James Szalma

Who they are

The work of James Szalma reaches this site through the paper listed below. The name is tied to Moderate Ambient Noise Effect. Their paper reports: Meta-analysis of 797 effect sizes from 242 studies; effects varied by task type, measure, noise schedule, intensity and exposure duration; continuous and intermittent noise differed; evidence for arousal and masking accounts mixed; overall pattern best fit a maximal adaptability, mental-resource account.

Key papers

Szalma, J. L., & Hancock, P. A. (2011). Noise effects on human performance: A meta-analytic synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 137(4), 682-707. What it reports: Meta-analysis of 797 effect sizes from 242 studies; effects varied by task type, measure, noise schedule, intensity and exposure duration; continuous and intermittent noise differed; evidence for arousal and masking accounts mixed; overall pattern best fit a maximal adaptability, mental-resource account.

Key ideas

Moderate Ambient Noise Effect: Better creative performance at a moderate background noise level than at a low one, reversing at a high one.

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