Pieper Kerstin, Spang Robert P, Prietz Pablo, Möller Sebastian, Paajanen Erkki, Vaalgamaa Markus, Voigt-Antons Jan-Niklas
Quality and Usability Lab, Institute of Software Engineering and Theoretical Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Berlin Institute of Technology, Berlin, Germany.
German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, Berlin, Germany.
Front Neurosci. 2021 Nov 1;15:771533. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.771533. eCollection 2021.
As working and learning environments become open and flexible, people are also potentially surrounded by ambient noise, which causes an increase in mental workload. The present study uses electroencephalogram (EEG) and subjective measures to investigate if noise-canceling technologies can fade out external distractions and free up mental resources. Therefore, participants had to solve spoken arithmetic tasks that were read out via headphones in three sound environments: a quiet environment (), a noisy environment (), and a noisy environment but with active noise-canceling headphones (). Our results of brain activity partially confirm an assumed lower mental load in and compared to test condition. The mean P300 activation at Cz resulted in a significant differentiation between the and the other two test conditions. Subjective data indicate an improved situation for the participants when using the noise-canceling technology compared to "normal" headphones but shows no significant discrimination. The present results provide a foundation for further investigations into the relationship between noise-canceling technology and mental workload. Additionally, we give recommendations for an adaptation of the test design for future studies.
随着工作和学习环境变得开放和灵活，人们也可能会受到周围环境噪音的影响，这会导致心理负荷增加。本研究使用脑电图（EEG）和主观测量方法来调查降噪技术是否能够消除外部干扰并释放心理资源。因此，参与者必须在三种声音环境中通过耳机解决口头算术任务：安静环境（）、嘈杂环境（）以及嘈杂环境但使用主动降噪耳机（）。我们的大脑活动结果部分证实了与测试条件相比，在和条件下心理负荷较低的假设。在 Cz 处的平均 P300 激活在和其他两个测试条件之间产生了显著差异。主观数据表明，与“普通”耳机相比，参与者使用降噪技术时情况有所改善，但没有显著差异。目前的结果为进一步研究降噪技术与心理负荷之间的关系奠定了基础。此外，我们为未来研究的测试设计调整提供了建议。
