The effects of mild anoxia on simple psychomotor and mental skills.

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Abstract
An investigation of the effects of mild anoxia on 3 simple psychomotor and mental skills has been conducted. The skills studied were finger dexterity, arm-hand coordination and simple addition. 244 Army Air Corps Cadets served as subjects. Each subject participated in .only one expt. They were divided into subgroups equal in initial level of performance on the skill in question. The exptl. sub-group in each case was subjected to mild anoxia, while the control sub-group was tested always under normal O2 conditions. The mild anoxia was induced by reducing the barometric pressure in a high-altitude chamber of the variety used throughout the war by the Army Air Forces. Time under anoxia was held constant at 35 mins., since the study was concerned with the short-duration effects of the anoxic conditions. The results justify 3 conclusions. (1) A decrement in level of performance appears immediately after the introduction of mild anoxia. (2) Following an initial decrement in level of performance, rapid adjustment occurs as the time under mild anoxia increases. (3) In addition to the adjustment process an improvement occurs with continued practice under the anoxic conditions.

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