A new psychological study has found that everyday sounds of illness, such as coughing and sniffling, may disturb learning more than we realize—by subtly distracting students and impairing their academic performance. The research, published in Evolutionary Psychological Science and reported by PsyPost, reveals that exposure to common pathogen-related sounds during a learning task results in statistically significant declines in test scores, raising questions about classroom environments and the human mind’s sensitivity to signs of disease (psypost.org).
The study’s findings matter for Thai students, teachers, and education policymakers alike, especially in Thailand’s densely populated schools, where classroom distractions are abundant and health awareness is high. In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, Thais have grown increasingly vigilant about illness in public spaces, and this research offers fresh insight into how even mild reminders of sickness can tip the balance of educational success.
Conducted by a team of psychology researchers from the United States, the study assigned 89 undergraduate students—who had never taken a statistics course—to three different groups: one exposed to silence, another to neutral background noises such as jingling keys and a zipping backpack, and a third subjected to sounds of coughing and sniffling. Participants watched a short lecture about statistics, completed a distractor task, and then took a quiz. The coughs and sniffles, played at 70 decibels every 15 seconds, were recorded from a researcher who had influenza B, ensuring realism without actual infection risk.
Those subjected to coughing and sniffling sounds performed measurably worse on their quiz, answering only about 10 out of 20 questions correctly. In comparison, the silent control group averaged nearly 14 correct answers—a sizable 17% difference. Interestingly, performance between the control and the neutral sound groups (who averaged around 12 correct responses) was not statistically different, suggesting that it is not noise in general that is distracting, but specifically illness-related sounds.
The underlying explanation, according to the study’s authors, lies in the “behavioral immune system”—a suite of psychological mechanisms that help people notice and avoid sources of infection. While this system is well-known for triggering disgust or prompting social distancing, past research has shown it can also unconsciously affect perception, memory, and attention. Everyday cues that hint at sickness, such as sneezing or coughing—even when there is no real danger—engage the mind. According to an assistant professor of psychology who led the study, “Our data suggests that people pay greater attention to pathogen-prevalent details—probably as a means of keeping us safe and healthy—and because attention is limited, this enhanced attention toward pathogen-prevalent details may come at the cost of decreased attention toward other things, resulting in lower quiz scores.”
The research team took care to control for the possibility that students simply found the pathogen noises louder or more bothersome, asking participants to rate perceived loudness and distraction for both the neutral and coughing sounds. The ratings were virtually indistinguishable. As the lead author explained to PsyPost, “Participants did not perceive the pathogen-prevalent sounds as being louder or more distracting than the neutral sounds. This means the participants were probably not consciously aware of the distracting effects that these sounds produced.”
This discovery supports existing scientific theories about cognitive load—the idea that the brain’s working memory has limited capacity for processing information. When forced to divide attention between learning and subconscious monitoring for disease threats, learning suffers. In evolutionary terms, those able to quickly respond to signs of illness had higher survival odds—yet in today’s classrooms and workplaces, such vigilance may come at a cost to our educational or occupational performance.
For Thailand, where classroom size, air conditioning, and mask-wearing practices vary greatly from region to region, the implications are significant. During the cold and flu season, or during lingering outbreaks of respiratory diseases, teachers may unwittingly create more challenging environments for students simply through the unavoidable sounds of illness. In rural areas, where windows may remain open and group learning is common, and in urban schools where classrooms often teem with dozens of students, exposure to coughing or sneezing can be hard to control. The risks of such distraction may be greatest in settings where ventilation is poor and illness is common, precisely the environments that concern Thai families.
Historically, Thai classrooms—like many around the world—have been places where polite students try to “wai” politely while stifling coughs or sneezes, and where cultural norms sometimes discourage the open acknowledgment of discomfort. During the Covid-19 pandemic, mask mandates and increased health protocols temporarily reduced the volume of such distracting sounds, but as life has returned to normal, the familiar soundtrack of coughing and sniffling has returned as well.
Besides the immediate implications for academic performance, these findings could also shape how Thai parents and teachers think about classroom health. While existing interventions—such as frequent handwashing campaigns and mask-wearing during outbreaks—have proven useful in reducing infection, it may be time to consider soundscape management as part of classroom hygiene. Increased efforts to separate sick students, encourage self-quarantine, improve ventilation to dilute airborne pathogens, and perhaps even explore noise-cancelling technologies or white noise machines could help shield students from these involuntary distractions.
Looking ahead, the study’s authors acknowledge some limitations. The experiment was conducted in controlled, one-on-one settings rather than real-world, multi-student classrooms. The lead researcher noted, “We hypothesize that this effect will be stronger in classroom settings, but our experimental method does not allow us to know that.” A follow-up study aiming to replicate the findings in actual classrooms is being considered, though it presents challenges due to the many variables involved—from individual student immune responses to group social dynamics.
This body of research raises further questions for Thailand and the region. How can education authorities revise classroom layouts, ventilation, or health screening policies to minimize both the spread and the cognitive distraction of illness? Could emerging technologies, such as classroom air quality monitors or acoustic engineering, play a new role in safeguarding Thai students’ learning outcomes? As Thailand’s Ministry of Education continues to innovate on online and hybrid learning models, the issue of home distractions—including illness-related sounds—demands attention as well, especially since many Thai families live in multi-generational homes where managing background noise is difficult.
For now, Thai educators and policymakers should be aware that even “normal” background noises—harmless coughs and sniffles—can quite literally erode learning, especially when preparing students for demanding academic tasks like the university entrance exams or national standardized tests. Parents can help by keeping sick children at home when possible, and teachers can promote a classroom culture where students do not feel embarrassed to wear masks or ask to step outside if unwell.
Thais have a strong cultural tradition of looking out for one another’s wellbeing, and this includes being attentive to the subtle ways in which we affect others, including in shared learning spaces. With greater awareness, small changes in classroom health practices and design could help ensure that the only thing students catch in school is knowledge—not germs or distraction.
For further exploration of the scientific basis for these findings, see the published study in Evolutionary Psychological Science (link).