The Effects of Wearing the Chemical Protective Mask and Gloves on Cognitive Problem Solving

Abstract

The present study investigated the effects of wearing various combinations of the chemical protective mask and gloves on the speed and accuracy of solving cognitive problems. All testing was conducted at 72 degrees Fahrenheit. The results show that wearing the chemical protective mask and gloves or wearing the chemical protective gloves only, significantly degraded the rate (i.e., speed) of completing cognitive problems when compared to the bare handed/bare headed control. Wearing both the mask and gloves degraded the rate of task completion by 10% while wearing the gloves only resulted in a degradation rate of 8% compared to to the bare handed/bare headed control. the accuracy of the cognitive problems completed was not significantly influenced by wearing any of the combinations of the mask and gloves. The decrement in performance is likely due to an impairment in manual dexterity and not in cognitive processing.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1987
Accession Number
ADA184980

Entities

People

  • Terry M. Rauch
  • William J. Tharion

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine

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  • Biomedical

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  • Accuracy
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  • Biomedical Research
  • Classification
  • Clothing
  • Computations
  • Engineering
  • Environment
  • Experimental Design
  • Masks
  • Military Research
  • Productivity
  • Protective Clothing
  • Protective Masks
  • Security
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