In general, it is plausible to suppose that we should prefer peace and quiet to noise. 一般情况下，相对于噪音，人们更喜欢安静的环境，这是合乎常理的。 And yet most of us have had the experience of having to adjust to sleeping in the mountains or the countryside because it was initially ‘too quiet', an experience that suggests that humans are capable of adapting to a wide range of noise levels. 然而，大多数人都有在山上或庭院内睡觉的经历，由于周围环境过于安静，我们不得不进行调整 , 以适应周边环境，从而入睡，这一经历也表明了人类有能力来适应各种不同程度的噪音。 Research supports this view. 相关研究也证明了这一点。 For example, Glass and Singer (1972) exposed people to short bursts of very loud noise and then measured their ability to work out problems and their physiological reactions to the noise. 例如：1972 年，Glass 与 Singer 将一组人放到了短暂的低分贝噪音的环境中，之后对他们解决问题的能力及他们对噪音的生理反应进行了衡量。 The noise was quite disruptive at first, but after about four minutes the subjects were doing just as well on their tasks as control subjects who were not exposed to noise. 起初，噪音的确干扰了实验对象，但是大约四分钟以后，这些人便同没有参加实验的人表现相当了。 Their physiological arousal also declined quickly to the same levels as those of the control subjects. 他们的生理兴奋度也以同样的水平迅速下降。

But there are limits to adaptation and loud noise becomes more troublesome if the person is required to concentrate on more than one task. 同样，对噪音的适应性也存在局限性，如果一个人需要同时在一个或多个任务中集中精力，高分贝的噪音就更加使人烦恼了。 For example, high noise levels interfered with the performance of subjects who were required to monitor three dials at a time, a task not unlike that of an aeroplane pilot or an air-traffic controller (Broadbent, 1957). 例如：高分贝的噪音妨碍了那些需要同时监控 3 个仪表盘的实验对象的表现，这一工作就如同飞行员或空中航行管理人员的工作（Broadbent,。 Similarly, noise did not affect a subject's ability to track a moving line with a steering wheel, but it did interfere with the subject's ability to repeat numbers while tracking (Finkelman and Glass, 1970). 同样，噪音并不影响驾车时实验对象追踪路线的能力，但它的确对实验对象重复数据的能力造成了影响（Finkelman Glass，。

Probably the most significant finding from research on noise is that its predictability is more important than how loud it is. 关于噪音研究的重要发现是：相对于噪音的大小而言，噪音的可预测性显然更为重要。 We are much more able to ‘tune out' chronic background noise, even if it is quite loud, than to work under circumstances with unexpected intrusions of noise. 即使在高分贝的长期噪音条件下，我们也可以对噪音不予理会， 但是，如果在突发性的噪音环境中工作，就会出现不同的情况。 In the Glass and Singer study, in which subjects were exposed to bursts of noise as they worked on a task, some subjects heard loud bursts and others heard soft bursts. 在 Glass 与 Singer 的验中，实验对象们被放置在了有阵阵噪音的工作环境中，然而一些人听到的是强噪音，而另一些人听到的则是相对较弱的噪音。 For some subjects, the bursts were spaced exactly one minute apart (predictable noise); others heard the same amount of noise overall, but the bursts occurred at random intervals ( unpredictable noise). 对于一些实验对象来说，噪音是以一分钟为单位间隔发出的，这可以被称为可预测性噪音；而另一部分实验对象虽然听到了等量的噪音，但噪音是以任意的时间间隔发出的，也就是我们所指的不可预测性噪音。 Subjects reported finding the predictable and unpredictable noise equally annoying, and all subjects performed at about the same level during the noise portion of the experiment. 实验结果显示，两种噪音同样令人感到厌烦，并且在实验过程中两组人的表现也基本一致。 But the different noise conditions had quite different after-effects when the subjects were required to proofread written material under conditions of no noise. 但是当让实验对象在没有噪音的情况下校对他们的书面材料时，产生的结果是完全不同的。 As shown in Table 1 the unpredictable noise produced more errors in the later proofreading task than predictable noise; and soft, unpredictable noise actually produced slightly more errors on this task than the loud, predictable noise. 如表 1 所示，在不可预测噪音存在的情况下会出现更多的错误；在低分贝、不可预测的噪音存在时的犯错率要比高分贝、可预测的噪音存在时的犯错率高。

Apparently, unpredictable noise produces more fatigue than predictable noise, but it takes a while for this fatigue to take its toll on performance. 很显然，相对于可预测的噪音而言，不可预测的噪音会使人更加容易疲劳，但是这种疲劳感是需要通过一小段时间才会表现出来的。

Predictability is not the only variable that reduces or eliminates the negative effects of noise. 噪音的可预测性并不是减少或消除噪音负面影响的唯一因素。 Another is control. 另一重要因素便是对噪音的控制。 If the individual knows that he or she can control the noise, this seems to eliminate both its negative effects at the time and its after-effects. This is true even if the individual never actually exercises his or her option to turn the noise off (Glass and Singer, 1972). 如果人们知道噪音是可控的，那么消除噪音的即时负面影响及其后续影响似乎就会成为可能。即使人们没有真正尝试自己关掉噪音也会有同样的效果（Glass与 Singer，， Just the knowledge that one has control is sufficient. 因为如果人们只要有控制噪音的知识就足够了。

The studies discussed so far exposed people to noise for only short periods and only transient effects were studied. 到目前为止的所有研究范畴仅仅是将人们短暂地暴露在噪音环境中，并且只研究了其短暂的影响。 But the major worry about noisy environments is that living day after day with chronic noise may produce serious, lasting effects. 然而，真正令人担忧的是长期居住在噪音环境中所产生的严重的、持续性的影响。 One study, suggesting that this worry is a realistic one, compared elementary school pupils who attended schools near Los Angeles's busiest airport with students who attended schools in quiet neighbourhoods (Cohen et al., 1980). 在一项调查研究中，我们发现该忧虑的确是存在的。研究人员对在洛杉矶最忙碌的机场周边上学的学生情况与在安静地带上学的学生进行了对比（Cohen et al.,。 It was found that children from the noisy schools had higher blood pressure and were more easily distracted than those who attended the quiet schools. 调查结果显示在嘈杂的学校上学的学生血压相对较高，并且他们极易分散注意力。 Moreover, there was no evidence of adaptability to the noise. 重要的是，并没有证据表明人们对于噪音具有适应性。 In fact, the longer the children had attended the noisy schools, the more distractible they became. 事实是在嘈杂的环境中学习时间越长，学生就会变得更加容易分散注意力。 The effects also seem to be long lasting. 且这种后果显然是会长期存在下去的。 A follow-up study showed that children who were moved to less noisy classrooms still showed greater distractibility one year later than students who had always been in the quiet schools (Cohen et al, 1981). 在接下来进行的一项调查中，即使由嘈杂地带转移至安静环境中学习一年半之后，这些被转移的学生比那些一直在安静地带学习的学生也更加容易分散注意力（Cohen et al.，。 It should be noted that the two groups of children had been carefully matched by the investigators so that they were comparable in age, ethnicity, race, and social class. 需要特别指出的是，这两组学生都是研究人员仔细挑选出来的，他们在年龄、种族、民族和社会阶级上都基本上处于相似的地位。