Effects of Chinese high-speed train compartment noise and speech on task performance

Passengers of high-speed trains might be exposed to relatively high sound levels, compared to those inside conventional trains. In particular, sound levels inside Chinese high-speed train compartments may reach values as high as 80 dBA. Because traveling times are usually substantial in China, a wider variety of social activities occurrs inside the trains and more noise related problems for passengers can be expected. The main goal of the laboratory experiment described in this paper is to find out how the noise inside Chinese high-speed train compartments, caused by the train as well as by other passengers chatting, affects task performance. While being exposed to a combination of high-speed train noise and speech, Chinese as well as Dutch speaking participants were asked to perform a series of calculation and verbal memory tasks as quickly and as accurately as possible. Results show that (i) task duration and accuracy are independent variables for both tasks; (ii) the mother tongue of the participants has a significant moderating effect on task duration, but not on accuracy; (iii) the level and type of high-speed train noise does not have a significant influence on task performance; and (iv) the level of the interfering speech sound has a significant influence on the accuracy for the calculation task, but not for the verbal memory task.