Considerable researches have explored the effects of noise on the cognitive performance of individuals (Klatte, Bergstrom & Lachmann, 2013). Research shows that, indeed, noise has significant effects on the cognitive performance of individuals. Empirical evidence suggests that repeated music can impact the task performance of an individual (Helps et al., 2014). Researchers have also identified music to have effects on both musicians and listeners. The impacts of noise can be grouped into two based on their wave of effects. High music tends to have higher impacts on the cognitive task of a person as compared to moderate music (Gulian & Thomas, 1986). The effect of music is perceived to lead to loss of attention because concentration is shifted towards the music.
In relation to the findings on the effects of music on the cognitive task, research shows that the impacts of music on cognitive tasks rely on the type of music, task, and the individual. This is an implication that despite noise being a distracter, its impacts depend on various interrelated factors. The findings of prior researches confirm the result of the study through different results. The effects of noise on males and females are varied based on various factors (Irgens-Hansen et al., 2015). The two groups have different levels of distractions, forming the basis of future researches.
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Limitations and Future Research
Some possible factors may conflict with the result of this study. Factors such as sample size and inclusivity affect the decision making of research (Tannenbaum, Greaves & Graham, 2016). These factors directly lead to the limitations of general research (Smith & Noble, 2016). The first limitation concerns the population used in the entire study. In comparison with prior researches, this study used a small sample size that may have defined overall results. This is because the experiment only took into account 51 undergraduate students. If the research had used a large sample, the results would probably have been different. It should also be noted that the experiment was done in a lab setting, in an instance including the "no-noise" condition with headphones. This is an implication that there may be conflicting results if the same experiment is done in a different environment. The use of different settings in an experiment may yield variable results (McCambridge, Bruin & Witton, 2012). Thus, the relevance of these results should be interpreted with care when it comes to conditions like the working environment.
Theoretical and Practical Implications
Based on the conflicting views on the effect of music on cognitive performance, the topic forms the basis of future researches. Theoretical implications are significant as they lead to positive outcomes (Dumbach, 2013). There is a need to explore the positive impacts of music on individuals instead of stressing on the negative ones. The results of the research indicate that white noise and crowd noise do not affect the cognitive performance of an individual. Therefore, it is imperative to explore and identify some of the positive impacts of different types of noise on cognitive performance. According to Noyes et al. (2019), the utilization of theoretical and practical implications provides the basis for future researches.
The need to identify how noise can influence positive cognitive task should be approached in an effective way to ensure undisputed results. Practical implications also help in understanding the effects of different factors in research (Kristensen, Nymann & Konradsen, 2015). Summarily, the report does not support the results that noisy conditions have a negative implication on cognitive tasks. Besides, the study does also not find gender to be determinant in the influence of noise on cognitive performance. Thus, the study suggests future research to explore the effects of noise on cognitive performance as a separate subject to come up with outstanding results for different classes of the population.
References
Dumbach M. (2014) Theoretical implications . In: Establishing Corporate Innovation Communities. Markt- und Unternehmensentwicklung / Markets and Organisations. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.
Gulan, E., & Thomas, R. J. (1986). The effects of noise, cognitive set, and gender on mental arithmetic performance. British Journal of Psychology, 77 ; 503- 511.
Helps, S. K., Bamford, S., Sonuga-Barke, E. J., & Söderlund, G. B. (2014). Different effects of adding white noise on cognitive performance of sub-, normal, and super-attentive school children. PloS One, 9 (11), e112768. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0112768.
Irgens-Hansen, K., Gundersen, H., Sunde, E., Baste, V., Harris, A., Bråtveit, M., & Moen, B. E. (2015). Noise exposure and cognitive performance: A study on personnel onboard Royal Norwegian Navy vessels. Noise & Health, 17(78), 320–327. doi:10.4103/1463-1741.165057.
Klatte, M., Bergstrom, K., & Lachmann, T. (2013). Does noise affect learning? A short review of noise effects on cognitive performance in children. Frontiers in Psychology, 4 (578); 1-6.
Kristensen, N., Nymann, C., & Konradsen, H. (2015). Implementing research results in clinical practice- the experiences of healthcare professionals. BMC Health Service Research 16 (48). doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1292-y.
McCambridge, J., de Bruin, M., & Witton, J. (2012). The effects of demand characteristics on research participant behaviors in non-laboratory settings: a systematic review. PloS One, 7 (6), e39116. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0039116.
Noyes, J., Booth A., Moore G., et al. (2019). Synthesizing quantitative and qualitative evidence to inform guidelines on complex interventions: clarifying the purposes, designs, and outlining some methods. BMJ Global Health, 4 (1):e000893.
Smith, J., & Noble, H. (2016). Reviewing the literature. Evidence-Based Nursing, 19 :2-3.
Tannenbaum, C., Greaves, L., & Graham, I. D. (2016). Why sex and gender matter in implementation research. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 16 (1), 145. doi:10.1186/s12874-016-0247-7.
