Effects of Altitude and Heat on Complex Cognitive Tasks

Abstract

The effects of heat and altitude on complex cognitive tasks involved in artillery fire direction center operations were examined. Five six-man groups received one week of intensive training on tasks involving message reception and decoding, arithmetic conversions, and reception and recording of meteorological data. Each group then performed the tasks for 7 h during each of the following daily series of conditions: control (sea level, normal temperature), altitude (4300 m, normal temperature), control (sea level, normal temperature), heat (sea level, 35°C, 88% RH). All tasks were significantly and similarly affected by altitude and by heat, although individuals differed considerably in degree and type of stress response. Errors of omission greatly exceeded errors of commission. This approach, anchored firmly in basic psychological processes and theory, is considered to be of significant potential value as a technique for analyzing stress-sensitive factors in complex cognitive performance.