Evaluation of the human cognitive performance and physiological responses in different thermal situations: a simulated study in controlled climatic room
by Hamidreza Heidari; Ahmad Soltanzadeh; Mohsen Mahdinia; Abolfazl Mohammadbeigi; Zahra Jafari; Matin Roshan
International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics (IJHFE), Vol. 9, No. 1, 2022

Abstract: This work aimed to investigate the effects of heat discomfort on some cognitive functions and physiological responses. Twenty-one healthy females were exposed to different level of thermal discomfort in a simulated climatic room for 90 minutes. Physiological responses (heart rate, tympanic temperature and mean skin temperature) as well as cognitive functions of the participants were recorded. Our findings showed that both of the tympanic temperature and mean skin temperature were changed significantly in different comfort situations (p < 0.05). In addition, in both of the focused and dispersed attention, the reaction time was the only parameter that increased significantly with worsening thermal conditions (p < 0.05), however, the relation was based on a nonlinear rule. The mean and standard deviation of response time as criteria of cognitive function for comfort, moderately comfort and discomfort were 435.71 ± 36.94 ms, 388 ± 31.18 ms and 485.71 ± 145.04 ms, respectively.

Online publication date: Fri, 21-Jan-2022

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