The role of working memory capacity in auditory distraction: a review

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to review the current knowledge on individual differences in susceptibility to the effects of task-irrelevant sound on cognition. The literature indicates that at least two functionally different cognitive mechanisms underlie those differences; one is the efficiency by which people process the order between perceptually discrete sound events and the other is related to working memory capacity. The first mechanism seems to be involved only when disruption is a function of conflicting order processes, whereas the other mechanism is involved in a wider range of phenomena including those when attentional capture and conflicting semantic processes form the basis of disruption. Because of this, noise abatement interventions should first of all be directed towards people with low working memory capacity. Implications for theories of auditory distraction are discussed.