Speech, Distraction, and Office Environments (03-19-10)

A team of Finnish researchers has investigated the influence of intelligible speech on cognitive performance.  They tested people in three different conditions, maintaining a constant volume of sound in each, while varying the ratio of intelligible speech to masking sound.  The three conditions measured were equivalent to a private office room with the door closed, a private office room with the door open, and an open office.  Objectively measured performance decreased significantly in the open office type condition, while subjective measures of disturbance increased linearly as the environments became more open, with each increase in amount of intelligible speech resulting in increases in perceived disturbance.  These perceived increases, just like the more objectively measured decreases in performance, can be tied to higher employee stress levels.

M. Haka, A. Haapakangas, J. Keranen, J. Hakala, E. Keskinen, and V. Hongisto.  2009.  “Performance Effects and Subjective Disturbance of Speech in Acoustically Different Office Types – A Laboratory Experiment.”  Indoor Air, vol. 19, pp. 454-467.