Gheller and colleagues evaluated how various soundscapes influence learning. They determined via a literature review that “speech noise significantly impairs children’s verbal working memory. Meanwhile, non-speech environmental noise appears to notably affect academic performance, particularly in reading. Other types of non-speech noise may, instead, even improve the cognitive performance of children, although only for children with low attentional skills.”
Flavia Gheller, Gaia Spicciarelli, Pietro Scimemi, and Barbara Arfe. “The Effects of Noise on Children’s Cognitive Performance: A Systematic Review.” Environment and Behavior, in press, https://doi.org/10.1177/00139165241245823