[Effect of noise on human mental rotation performance].
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.
Han
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Department of Aerospace Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
Wu
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Li
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Hu
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W
Wang
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T
Li
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013997:Time Factors