The Effects of Chronic Versus Acute Noise on Child Learning: A Sub-Study Within the RANCH Project

Mark Matheson, Stephen Stansfeld, Staffan Hygge, Charlotte Clark & Mary Haines

The RANCH Project

The RANCH Project, funded by the European Commission, examined the effects of chronic exposure to aircraft and road traffic noise on children’s health and cognitive performance

Cross sectional epidemiological field study of 2844 children aged 9-10 years from 89 schools around three major airports in the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom

Dose-response relationships examined

The RANCH Project

Linear dose-response relationships were found between chronic exposure to aircraft noise and performance on tests of:

• Reading comprehension

• Episodic memory (in terms of correctly recalled information, conceptual recall and recognition)

No effects found with road traffic noise

All testing took place in the normal classroom environment. Acute noise exposure was not controlled.

Aims of sub-study

This sub-study aimed to examine how 10 to 11 year old children’s performance on certain cognitive tests was affected by chronic and acute noise exposure and whether observed effects can be explained by acute noise exposure

Tests examined under acute noise:

– Reading Comprehension

– Information recall

– Conceptual recall

– Recognition

– Prospective memory

Methodology

Sample

• Sub-sample of RANCH field study sample

• 108 children, aged 10-11 years

• Taken from highest and lowest aircraft noise groups

• Excluded: English as additional language, SES

• Therefore slightly different sample from field study

Procedure

• Sound-attenuated laboratory

• Recording of aircraft noise

• Testing in pairs

Mobile testing lab

Scoring and analysis• Tests scored as for field study

• Independent measures ANOVA

• Unadjusted

• Adjusted for age, gender, parental income, IQ

Results

MS F Sig.

Suffolk .036 .000 .982

Suffolk adjusted 40.216 .924 .341

Information 64.321 .845 .360

Information adjusted .467 .011 .919

Conceptual 4.659 1.031 .312

Conceptual adjusted .418 .184 .670

Recognition 8.982 1.937 .167

Recognition adjusted 1.912 .436 .512

Prospective 1.734 .077 .782

Prospective adjusted 26.456 1.184 .281

Conclusions

Exposure to acute noise had no effect on the children’s performance on any of the cognitive performance measures

This supports the interpretation of the RANCH field study data as providing evidence for the negative effects of chronic exposure to aircraft noise on cognitive functioning

Limitations

• Sample size

• Learning effects