Subjective experiment for the effect of road traffic noise on productivity

A subjective experiment was conducted to examine the influence of road traffic noise on productivity. Multiplication task or short-term memorization task were assigned to thirty-two subjects in the indoor environment with only background noise (L_Aeq32dB) or with recorded road traffic noise (L_Aeq70dB). As a result, subjects evaluated the environment with road traffic noise as significantly unacceptable and discomfort compared to the environment with only background noise. From the correlation analysis, subjects who reported higher acceptability on the indoor environment tended to be less tired and were able to maintain higher concentration on task. The evaluation of indoor environment by occupants can be related to their state at work.