Do Urban Soundscapes Influence Visual Attention?

An empirically validated behavioral measure was used to assess whether urban soundscapes have an influence on visual attention. 68 undergraduate students at Ryerson University were recruited for participation. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three exposure conditions, concurrent, prolonged, and brief. Participants in the concurrent condition heard the soundscapes continuously, making a visual judgment while the soundscape played. For each participant, a local bias estimate was determined for each soundscape by subtracting global from local reaction time (RT). Local bias estimates were subjected to a 3-way analysis of variance. A main effect of soundscape is found, which suggests that the influence of the soundscapes assessed is variable. local bias estimates are found to be significantly correlated with subjective variables.