Explanatory Model of Noise in Classrooms and Their Impact on Psychological Attributes

Cesáreo Estrada-Rodríguez (Psychology, UNAM)

The literature indicates the importance of studying classroom acoustics, because noise and other acoustic variables in educational settings have a negative impact in some psychological attributes of the students, and indirectly, they can influence their school performance (Evans, 2006; Sato & Bradley, 2008; Shield & Dockrell, 2004; WHO, 2004). We designed this study with the aim of proving an model for classrooms in Mexico City, to explain the multiple simultaneous relationships of the noise with the psychological attributes for students.

Method. The design of the study tested the independent variables of noise and teacher-student physical distance, integrating the multiple relationships with the seven variables evaluated: annoyance and interruption of communication with the teacher and with classmates, intelligibility of speech, attention, working memory and reading comprehension.

Results. 240 students from two schools participated; there were 55.8% female and 44.2% male. The age was 8 to 13 years. To prove the model, we used the statistical methods of structural equation modeling. The method ML provided adequate indices of goodness of fit: χ2= 23.7, p= 0.36 and RMSEA = 0.01, SRMR = 0.03 and CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.99.

Discussion. We can emphasize for the model of measurement confirms the factorial structure of two latent variables: emotional impact with high factorial loads (.81, .87 and .92) and cognitive impact with acceptable loads (.47 and .54). For the structural model tested, we can underscore the total effects of noise on psychological variables: noise has a positive influence (.14) on emotional impact, noise has a negative influence (-.31) on cognitive impact, and noise has a negative impact on reading comprehension scores (-.25). The direct effects of the model point to a negative relationship (-.44) between emotional and cognitive impacts, combined with the strong positive influence of cognitive impact on reading comprehension (.78).