Hot under the collar: The impact of heat on game play

• Published in: Applied ergonomics 2017-03, Vol.59 (Pt A), p.209-214
• Main Authors: Young, Michael E., McCoy, Anthony W., Hutson, John P., Schlabach, Meredith, Eckels, Steven
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Choice; Choice Behavior; Decision making; Game; Hot Temperature; Humans; Impulsive Behavior; Impulsivity; Learning; Male; Task Performance and Analysis; Temperature; Time Factors; Video Games; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0003-6870; 1872-9126
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2016.08.035

High temperatures have been documented to affect behavior in a variety of ways depending on the nature of the task. We extended this prior research by examining the effects of dynamically changing temperature on various aspects of performance in a video game task. In the span of approximately an hour, temperature was gradually increased, stayed constant for a period of time, and gradually decreased to baseline. The gaming task was a variation on one used to assess impulsivity in participants thus allowing the possibility of assessing the effects of temperature on impulsive choice. Rather than heat increasing impulsivity and thus decreasing wait times, participants showed increases in wait times as temperature increased which either suggests that participants were becoming more self-controlled under heat or that the documented negative impact of heat on motor functioning was dominating their performance. Importantly, the participant's sensitivity to the changing task requirements was not affected by changes in temperature. •Wait times between responses increased as room temperature increased.•Wait times between responses decreased as room temperature subsequently decreased.•There was a negative impact of heat on motor functioning.•Participant sensitivity to the changing task requirements was not affected by changes in temperature.