You Cannot Ignore It: Attention to ‘Irrelevant’ Sound during a Pre-exposure Period Does Not Reduce its Disruption of Serial Recall

Abstract

The deleterious effects of background sound on performance are documented in both the applied and auditory distraction literature (e.g., Perham, Banbury & Jones, 2007a, 2007b). However, debate surrounds whether background sound can be habituated to through pre-exposure. Potential support comes from the attentional capture account where irrelevant sound captures attention through an orienting response (OR) and habituation of this reduces auditory distraction (Cowan, 1995). However, there is a difference between the original conception of the OR and that proposed by Cowan: the former required attention to stimuli whereas the latter required inattention (Jones, Macken, & Mosdell, 1997). This conceptual difference was tested using pre- and post-exposure serial recall performance under quiet, matched (attention to same sound during exposure and serial recall) and mismatched (attention to alternative sound during exposure and serial recall) conditions. The lack of difference between conditions suggests that attending to irrelevant sound does not reduce auditory distraction.