Irrelevant speech, or background conversations, has been shown to impair cognitive performance and cause physiological stress. Recently published research demonstrated that working during task-irrelevant speech not only increases stress, as measured by heart rate variability, and reduces accuracy but also increases annoyance and perceived workload. Method Thirty participants performed two cognitive tasks (n-back and serial […]
Irrelevant speech
Office noise increases stress hormone levels in blood plasma
Why this study? Valtteri Hongisto stated that there are no previous studies which have investigated the effects of office noise on the stress hormone levels (concentrations in the body) using the most precise and real-time method: i.e. blood sampling. Also a questionnaire was used to evaluate the effect. 100 person participated in the study and […]
How to improve acoustic privacy in open offices with screens
When it comes to designing offices with top-of-the-line acoustics, screens are an invaluable tool. If you are new to the basic principles of acoustic design with screens, this post is for you. Below you will learn how to improve acoustic privacy in open offices with screens. Why use acoustic screens? – The paradox of open […]
Study interview: The effect of absorbers and screens on the decay of speech in offices
What exactly can you expect from different kinds of acoustic treatment? Which types of treatment should be prioritised and how does one treatment affect the other? In this post we interview Dr. Valtteri Hongisto about a unique and comprehensive study that provides new insights into effective acoustic design of offices. Researchers Valtteri Hongisto, Jukka Keränen […]
Irrelevant speech is a risk for your health
In offices, noise control should be a priority as unwanted sound causes stress. Continuously elevated stress levels are a health risk. Turku University of Applied Sciences and University of Turku have conducted the first Finnish medical study on the physiological, psychological, and performance effects of irrelevant speech. Office noise consists primarily of this kind of […]
