Aerospace Medicine Technical Reports

FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute


Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-65/2

Title and Subtitle: Effects of several mental tasks on auditory fatigue.

Report Date: January 1965

Authors: Collins WE, Capps MJ.

Abstract: Eight males were exposed for three minutes to a 4000 cps fatigue tone at 40 dB SL. Each S was tested under four task-conditions: mental arithmetic (MA), written ling division (LD), threshold determination of a 500 cps tone (TD), and reverie (REV). Temporary threshold shifts (TTS) were computed by comparing pre- and post-fatigue thresholds, MA produced significantly more TTS than any other condition, and LD resulted in greater shifts than REV. Amount of auditory fatigue can vary with the type of mental activity performed by the S.

Key Words: mental tasks, reverie, threshold shift, sensory response.

No. of Pages: 8

Last updated: Friday, June 1, 2012