Metacognition of Auditory Distraction

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Raoul Bell
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 495367142

Distraction is ubiquitous in everyday life. At the same time, we retain a certain degree of control over our learning and working environments. To effectively leverage this control, it is essential to accurately assess the disruptive effects of various sources of distraction. Against this background, the focus of research on auditory distraction is currently shifting: whereas in earlier research it was primarily investigated how distracting sounds directly influence performance, increasing attention is now being given to how people make metacognitive judgments about the distracting effects of these sounds. Following cue-utilization theory, this project serves to systematically investigate the foundations of metacognitive judgments of distraction. According to cue-utilization theory, metacognitive judgments are based on three different types of metacognitive cues, as well as abstract beliefs. Intrinsic cues originate from the stimuli being judged. Existing research robustly indicates that prospective judgments of distraction are influenced by the perceptual fluency of sounds. Building on these findings, we will examine whether other intrinsic cues such as the perceived loudness of sounds also influence prospective and retrospective judgments of distraction. Extrinsic cues lie outside the stimuli being judged. In the context of judgments of distraction, extrinsic cues pertain to characteristics of the tasks being performed, such as whether these tasks require verbal or spatial processing. Memory-based cues arise from the availability of information in memory. For judgments of distraction, the availability of previously ignored sounds in memory may be important. For example, a high availability of such sounds in memory might be interpreted as indicating strong distraction. Abstract beliefs exist independently from the direct perception of specific sounds. One example is the abstract belief that certain forms of classical music positively affect learning. Accordingly, we will also investigate the influence of such abstract beliefs on prospective and retrospective judgments of distraction. Metacognitive judgments may influence decisions regarding learning and working environments. For instance, individuals may configure these environments to avoid sounds they judge as distracting. However, if judgments of distraction are based on invalid cues, resulting in metacognitive illusions, changes made to learning and working environments could negatively impact performance rather than enhance it. This comprehensive examination of metacognitive judgments of distraction is being systematically undertaken within this research project.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Axel Buchner