Peer-reviewed article
The Impact of Noise on Learning in Children and Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis
Gabriela Fretes, Ramón Palau ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This meta-analysis of 21 studies examined how environmental and classroom noise affects learning in elementary and secondary school students. The analysis found that noise has a moderate negative effect on children's cognitive performance, including attention, memory, and comprehension, with particularly strong effects for children aged 6 to 12. The overall effect size was −0.46, meaning noise meaningfully reduces academic and cognitive outcomes. The findings highlight the need to reduce noise in schools to improve student learning.
Key points
- Analysis of 21 studies with 152 effect sizes on noise and student performance
- Overall effect size of −0.46 (95% CI: −0.54 to −0.38) indicating moderate negative impact
- Negative effects were particularly significant in children aged 6 to 12
- Noise impaired multiple cognitive functions: attention, memory, comprehension, and overall academic performance
- High heterogeneity across studies due to variations in noise types and study designs
Limitations
This meta-analysis synthesizes existing studies but does not present new primary data or interventions to reduce noise. It cannot tell us which specific noise-reduction strategies are most effective or how different populations beyond the age ranges studied might be affected.
Abstract
Given the growing body of research on the impact of noise, synthesizing these findings is crucial to gaining a comprehensive understanding of the influence of noise on student performance. This meta-analysis investigates the effects of environmental and classroom noise on learning, with a focus on cognitive and academic performance in elementary and secondary school students. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted on 21 studies comprising 152 effect sizes. Different noise types were analyzed in relation to cognitive functions such as attention, memory, comprehension, and overall academic performance. The Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML) method was used to estimate the overall effect size, resulting in a value of −0.46 (95% CI: −0.54 to −0.38), indicating the moderate negative impact of noise on performance. The negative effects were particularly significant in children aged 6 to 12. Despite high heterogeneity across the studies, likely due to variations in noise types and study designs, model fit measures confirmed the adequacy of the meta-analytic model. These findings underscore the importance of mitigating noise in educational settings to improve students’ cognitive and academic outcomes.