The effects of background noise of moderate intensity on short-term storage and processing of verbal information were analyzed in 6 to 8 year old children. In line with adult studies on "irrelevant sound effect" (ISE), serial recall of visually presented digits was severely disrupted by background speech that the children did not understand. Train noises of equal Intensity however, had no effect. Similar results were demonstrated with tasks requiring storage and processing of heard information. Memory for nonwords, execution of oral instructions and categorizing speech sounds were significantly disrupted by irrelevant speech. The affected functions play a fundamental role in the acquisition of spoken and written language. Implications concerning current models of the ISE and the acoustic conditions in schools and kindergardens are discussed.
Emotional expression of four levels of six kinds of sound (aircraft noise, train noise, road traffic noise, speech, music and construction noise) was examined using the method of selected description in five countries-Japan, Sweden, West Germany, China and the U.S. Subject were asked to select the adjectives which they thought appropriate for expressing the impression of each sound. Using the method of selected description, the differences and similarities between sound sources and use of adjectives were expressed more clearly than when conventional semantic differential was used. On the basis of the adjectives selected and cluster analysis, it was found for sounds used in this experi mentthat "loud" in Japan, Sweden and China has neutral connotations while "loud" in Germany and the U.S. has negative connotations. It was also suggested that "noisy" and "annoying" are not differentiated in Japan, while in the other four countries these two adjectives are differentially used.
Cross-cultural surveys on neighborhood noise problems were conducted in Japan, Germany and England in 1980 and 1983. The main findings are as follows : (1) Some differences were found between Japan and Germany in sounds which residents were aware of or annoyed by. (2) In both countries the use of loudspeakers was accepted for conveying information necessary to the respondents. (3) German respondents seemed to find it more difficult to become habituated to noise, and to be less tolerant of being annoyed by noise from neighbors. (4) When annoyed by noise from neighbors, German respondents tended to take more direct actions. They also chose more direct countermeasures against noise. (5) In the opinions concerning neighborhood noise problems, Japanese. respondents had more critical attitudes. (6) The affective meanings of some terms related to noise (e.g. "loudness" and "noise") were different in different languages. The differences found in these surveys seem to derive from the cultural backgrounds of the countries.
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