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International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics

AHFE 2018: Advances in Human Factors in Simulation and Modeling pp 161–169Cite as

Perceived Workload and Performance in the Presence of a Malodor

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Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 780))

Abstract

As part of an olfactory adaptation experiment, researchers collected NASA Task Load Index (TLX) data from United States Military Academy cadets who completed two complex tasks in either the presence or absence of a simulated malodor. Results showed that participants exposed to the odor twice tended to show a decrease in perceived mental demand during the second task. Furthermore, these participants also showed a higher correlation coefficient between decrease in mental demand and improvement in task performance. Taken together, these results indicate a possible link between olfactory adaptation and perceived mental demand, at least in the presence of a malodor.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. United States Army Research Laboratory Human Research and Engineering Directorate Simulation and Training Technology Center, Orlando, FL, USA

    William Y. Pike & Mark V. Mazzeo

  2. University of Central Florida Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, Orlando, FL, USA

    Michael D. Proctor

  3. United States Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Bragg, NC, USA

    Christina-Maile C. Pico

Authors
  1. William Y. Pike
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  2. Michael D. Proctor
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  3. Christina-Maile C. Pico
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  4. Mark V. Mazzeo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark V. Mazzeo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA

    Daniel N. Cassenti

Appendix: NASA TLX Form

Appendix: NASA TLX Form

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Pike, W.Y., Proctor, M.D., Pico, CM.C., Mazzeo, M.V. (2019). Perceived Workload and Performance in the Presence of a Malodor. In: Cassenti, D. (eds) Advances in Human Factors in Simulation and Modeling. AHFE 2018. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 780. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94223-0_15

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