The Psychomotor Performance of Women in Cold Weather Clothing

• Main Authors: Bensel, Carolyn K, Bryan, Laura P, Mellian, Sirvart A
• Other Authors: ARMY NATICK RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT LABS MA CLOTHING EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING LAB
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1977
• Subjects: Human Factors Engineering & Man Machine System; *CLOTHING; *COLD WEATHER; *HUMAN FACTORS ENGINEERING; *PSYCHOMOTOR FUNCTION; *PSYCHOMOTOR TESTS; ACCEPTABILITY; ARCTIC REGIONS; ARMY EQUIPMENT; FEMALES; HEART RATE; QUESTIONNAIRES; SIZES(DIMENSIONS); ASH70; ASH98; PE62716A; PE62723A; Arctic
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA077436; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA077436

This study was conducted to determine the differential effects on women's psychomotor performance of wearing cold weather clothing designed for them vs. cold weather clothing designed for men. Twenty women performed a battery of tasks under each of 10 clothing conditions. The tasks were divided into the following categories: (1) body flexibility, (2) rate of movement, (3) psychomotor coordination, and (4) manual dexterity. The results indicate that certain features of women's cold weather clothing, particularly fit, contribute to higher performance levels than those attained in men's clothes. In addition, the women's items were rated more favorably by the users than the men's. Psychomotor performance level and user acceptance also decreased as the number of clothing layers worn was increased, but the layers were not equally deleterious in their effects on performance nor were all aspects of performance equally impaired by wearing a certain combination of layers.