Examining the effect of noise types on cognitive skills in young adults

Noise is usually mentioned as any undesirable sound. It has been determined that noise affects cognitive skills, although there are conflicting reports about the influence of noise on cognitive performance in the literature. This study researched the effect of noise types on cognitive skills in 47 young adults aged 18-39 years who have normal hearing and normal general intelligence scores. The participants were first evaluated as audiological. The participants with normal hearing were performed the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices Test. Then, when the participants were brought in the silent cabinet, The Serial Digit Learning Test, Stroop Test, and Verbal Fluency Test, respectively, which were fundamental for the study, were performed in silence, white noise, and speech noise conditions. After the tests, the participants were asked to fill the Speech, Spatial Perception, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ). A statistically significant difference was observed between silence and meaningless speech noise conditions in the Serial Digit Learning Test, in which short-term memory skills are evaluated (p<0.001). No significant difference was found in Stroop performance in all three listening conditions in the Stroop Test, in which executive function performance are evaluated (p<0.001). It was determined that there were statistically significant differences in all conditions between each other in the Verbal Fluency Test in which the ability to recall from long-term memory and verbal fluency was evaluated (p<0.05). It was observed that the Stroop stimulus card correction in the speech noise condition decreased when speech perception and the overall score increased in the SSQ scale (p<0.001). Keywords: White noise, speech noise, young adult, executive functions, verbal fluency, short term memory.