Irrelevant speech sound level effects on sustained attention with electrodermal and electroencephalogram monitoring
DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8893391/v1
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Summary
This study investigates how the sound pressure level (SPL) of irrelevant speech affects sustained attention and psychophysiological responses in simulated open-plan office environments. While irrelevant speech is a known distractor, quantitative evidence regarding its dose-dependent effects using objective physiological indicators remains limited. The research aims to determine if increasing speech levels impose measurable physiological costs or cognitive load, even when behavioral performance appears stable. The experiment employed a within-subject design with 24 participants performing the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) under four acoustic conditions: a quiet control (35–40 dB(A)) and irrelevant speech at low (40–45 dB(A)), medium (45–50 dB(A)), and high (50–55 dB(A)) levels. Behavioral performance was assessed via correct rate, reaction capacity, and a composite performance index. Physiological data included electrodermal activity (EDA), specifically skin conductance level (SCL), and prefrontal electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, with valid EEG data retained for 16 participants. Linear mixed-effects models analyzed the main effects of SPL and time-on-task interactions, controlling for individual noise sensitivity. Results indicated no significant main effect of speech level on mean behavioral outcomes, nor did reaction capacity show a significant time-on-task by level interaction. However, physiological responses differed significantly. The relative change in skin conductance level (△SCL) varied across conditions, with the high speech level (50–55 dB(A)) producing significantly greater arousal than the low level (40–45 dB(A)) (p = 0.014, dz = 0.54). While mean EEG task engagement did not differ significantly between sound levels, task engagement increased significantly over time only under the high speech condition (p = 0.002). The time-by-level interaction for EEG engagement approached significance (p = 0.054), suggesting a cumulative engagement demand at higher noise levels. The findings suggest that within common open-plan office sound-level ranges, increasing irrelevant speech levels impose measurable physiological costs and increasing engagement demands, even when sustained attention performance is maintained. This indicates that objective physiological indicators are more sensitive to acoustic disturbances than behavioral metrics alone. The study supports the need for stricter acoustic control of speech levels in open-plan office design and management to mitigate hidden physiological strain on employees.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 4 | 2026-08-10 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-nvidia | summ-v5 | 2 | 2026-08-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 11 | 2026-08-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-08-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-nvidia on 2026-08-10; verification: verified.
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- Empirical Findings: physiological data