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CommunicationInterference
Noisepollutioncanhaveaconsiderable
effectoncommunication.Accordingto
BerglundandHassmen(1996),"therecanbe
nodoubtthatnoisecanmaskspeech"(p.
2994).AndasMiller(1979a)pointsout,
evenwhenspeechisaccuratelyunderstood,
backgroundnoisemayresultin"greater
painsonthepartofthetalkerand
listenerthanotherwisewouldbeneeded"
(p.124).
Manyfactorscontributetotheeffectof
noiseoncommunicationinterference.For
example,accordingtoBerglundandHassmen
(1996),noisethathasasimilarfrequency
tospeechwillmaskitbetterthannoiseat
otherfrequencies,especiallyhigher
frequencies,sincelowerfrequencynoiseis
capableofan"upwardspread"(p.2994)
thatisrathereffectiveatmaskingspeech.
Miller(1979a)discussesseveralother
factorsaffectingnoiseinducedspeech
interference.Forexample,communication
thatinvolvesahigherratioofspeech
intensitytonoiseintensityismorelikely
tobeunderstood.Inaddition,speech
contentisalsoimportant,sinceaperson
thatistryingtoconveypersonal
informationislesslikelytoraisehisor
hervoicetocompensateforbackground
noise.Asaresult,personalinformationis
lesslikelytobeunderstood.Thisalso
relatestoanotherinfluencingfactor,
culture,whichgovernshowclosetwopeople
canbetoeachother.Sincetwopeoplewho
areclosetogetherhaveahigherspeechto
noiseintensityratiothantwopeoplewho
arefartherapart,peopleinculturesthat
emphasizepersonalspacearemorelikelyto
encountercommunicationdifficultiesin
noisysituations.
Anotherfactorinfluencingcommunication
interferenceistheageofthepeople
involved.Specifically,becausechildren
havepoorerarticulationskillsthan
adults,"theirlackofvocabularyor
differentconceptsoftherulesoflanguage
mayrenderspeechunintelligiblewhensome
ofthecuesinthespeechstreamarelost"
(Miller,1979a,p.125).Thus,noisy
conditionsaremorelikelytointerfere
withthespeechofchildrenthanwiththat
ofadults.Additionally,theabilityto
understandpartiallymaskedordistorted
speechappearstobegindeterioratingat
aroundtheageof30.Thus,"theolderthe
listener,thelowerthebackgroundnoise
mustbeforpracticalorsatisfactory
communication"(p.125).
Spatialfactorsalsocontributeto
communicationinterference,inthatnoises
thatareproducedinareascontaining
highlyreverberantmaterialsbecomeless
localized,resultingingreater
interferencewithcommunication.Further,
situationalfactorsarealsoimportantin
theirinfluenceonmessagepredictability
andontheavailabilityofnonverbalcues.
Thatis,predictablemessagescanoftenbe
understooddespitehighlynoisy
backgrounds,suchasthesnapcountofan
NFLquarterbackinanoisystadium,whereas
lesspredictablemessagesaremorepoorly
understood,suchasspeechaboutunexpected
situationsthatfiremenencounterduringa
fire.Thoughformsofnonverbal
communicationsuchaslipreadingorbodily
gesturesareoftenutilizedtocompensate
forsuchnoisyenvironments,theseagain
aremoreefficientinconveyingpredictable
information,andmaynotbeveryuseful
regardingunexpectedevents.Further,some
situationsprecludetheuseofsuchforms
ofcommunication,suchassituationsoften
encounteredbyfiremeninwhichtheir
visibilityislimitedduetosmokeandasa
resultlipreadingandgesturingare
useless.(Miller,1979a)
Noisecanobviouslybeveryhazardous,in
thatitcanprecludetheconveyanceof
vitallifesavinginformation.However,it
isthemorebenign,everydayconversation
thatismoreoftenwhatisdisruptedby
noise.Thisisnottosay,though,that
suchdisruptionisnotdamaging.Onthe
contrary,everydayconversationdisruptions
canleadtoincreasedannoyanceandanxiety
(Bragdon,1972),andasresultmay
indirectlycontributetophysiological
complicationssuchasthenonauditory
physiologicaleffectsdiscussedpreviously.
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