Principle Investigators: apl. Prof. Dr. Maria Klatte; Prof. Dr. Thomas Lachmann

Source of funding: German Research Foundation (DFG)

Project Partners: RWTH Aachen, Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics (Prof. Dr. J. Fels); Work and Engineering Psychology (Prof. Dr. S. Schlittmeier)

Grant amount RPTU: 213.000 €

Funding Period: 36 months

Project Period: 2019 - 2022

Whether and to what extent task-irrelevant background sounds disrupt cognitive performance depends on characteristics of the tasks, the sounds, and the individuals exposed. The interactions of these variables are still unresolved. This project is part of a joint project involving acoustics, cognitive psychology, and developmental psychology, aiming to further elucidate the cognitive mechanisms underlying sound-induced performance decrements, as well as their dependencies on the auditory-perceptive authenticity of the auditory scene in which cognitive performance is assessed. In the experiments, sound and task characteristics are varied systematically, while accounting for potential moderating effects the participants´ cognitive abilities. Specifically, we compare the effects of irrelevant sounds on tasks requiring storage and processing of verbal vs. visuo-spatial information in primary school children and adults. Furthermore, the project examines whether the performance effects observed with basic recording and reproduction techniques (i.e., headphone presentation of mono recordings) are comparable to the effects of plausible acoustic scenarios generated and presented using up-to-date recording and reproduction technology.

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