Dataser for "Effects of irrelevant speech on cognitive and behavioural outcomes in open-plan offices"

This dataset accompanies the study "Irrelevant speech sound level effects on sustained attention in an open-plan office." Twenty-four postgraduate students (12 male, 12 female) performed a Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) in a simulated open-plan office under four within-subject conditions of irrelevant speech sound pressure level (SPL): quiet control (35–40 dB(A)), low (40–45 dB(A)), medium (45–50 dB(A)), and high (50–55 dB(A)). The presentation order of the four conditions was completely counterbalanced across participants, with all 24 possible orders each used exactly once. Electrodermal activity (EDA) and electroencephalogram (EEG) were recorded simultaneously. EDA was retained for all 24 participants; after excluding participants whose prefrontal EEG showed signal-continuity failure (transient sensor disconnection or intermittent dropout), 16 valid EEG datasets were retained. This version contains measured and recorded data only; computed analysis products reported in the article, such as the estimated speech transmission index, statistical power, and model statistics, are not included. The file openplan_irrelevant_speech_data.xlsx contains eight sheets. The participants sheet provides one row per participant, giving gender, the Weinstein Noise Sensitivity Scale score, whether the participant's EEG passed quality control, and the reason where excluded. The presentation_order sheet gives the SPL condition presented in each of the four blocks per participant, documenting the complete counterbalancing of condition order. The aggregated_behavior_eda sheet provides condition-level behavioural and EDA data for all 24 participants, including reaction capacity (Cr), correct rate (Rc), overall performance (P = Rc × Cr), and the relative change in skin conductance level (dSCL) computed against the session-start baseline. The time_series_behavior sheet provides the same behavioural metrics binned into 20-second intervals across the task. The aggregated_eeg sheet provides condition-level EEG task engagement (TE), defined as the ratio of beta power to the sum of alpha and theta power at prefrontal electrodes (AF7, AF8, FP1, and FP2), for the 16 valid participants. The time_series_eeg sheet provides the same TE index in 20-second bins. The resting_scl sheet provides the resting skin conductance level (in microsiemens, as the last-60-second tonic mean) at the session-start baseline and the three inter-block yoga-music rest periods, against which session drift can be assessed. The readme sheet repeats this information as an in-file data dictionary.