå tekniska universitet, 2012. p. 136
Series
Doctoral thesis / Luleå University of Technology, ISSN 1402-1544
National Category
Applied Psychology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-13312 (URN)978-91-7439-495-5 (ISBN)
Public defence
2012-11-23, Luleå, 11:00 (Swedish)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2012-11-12 Created: 2012-10-28 Last updated: 2022-11-14Bibliographically approved

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Jahncke, HelenaHygge, StaffanHalin, NiklasGreen, Anne Marie

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