[Effect of noise on human mental rotation performance]

Space Med Med Eng (Beijing). 1998 Aug;11(4):269-72.
[Article in Chinese]

Abstract

To investigate the effect of moderate level low frequency noise on human mental rotation performance, letter rotation and compass orientation tests were performed in 24 healthy young male subjects during 2 h exposure to 85-95dB (A), it was found that during 120 min exposure to noise of 85dB (A), the mean reaction time increased (P<0.05), performance of reaction time and total performance decreased (P<0.01) significantly as compared with control in letter rotation test, meanwhile, performance of reaction time and total performance at 120 min exposure were significantly higher than that at 30 min (P<0.05). During 120 min exposure to noise of 95dB (A), the mean reaction time increased (P<0.01), the performance of reaction time and total performance decreased (P<0.01) significantly as compared with control in compass orientation test, meanwhile, performance of reaction time at 120 min were significantly higher than that at 30 min(P<0.05). The results show that exposures to 85 dB(A) and 95 dB(A) noise for 2 h have certain effect on the performance of human mental rotation and may affect performance of complex tasks with a higher workload.

Publication types

  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aerospace Medicine
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mental Processes
  • Noise / adverse effects*
  • Psychological Tests
  • Psychomotor Performance*
  • Reaction Time*
  • Task Performance and Analysis
  • Time Factors