[The effect of different masking noises on psychophysiological tasks]

This paper describes experimental investigations aimed at clarifying the influence of wide-range (white), pulsed and interrupted noise with intensities Lequ 60 and 90 dB (A) on some psychophysiologic characteristics of problem solving. Physiologic indicators were recorded: pulse rate and variance, breathing rate and variance, vascular tone, ets. Psychologic problems to be solved modeled various features of operator activities, including: performing mathematical computations at a given rate; a test involving information processing; a compound option problem offered by Piotkovski's apparatus. Statistical data treatment (t-test of Student and Fisher, and monofactorial dispersion analysis) indicated the masking effect of noise to be more marked in dealing with psychophysiologic problems relating to operative memory. From the physiologic parameters tested, most informative proved to be the changes occurring in peripheral circulation, notably, the rise in vascular tone to peripheral vessels.