Noise in the environment: A social perspective

Abstract This is a review of findings relating to the social effects of loud noise. Evidence is drawn from four areas of research: noise annoyance, mental health, social behaviour and performance. It is suggested that noise may bring about strategic changes in behaviour by masking speech and acoustic variation and by its action as a stressor. Based on a range of evidence from laboratory and naturalistic settings three factors are isolated which form a basis for a comprehensive theory of the social effects of noise: (a) social interaction is disrupted by the masking of sounds; (b) the weighting of interpersonal judgements is changed; and (c) noisy settings are perceived as aversive, which governs the utility of social engagement.

[1]  Peter M. Forster,et al.  Noise and attentional selectivity: A reproducible phenomenon? , 1978 .

[2]  D Broadbent,et al.  Side-effects of interference with speech by noise. , 1979, Ergonomics.

[3]  Richard C. Atkinson,et al.  Human Memory: A Proposed System and its Control Processes , 1968, Psychology of Learning and Motivation.

[4]  A. Gale,et al.  “Stimulus hunger”: Individual differences in operant strategy in a button-pressing task , 1969 .

[5]  Patrick Rabbitt.  Recognition: Memory for words correctly heard in noise , 1966 .

[6]  Donald E. Broadbent,et al.  Decision and stress , 1971 .

[7]  Jerry V. Tobias,et al.  Reception of distorted speech. , 1973 .

[8]  G. R. J. Hockey.  Effect of Loud Noise on Attentional Selectivity , 1970 .

[9]  G. R. J. Hockey,et al.  Effects of noise on human efficiency and some individual differences , 1972 .

[10]  M. E. Bryan,et al.  Noise annoyance susceptibility , 1972 .

[11]  R. Page,et al.  Noise and Helping Behavior , 1977 .

[12]  Neil D. Weinstein,et al.  Human Evaluations of Environmental Noise , 1976 .

[13]  G. R. J. Hockey,et al.  THE EFFECTS OF NOISE AND DOUBLING THE SIGNAL FREQUENCY ON INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN VISUAL VIGILANCE PERFORMANCE , 1966 .

[14]  N. Weinstein.  Individual differences in reactions to noise: a longitudinal study in a college dormitory. , 1978, The Journal of applied psychology.

[15]  A. M. Martin,et al.  An investigation of the effects of hearing protectors on vocal communication in noise , 1975 .

[16]  R. D. Edsell.  Noise and Social Interaction as Simultaneous Stressors , 1976 .

[17]  A. Tarnopolsky,et al.  Comparison of three studies of aircraft noise and psychiatric hospital admissions conducted in the same area , 1979, Psychological Medicine.

[18]  A. Rapoport.  Culture and the subjective effects of stress , 1978 .

[19]  Donald Appleyard,et al.  ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY OF CITY STREETS: THE RESIDENTS' VIEWPOINT , 1972 .

[20]  Claude M. Steele,et al.  Environmental distraction and interpersonal judgements , 1980 .

[21]  P. Rabbitt,et al.  Channel-Capacity, Intelligibility and Immediate Memory , 1968, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[22]  F. J. Langdon.  Noise nuisance caused by road traffic in residential areas: Part III , 1976 .

[23]  Martin Meissner,et al.  The Long Arm of the Job: A Study of Work and Leisure , 1971 .

[24]  M. Loeb,et al.  Noise exposure, monitoring and tracking performance as a function of signal bias and task priority. , 1978, Ergonomics.

[25]  R. Hockey,et al.  Changes in information-selection patterns in multisource monitoring as a function of induced arousal shifts. , 1973, Journal of experimental psychology.

[26]  B. Dohrenwend.  Social stress and community psychology , 1978, American journal of community psychology.

[27]  S. Milgram.  The experience of living in cities. , 1970, Science.

[28]  B. Hay,et al.  Occupational noise exposure—The laws in the EEC, Sweden, Norway, Australia, Canada and the USA , 1975 .

[29]  P. Suedfeld,et al.  Human responses to highway noise. , 1973, Environmental research.

[30]  G. R. J. Hockey.  Signal Probability and Spatial Location as Possible Bases for Increased Selectivity in Noise , 1970 .

[31]  S. L. Smith,et al.  Extraversion and sensory threshold. , 1968, Psychophysiology.

[32]  I. Abey-Wickrama,et al.  Mental-hospital admissions and aircraft noise. , 1969, Lancet.

[33]  D. Broadbent.  Perception and communication , 1958 .

[34]  C. Korte,et al.  Helpfulness in Dutch society as a function of urbanization and environmental input level. , 1975 .

[35]  M. Orne.  On the social psychology of the psychological experiment: With particular reference to demand characteristics and their implications. , 1962 .

[36]  W. Tempest,et al.  Are our noise laws adequate , 1973 .

[37]  K. E. Mathews,et al.  ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE LEVEL AS A DETERMINANT OF HELPING BEHAVIOR , 1975 .

[38]  S. F. Davis,et al.  The acqusition and extinction of instrumentally conditioned approach behavior in the tiger salamander (ambystoma tigrinum) , 1967 .

[39]  M Gregory,et al.  Effects of Noise and of Signal Rate upon Vigilance Analysed by Means of Decision Theory , 1965, Human factors.

[40]  J. Singer,et al.  Apartment noise, auditory discrimination, and reading ability in children. , 1973 .

[41]  D. Kahneman,et al.  Attention and Effort , 1973 .

[42]  C. Korte,et al.  Traffic Noise, Environmental Awareness, and Pedestrian Behavior , 1980 .

[43]  Earl D. Schubert,et al.  Addition to Cherry's Findings on Switching Speech between the Two Ears , 1955 .

[44]  D. Broadbent,et al.  VIGILANCE CONSIDERED AS A STATISTICAL DECISION. , 1963, British journal of psychology.

[45]  R. Wiggins,et al.  The effect of aircraft noise on the mental health of a community sample: a pilot study , 1978, Psychological Medicine.

[46]  Shirlynn Spacapan,et al.  The aftereffects of stress: An attentional interpretation , 1978 .

[47]  Donald Appleyard,et al.  ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY OF CITY STREETS: THE RESIDENTS' VIEWPOINT , 1971 .

[48]  D. E. Broadbent,et al.  Effects of Noise Reduction in a Work Situation. , 1960 .

[49]  Donald E. Broadbent,et al.  The current state of noise research: Reply to Poulton. , 1978 .

[50]  Scott C. Hayward,et al.  Effects of Urban Noise and Sidewalk Density upon Pedestrian Cooperation and Tempo , 1978 .

[51]  K D KRYTER,et al.  The effects of noise on man. , 1959 .

[52]  Attentional selectivity and the problems of replication: A reply to Forster & Grierson , 1978 .

[53]  I. D. Griffiths,et al.  Individual differences in sensitivity to traffic noise: An empirical study , 1977 .

[54]  C. Elliott.  Noise tolerance and extraversion in children. , 1971, British journal of psychology.

[55]  P. Solomon,et al.  The tolerance for pain and for sensory deprivation. , 1960, The American journal of psychology.

[56]  G. R. J. Hockey,et al.  Varied auditory stimulation, temperament differences and vigilance performance. , 1969, British journal of psychology.