CommunicationInterference

Noisepollutioncanhavea
considerableeffectoncommunication.
AccordingtoBerglundandHassmen
(1996),"therecanbenodoubtthat
noisecanmaskspeech"(p.2994).And
asMiller(1979a)pointsout,even
whenspeechisaccuratelyunderstood,
backgroundnoisemayresultin
"greaterpainsonthepartofthe
talkerandlistenerthanotherwise
wouldbeneeded"(p.124).
Manyfactorscontributetotheeffect
ofnoiseoncommunication
interference.Forexample,according
toBerglundandHassmen(1996),noise
thathasasimilarfrequencytospeech
willmaskitbetterthannoiseat
otherfrequencies,especiallyhigher
frequencies,sincelowerfrequency
noiseiscapableofan"upwardspread"
(p.2994)thatisrathereffectiveat
maskingspeech.
Miller(1979a)discussesseveralother
factorsaffectingnoiseinducedspeech
interference.Forexample,
communicationthatinvolvesahigher
ratioofspeechintensitytonoise
intensityismorelikelytobe

understood.Inaddition,speech
contentisalsoimportant,sincea
personthatistryingtoconvey
personalinformationislesslikelyto
raisehisorhervoicetocompensate
forbackgroundnoise.Asaresult,
personalinformationislesslikelyto
beunderstood.Thisalsorelatesto
anotherinfluencingfactor,culture,
whichgovernshowclosetwopeoplecan
betoeachother.Sincetwopeoplewho
areclosetogetherhaveahigher
speechtonoiseintensityratiothan
twopeoplewhoarefartherapart,
peopleinculturesthatemphasize
personalspacearemorelikelyto
encountercommunicationdifficulties
innoisysituations.
Anotherfactorinfluencing
communicationinterferenceistheage
ofthepeopleinvolved.Specifically,
becausechildrenhavepoorer
articulationskillsthanadults,
"theirlackofvocabularyordifferent
conceptsoftherulesoflanguagemay
renderspeechunintelligiblewhensome
ofthecuesinthespeechstreamare
lost"(Miller,1979a,p.125).Thus,
noisyconditionsaremorelikelyto
interferewiththespeechofchildren
thanwiththatofadults.

Additionally,theabilityto
understandpartiallymaskedor
distortedspeechappearstobegin
deterioratingataroundtheageof30.
Thus,"theolderthelistener,the
lowerthebackgroundnoisemustbefor
practicalorsatisfactory
communication"(p.125).
Spatialfactorsalsocontributeto
communicationinterference,inthat
noisesthatareproducedinareas
containinghighlyreverberant
materialsbecomelesslocalized,
resultingingreaterinterferencewith
communication.Further,situational
factorsarealsoimportantintheir
influenceonmessagepredictability
andontheavailabilityofnonverbal
cues.Thatis,predictablemessages
canoftenbeunderstooddespitehighly
noisybackgrounds,suchasthesnap
countofanNFLquarterbackinanoisy
stadium,whereaslesspredictable
messagesaremorepoorlyunderstood,
suchasspeechaboutunexpected
situationsthatfiremenencounter
duringafire.Thoughformsofnon
verbalcommunicationsuchaslip
readingorbodilygesturesareoften
utilizedtocompensateforsuchnoisy
environments,theseagainaremore

efficientinconveyingpredictable
information,andmaynotbevery
usefulregardingunexpectedevents.
Further,somesituationsprecludethe
useofsuchformsofcommunication,
suchassituationsoftenencountered
byfiremeninwhichtheirvisibility
islimitedduetosmokeandasa
resultlipreadingandgesturingare
useless.(Miller,1979a)
Noisecanobviouslybeveryhazardous,
inthatitcanprecludetheconveyance
ofvitallifesavinginformation.
However,itisthemorebenign,
everydayconversationthatismore
oftenwhatisdisruptedbynoise.This
isnottosay,though,thatsuch
disruptionisnotdamaging.Onthe
contrary,everydayconversation
disruptionscanleadtoincreased
annoyanceandanxiety(Bragdon,1972),
andasresultmayindirectly
contributetophysiological
complicationssuchasthenonauditory
physiologicaleffectsdiscussed
previously.
OntoOtherEffects
BacktoAnnoyance
ReturntoNoisePollutionEffects
ReturntoNoisePollutionMainPage