WARMTH, GLARE AND A BACKGROUND OF QUIET SPEECH: A COMPARISON OF THEIR EFFECTS ON PERFORMANCE

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Abstract
In two experiments the effects of a high air temperature on the accuracy and manner of manual trucking were compared with those of quiet speech and of glare. In each experiment 12 subjects attempted to keep a pointer aligned with a moving target for 40 min in both a normal and a warm climate, with instructions to be as accurate as possible. During the middle 20 min of each period of work the subjects in one experiment faced the glare from a naked electric lamp, and those in the other had n quietly spoken narrative relayed to them. All three conditions reduced accuracy of alignment, but warmth affected the manner of tracking differently from quiet, speech and glare. With the two latter conditions movements of the pointer decreased in number, i.e. errors of alignment were corrected loss frequently. At. n high air temperature the number of movements of the pointer increased, i.e. corrections were more frequent than usual. It was concluded that glare and a background of speech interfered with perception but that. warmth affected chiefly accuracy of movement