The effects of moderate heat stress on mental performance.

Wyon, David Peter; Andersen, Ib; Lundqvist, Gunnar

doi:10.5271/sjweh.2646

Cited by 112 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Wyon argued that the arousal at 27°C was too low for optimum performance. In another stud y on a creati ve task, Wyon (47) found opt imum performance on a creative task at 27°C compared to 20 and 23.5°C . Maximum performance at 26°C in a word-memory test was reported by Wyon (48).…”

Section: Cognitive and Mental Tasksmentioning

confidence: 94%

Thermal stress and human performance.

Enander¹,

Hygge²

1990

Scand J Work Environ Health

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ENANDER AE, HYGGE S. Thermal stress and human performance. Scand J Work Environ Health 1990;16(suppl 1):44-50. There is evidence that the thermal stress encountered in many work environments may negatively affect various aspects of human performance and behavior. Evaluation of the empirical research is, however, complicated by differences in both the methodology and the definition of the basic stimulus. Effects of heat and cold stress are briefly reviewed, with particular regard to theoretical considerations.Key terms: cold, heat, performance, social behavior.People are subjected to thermal stress in many work environments, as, eg, in outdoor work under intemperate climatic conditions or in the processing of products which require heat-producing technology or strict hygienic standards. While physiological limits of endurance are seldom reached in today's work environment, increasing interest is being focused on the possible negative effects on behavior. A relationship between thermal stress and accident occurrence was documented over 50 years ago, and a similar relationship to unsafe work behavior was recently demonstrated (1). These relationships form a background to the following discussion of the central issues in research on the behavioral effects of thermal stress.

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Section: Cognitive and Mental Tasksmentioning

confidence: 94%

Thermal stress and human performance.

Enander¹,

Hygge²

1990

Scand J Work Environ Health

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“…In a study of reading speed and comprehension, performance was superior at 20°C and 30°C compared to 27°C (Wyon, 1976). Similarly, based on simulated high-school classroom conditions, the following findings were reported (Wyon et al, 1979): reading speed was 20% better at 23°C and 29°C compared to 26°C; multiplication speed in males was -20% higher" at temperatures above and below 27-28°C; word memory in males was best (-20% higher) at an intermediate temperature of around 26"C23; and word memory performance for females increased with temperature between 24°C and 26"C, but did not fall as temperatures increased further to 29°C. The previous discussion suggests that temperature can influence mental performance in some settings.…”

Section: Direct Impacts Of Indoor Environments On Human Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Estimates of Improved Productivity and Health from Better Indoor Environments

Fisk¹,

1997

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The existing literature contains strong evidence that characteristics of buildings and indoor environments significantly influence rates of respiratory disease, allergy and asthma symptoms, sick building symptoms, and worker performance. Theoretical considerations, and limited empirical data, suggest that existing technologies and procedures can improve indoor environments in a manner that significantly increases health and productivity. At present, we can develop only crude estimates of the magnitude of productivity gains that may be obtained by providing better indoor environments; however, the projected gains are very large. For the U.S., we estimate potential annual savings and productivity gains of $6 billion to $19 billion from reduced respiratory disease; $1 billion to $4 billion from reduced allergies and asthma, $10 billion to $20 billion from reduced sick building syndrome symptoms, and $12 billion to $125 billion from direct improvements in worker performance that are unrelated to health. Sample calculations indicate that the potential financial benefits of improving indoor environments exceed costs by a factor of 18 to 47. The policy implications of the findings are discussed and include a recommendation for additional research.

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“…Recently developed overheating criteria for schools based on the adaptive thermal comfort principle [32] were also investigated and were found inadequate to reflect occupant dissatisfaction [31]. These results are alarming for pupils' thermal comfort and school work performance, suggesting that school buildings might not be currently designed according to their main occupants' thermal needs, which could impact on their health, well-being and productivity [33][34][35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of a building's thermal properties on pupils' thermal comfort in junior school classrooms as determined in field studies

Teli

Jentsch

James

2014

Building and Environment

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Recent thermal comfort research in a light-weight junior school building showed that children were more sensitive to higher temperatures than adults and subsequently that current thermal comfort standards were not appropriate for the assessment of their thermal environment. This paper presents a comparison of these survey results to those from a survey conducted in a medium-weight school building, in order to evaluate the role of the construction type on the results. Both surveys followed the same methodology, including thermal comfort questionnaires and measurements of indoor environmental variables. A total of 2990 responses were gathered. The buildings had an average difference in air temperature of 2.7 o C during occupied hours in the period of investigation (June and July 2012), with the medium-weight building being cooler than the light-weight building. However, the different construction type and the cooler overall thermal environment in the medium-weight school building had little impact on the pupils' overall thermal sensitivity. The comparison showed a general agreement on the pupils' warm thermal sensation trends, interpersonal variation and undeveloped adaptive behaviour. The results further support the finding that current thermal comfort criteria lead to an underestimation of pupils' thermal sensation during summer.

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The effects of moderate heat stress on mental performance.

Cited by 112 publications

References 11 publications

Thermal stress and human performance.

Thermal stress and human performance.

Estimates of Improved Productivity and Health from Better Indoor Environments

The role of a building's thermal properties on pupils' thermal comfort in junior school classrooms as determined in field studies

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