The characteristics of noise which does not affect task performance i…

The characteristics of noise which does not affect task performance is :

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 4

The correct answer is Option (4) → Exposure to Information

Noise is any sound that is annoying or irritating and felt to be unpleasant. Three characteristics of noise have been found to determine its effect on task performance: its intensity, predictability and controllability.

Option (1) Intensity — Affects performance (Incorrect). When a task is difficult or needs full concentration, intense noise reduces performance.

Option (2) Predictability — Affects performance (Incorrect). Noise that comes at intervals and in an unpredictable way is more disturbing than noise that is continuously present.

Option (3) Controllability — Affects performance (Incorrect). Noise that a person cannot control reduces performance on a difficult task more than noise that can be switched off or reduced.

Option (4) Exposure to Information — Does not affect performance (Correct). It is not a characteristic of noise at all, and it is not one of the three characteristics that decide noise’s effect on performance.

Note: The section on noise and its effect on task performance was there in the chapter ‘Psychology and Life’ of the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023, and is not there in the NCERT book (2025-26).

NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “Noise … Any sound that is annoying or irritating, and felt to be unpleasant is said to be noise. From common experience it is known that noise, especially for long periods of time, is uncomfortable, and puts people in an unpleasant mood. Exposure to noise for a long period of time may lead to hearing loss. Apart from that, noise has negative effects on mental activity because it reduces concentration. Many of you might have experienced this when you tried to study for your examination, with the neighbours celebrating a marriage with loud music. Three characteristics of noise have been found to determine its effect on task performance, namely, intensity, predictability, and controllability of noise. Systematic research on the effects of noise on human beings shows the following :

When the task being performed is a simple mental task, such as addition of numbers, noise does not affect overall performance, whether it is loud or soft. In such situations, people adapt, or ‘get used’ to noise.
If the task being performed is very interesting, then, too, the presence of noise does not affect performance. This is because the nature of the task helps the individual to pay full attention to the task, and ignore the noise. This may also be one kind of adaptation.
When the noise comes at intervals, and in an unpredictable way, it is experienced as more disturbing than if the noise is continuously present. When the task being performed is difficult, or requires full concentration, then intense, unpredictable, and uncontrollable noise reduces…”