Helena Jahncke

Helena Jahncke

Helena Jahncke is a researcher and first author of the 2016 paper in Work on headphones, masking sound and distraction by background speech.

Who they are

The work of Helena Jahncke reaches this site through the paper listed below. The name is tied to Sound Masking, Irrelevant Speech Effect. Their paper reports: 30 students, repeated measures: one background voice impaired serial short-term memory; impairment reduced when masked, most with nature sounds; headphones without masking did not affect performance or workload; workload lowest in quiet and higher in all other conditions.

Key papers

Jahncke, H., Björkeholm, P., Marsh, J. E., Odelius, J., & Sörqvist, P. (2016). Office noise: Can headphones and masking sound attenuate distraction by background speech? Work. What it reports: 30 students, repeated measures: one background voice impaired serial short-term memory; impairment reduced when masked, most with nature sounds; headphones without masking did not affect performance or workload; workload lowest in quiet and higher in all other conditions.

Key ideas

Sound Masking: Covering a background voice with another steady sound.

Irrelevant Speech Effect: The disruption of memory and arithmetic tasks by background speech.

Sources

  1. Jahncke, H., Björkeholm, P., Marsh, J. E., Odelius, J., & Sörqvist, P. (2016). Office noise: Can headphones and masking sound attenuate distraction by background speech? Work.