EFFECT OF SOUNDS ON COGNITION: A COMPARISON BETWEEN CLASSROOM AND LABORATORY

Research on the impact of environmental quality on cognitive performance is frequently conducted in laboratory settings. However, findings can differ significantly from those obtained in real-world environments. This study compares outcomes from two experiments, involving students aged 11 to 14 years. The former experiment was conducted inside a students’ classroom, while the latter in a laboratory environment. Both experiments investigated the effect of sound stimuli on calculation abilities. Two main effects emerged. First, children performed better in the laboratory probably thanks to a reduction in distractions compared to the regular classroom setting. This was further facilitated by working in smaller groups and by the fact that the laboratory experiment was consistently conducted after the classroom experiment. Secondly, the effects of the sound stimuli depended on the setting, likely due to an interaction with undetected personal characteristics. Overall, the findings show discrepancies between the two settings highlighting the limited ecological validity of the laboratory and illustrating the importance of minimising lab-field differences when investigating this particular age group.