The impact of auditory distraction on reading comprehension: An individual differences investigation

Background noise disrupts auditory selective attention and impairs performance on cognitive tasks, but the degree to which it is disruptive depends on the task and the individual. According to the load theory of attention and cognitive control, selective attention is influenced by both the perceptual load and the cognitive load of the primary task. Recent studies suggest that hard-to-read font in a reading task may shield attention against background noise and auditory distraction. The current study examined the disruptive effect of background noise on reading comprehension as a function of perceptual load and cognitive load. Perceptual load was manipulated by introducing task disfluency (hard-to-read or easy-to-read font), and cognitive load was manipulated by varying the type of background noise and investigating individual differences in working memory capacity. The results suggest that high perceptual load and high working memory capacity both facilitate reading comprehension. However, contrary to previous research, neither perceptual load nor capacity moderates the disruptive effect of background noise. These results failed to support the generalizability and applicability of the shield effect of perceptual disfluency against auditory distraction during reading but supported the beneficial effect of perceptual disfluency on reading comprehension.