Prediction of work efficiency in early adolescence under the effects of noise

This is a short summary of research on how different stress factors in the work environment (climate, light, noise) affect work performance of early adolescents. Due to the complexity of the measurements, the research consisted of a small sample of male adolescents (N = 20); average age 13.5 years (SD = 0.25). Tasks were used which demanded average work attention from the adolescent boys and in this context applied the basic theory of the "rare" signal detection. The research was performed in an artificially created condition, a "climate chamber," which provided a wide variety of settings for various work conditions. We performed 360 measurements for each effect and all possible interactions. Of all three stress factors in the work environment, only noise was significant (p < .001). Its effect on the elements of work success is predictable on the basis of the introduced model under the defined marginal terms.