CoEN (Cognitive Effort in Noise) App: a serious game application for the assessment of children’s ability to focus in noisy environments

Children spend most of their time in schools. Unfortunately, classrooms do not always provide an optimal acoustic environment for learning, due to the presence of noise (whether external or internal) and reverberation. It has been widely demonstrated that noise has negative consequences on children’s learning (on reading and math) and cognition (on attention and working memory). CoEN (Cognitive Effort in Noise) is an App developed to easily assess children’s executive functions when exposed to noisy environments. The App, available for tablets, contains six standardized neuropsychological tests adapted in the form of engaging games. Verbal working memory, visual attention and non-verbal inhibition skills are assessed in quiet and noise. In this contribution, we will present the design and evaluation of the app. The tests performed in the evaluation phase involved 233 primary school children, with and without learning disabilities or sensory impairments. Preliminary results showed that CoEN was easy to use, engaging and enjoyable for the children. It also captured individual differences in children’s response to noise. Overall, the app provides a promising tool for children, as well as for teachers, parents or professionals, who wish to evaluate their cognitive abilities to cope with noise in an easy and engaging way.