Temperature and Cognitive Performance: Evidence from Mental Arithmetic Training
With rising average temperatures and extreme heat events becoming more frequent, understanding the ramifications for cognitive performance is essential. I estimate the effect of outside air temperature on performance in mental arithmetic training games. Using data from 31,000 individuals and 1.15 mi...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2024
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155223 |
| _version_ | 1824458040638701568 |
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| author | Krebs, Benjamin |
| author2 | MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research |
| author_facet | MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research Krebs, Benjamin |
| author_sort | Krebs, Benjamin |
| collection | MIT |
| description | With rising average temperatures and extreme heat events becoming more frequent, understanding the ramifications for cognitive performance is essential. I estimate the effect of outside air temperature on performance in mental arithmetic training games. Using data from 31,000 individuals and 1.15 million games played, I analyze frequent engagement in a cognitively challenging task in a non-stressful and familiar environment. I find that, above a threshold of 16.5∘ C, a 1∘ C increase in outside air temperature leads to a performance reduction of 0.13%. The effect is mostly driven by individuals living in relatively cold areas, who are less adapted to hot temperatures. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:47:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/155223 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:19:34Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1552232024-12-21T06:02:43Z Temperature and Cognitive Performance: Evidence from Mental Arithmetic Training Krebs, Benjamin MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research With rising average temperatures and extreme heat events becoming more frequent, understanding the ramifications for cognitive performance is essential. I estimate the effect of outside air temperature on performance in mental arithmetic training games. Using data from 31,000 individuals and 1.15 million games played, I analyze frequent engagement in a cognitively challenging task in a non-stressful and familiar environment. I find that, above a threshold of 16.5∘ C, a 1∘ C increase in outside air temperature leads to a performance reduction of 0.13%. The effect is mostly driven by individuals living in relatively cold areas, who are less adapted to hot temperatures. 2024-06-10T20:18:09Z 2024-06-10T20:18:09Z 2024-06-04 2024-06-09T03:10:49Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0924-6460 1573-1502 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155223 Krebs, B. Temperature and Cognitive Performance: Evidence from Mental Arithmetic Training. Environ Resource Econ (2024). PUBLISHER_CC en 10.1007/s10640-024-00881-y Environmental and Resource Economics Creative Commons Attribution https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The Author(s) application/pdf Springer Science and Business Media LLC Springer Netherlands |
| spellingShingle | Krebs, Benjamin Temperature and Cognitive Performance: Evidence from Mental Arithmetic Training |
| title | Temperature and Cognitive Performance: Evidence from Mental Arithmetic Training |
| title_full | Temperature and Cognitive Performance: Evidence from Mental Arithmetic Training |
| title_fullStr | Temperature and Cognitive Performance: Evidence from Mental Arithmetic Training |
| title_full_unstemmed | Temperature and Cognitive Performance: Evidence from Mental Arithmetic Training |
| title_short | Temperature and Cognitive Performance: Evidence from Mental Arithmetic Training |
| title_sort | temperature and cognitive performance evidence from mental arithmetic training |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155223 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT krebsbenjamin temperatureandcognitiveperformanceevidencefrommentalarithmetictraining |