Behavioral effects of a noisy environment: Task involvement versus passive exposure.

Compared the effects of noise under active task involvement as opposed to passive exposure, using 80 undergraduate Ss who were assigned to 1 of 4 conditions representing 2 * 2 combinations of task vs no task and noise vs quiet. Performance on a dial-monitoring task was unaffected by noise. Ratings of interest and tenseness were significantly higher under the task condition; tenseness was also higher under noise. On a posttest of resistance to frustration, both noise groups, regardless of task condition, showed a smaller degree of persistence on insoluble puzzles than the no-noise groups. Results suggest that aftereffects of noise are not dependent on the power of noise to disrupt task performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)