Interaction Between Competition and Noise in Timed Task Completion

Environmental Noise May Have a Negative Impact on Human Cognitive Abilities

Environmental noise may have a negative impact on our cognitive abilities. In contrast, competition may attenuate the negative effects of noise on cognitive abilities. Further, noise and competition may interact in their effect on cognitive abilities. In this study, researchers attempted to determine if environmental noise reduced the performance of participants in a visual task. Specifically, participants were asked to locate objects in a picture, and then exposed to noise alone, competition alone, or noise and competition, or no noise or competition. Competition was defined as the presence of a $20 award, while noise was defined as white noise.

Participants were timed in the cognitive task.

There is compelling evidence that noise can alter human cognitive abilities. A recent study published in Psychological Science demonstrates the potentially negative effect of noise on human cognitive processing. The study of 326 children showed that those who were exposed to the noise of jet aircraft flying overhead had impaired reading ability and short-term memory. The authors note that the deleterious effects of noise can be reduced in a quite environment (Hygge, Evans & Bullinger, 2002). Interestingly, Deci, Koestner & Ryan (1999) note that competition may increase motivation and thus performance. This study argues that external competition and noise will interact, affecting the amount of time it may take to complete the visual task.

However, there is also evidence to suggest that there will be no interaction between noise and competition. Deci, Koestner & Ryan (1999) also note that there is significant evidence to suggest that competition often does not increase motivation, and thus can have a negative effect on human motivation. As such, increased competition may have no impact on the effect of noise on cognitive abilities. Further, increased competition may actually decrease the effect of noise on cognitive abilities. One possible explanation for these divergent outcomes is the effect of motivation on cognitive abilities. Deci, Koestner & Ryan (1999) note that increased competition may actually decrease motivation, by increasing personal stress, and creating a self-fulfilling perception within the subject that they may fail at the task at hand. This effect may either cause external competition to negate the effects of noise on the subject's ability to locate objects in a picture, or it may cause external competition to have no effect on the ability of noise to alter a subject's ability to locate objects in the picture.

Within this study, the authors have failed to address the underlying issue of motivation. Clearly, human motivation is a complex process that underlies the very basis of this experimental construct. Motivation is a much-studied process that has yielded many opposing theories, such as drive theory, and arousal theory, but the debate over the precise nature of human motivation remains very much alive (McConnell, 1989). The author could study the effect of motivation on this subject by introducing measures of motivation in conjunction with the existing study.

However, it is clearly possible to study the interaction of noise and competition without a solid analysis of the motivation underlying the experiment. This "black box" approach is well understood and respected within scientific circles, and should still yield valuable and insightful data on the effect of noise and competition on cognitive abilities, and the potential interaction between noise and competition in this situation. As such, this study will attempt to determine if there is an interaction between noise and competition on human cognitive abilities.