Mental Load | ScienceGate

Introduction. Development of methodical base of information hygiene, systematization of data on levels of information loadings and degree of their influence on working conditions of workers is actual.The purpose of the study was to measure and evaluate the levels of information mental load of office workers, to study the patterns of development of adverse functional States in this professional group.Materials and methods. The pilot study included 25 employees of scientific and educational institutions aged 25 to 65 years. Measurement of information mental load of workers was carried out on the basis of a point assessment. Psychodiagnostics of performance of participants of research was carried out by means of a package of standard techniques. Heart rate telemetry was carried out in employees in the conditions of professional activity.Results. The integral indicator of information mental load of the studied professional group was 37.3±7.2 points and was in direct connection with the coefficient of comfort of the workplace (r=0.5, p=0.01). A reliable dependence of the speed of information processing on the length of work experience (r=0.71, p=0.0001) was also established. In the low-stress group, high indices of stress, fatigue, monotony were recorded in the workers, in the senior group — signs of chronic fatigue. The employees during the shift registered an increase in sympathetic activation.Conclusions. The results of the psychophysiological survey of employees indicate the need to regulate the information load, the development and implementation of preventive measures to reduce professional stress.

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The influence of music tempo on mental load and hazard perception of novice drivers

Accident Analysis & Prevention ◽

10.1016/j.aap.2021.106168 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 157 ◽

pp. 106168

Author(s):

Lvqing Miao ◽

Yunjiao Gu ◽

Lichun He ◽

Huarong Wang ◽

David C. Schwebel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Load ◽

Hazard Perception ◽

Novice Drivers

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The relation between physical and mental load, and the course of physiological functions and cognitive performance

Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science ◽

10.1080/1463922x.2021.1913535 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-22

Author(s):

Petr Fiľo ◽

Oto Janoušek

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Performance ◽

Mental Load ◽

Physiological Functions

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Can Rules in Technical-Tactical Decisions Influence on Physical and Mental Load during Soccer Training? A Pilot Study

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18084313 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (8) ◽

pp. 4313

Author(s):

Tomás García-Calvo ◽

Juan José Pulido ◽

José Carlos Ponce-Bordón ◽

Miguel Ángel López-Gajardo ◽

Israel Teoldo Costa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Fatigue ◽

Physical Load ◽

Mental Load ◽

Internal Load ◽

Score System ◽

Perceived Effort ◽

Minimum Number ◽

Soccer Training ◽

Tactical Decisions ◽

Performance Satisfaction

This study aimed to analyze the effects of rules limitations in pass decisions during soccer tasks on physical and mental load reported by players. Participants were 40 semiprofessional Spanish soccer players (Mage = 22.40, SD = 2.25) from two male teams. Two training sessions with four tasks (same tasks with different score system: two maintaining ball possession games with goalkeepers, and two maintaining ball possession games) in counterbalanced order between teams were completed. To achieve a goal during limitation tasks, a minimum number of players had to participate in the passes before the goal. Internal (perceived effort and heart rate) and external physical load (distances), mental load (validated adaptation of the NASA-TXL) and fatigue (VASfatigue) were quantified. Paired t-test and magnitude-based inference were conducted. The results showed significantly higher mean speeds (p < 0.01), effort perception (p < 0.001), and mental fatigue (very likely positive) during possession games with restrictions. Additionally, performance satisfaction obtained significantly higher values with goalkeepers and pass restrictions (very likely positive). External physical load showed no significant differences between situations. The influence of mental fatigue on internal load and the complexity of the tasks could explain these results. Coaches can use this information to manipulate the training load in ecological conditions.

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Quantified factory worker: field study of a web application supporting work well-being and productivity

Cognition Technology & Work ◽

10.1007/s10111-021-00671-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Päivi Heikkilä ◽

Anita Honka ◽

Eija Kaasinen ◽

Kaisa Väänänen

Keyword(s):

Field Study ◽

Web Application ◽

Work Performance ◽

Knowledge Work ◽

Well Being ◽

Production Data ◽

Automated Manufacturing ◽

Perceived Benefits ◽

Mental Load ◽

Machine Operators

AbstractThe work on the factory floor is gradually changing to resemble knowledge work due to highly automated manufacturing machines. In the increasingly automated work environment, the machine operator’s task is to keep the production running and to solve possible problems quickly. This work is expected to become more autonomous, which raises the importance of supporting the workers’ well-being. An important aspect of that is giving concrete feedback of success at work as well as feedback on physical and mental load. We implemented a smartphone optimized web application, Worker Feedback Dashboard that offers feedback to machine operators about their well-being at work and personally relevant production data as well as their connections to each other. The feedback is personal and based on objective, near real-time measurements. We present the results of a field study, in which ten machine operators used the application for 2–3 months. We studied the operators’ user experience, usage activity, perceived benefits and concerns for the application with questionnaires, interviews and application log data. The operators found the feedback interesting and beneficial, and used the application actively. The perceived benefits indicate impacts on well-being as well as on work performance. Based on the results, we highlight three design implications for quantified worker applications: presenting meaningful overviews, providing guidance to act based on the feedback and refraining from too pervasive quantification not to narrow down the meaningful aspects in one’s work.

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Beyond the Normative Family Meal Promotion: A Narrative Review of Qualitative Results about Ordinary Domestic Commensality

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18063186 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (6) ◽

pp. 3186

Author(s):

Fairley Le Moal ◽

Maxime Michaud ◽

Carol Hartwick-Pflaum ◽

Georgia Middleton ◽

Isabelle Mallon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Family Members ◽

Public Health Research ◽

Family Meals ◽

Positive Health ◽

Mental Load ◽

Family Meal ◽

External Constraints ◽

Research Fields ◽

The Family

There exists a normative representation of family meals in contemporary Western societies which is promoted as imperative through public health programs, larger discourses and by some studies in the nutritional and public health research fields. Family meals, also called domestic commensality, are represented as convivial events and are associated with positive health and wellbeing outcomes but there is minimal evidence to show they are beneficial for family members and it is not known which aspect of the family meal could be responsible for these alleged benefits. This normative family meal image is based on a representation of the family as a peaceful unit exempt from external constraints. This narrative literature review of qualitative studies of family meals seeks to put forward the underlying premises of this representation and compare it with reports about actual practices. The results emphasize that eating together is still practiced and remains valued by family members, which is in contrast to discourses lamenting the decline of the family meal. However, the valorisation and recurrence of family meals depends on class, gender and cultural positions. There is a gap between the norm of healthy or convivial and achievable family meals, which can reinforce the so-called “mental load” and “emotion work” of those in charge of feeding the family and heighten inequalities within the household. In fact, there are many challenges to family meals which originate from external constraints or are inherent aspects of family life. The results from this review suggest that we should focus on family meals by taking into account the food work surrounding it and focussing on the interactional aspects of family meals. Ethnographic methods allow the researcher to observe the diversities and complexities of commensality as well as family dynamics and, in doing so, could provide more realistic representations of eating within the family.

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