Posted on 12/12/2022 5:57:09 PM PST by lightman
A study of an international chess tournament has revealed that wearing a face mask significantly reduced the average quality of player decisions, impacting the cognitive performance of competitive chess players.
Australian chess Grandmaster and University of Queensland Prof. David Smerdon analysed almost three million chess moves played by 8,531 people in 18 countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The decrease in performance was due to the annoyance caused by the masks rather than a physiological mechanism,” Smerdon said.
“The data showed masks were more likely to decrease performance in situations where there was a demanding mental task with a high working memory load.”
He said this is something to keep in mind for occupations that demand a high level of working memory, such as those in the STEM fields, language interpreters, performers, waiters, and teachers.
While mask mandates have been used to stop the spread of COVID-19, their impact on cognitive performance has yet to be adequately assessed.
“At the moment, there are no large studies on the impact of mask-wearing on the general population,” Smerdon said.
With more understanding of the impact of mask-wearing on decision-making, individuals and organisations can better evaluate when and how to use them.
“For example, education policymakers may need to bear in mind the disruptive effects of masks when designing exam conditions to address concerns about student health and fairness,” he said.
Masks and Cognition: FOI
Recently, a freedom of information request in the United Kingdom also revealed that face coverings impact communication by increasing effort and reducing cognition on the part of the listener.
It found that concealing a speaker’s lips led to lower performance and lower confidence scores. Furthermore, when listening in these conditions compared with listening to an unmasked talker, meta-cognitive monitoring deteriorated.
Unfortunately, this evaluation was only released 17 months after schools had been first advised by the department of education to require children to wear masks in schools.
Chess has been used extensively in psychology, neuroscience, and economics to measure changes in cognitive performance because it requires calculation, memory, problem-solving, and pattern recognition.
Such as voting Democrat.
Lack of oxygen
They chose... poorly.
They don’t call it ‘Poker Face’ for nothing.
You don’t even have to be playing Poker.
Any boardgame which is directly effected by silent signals and seemingly random movements of the hands, the face, the body position. All these things can be read and interpreted by your opponent. A good board game player knows how to deliberately send on the ‘wrong’ signal, as bait for the other player to react to.
A lack of oxygen affects the brain. That’s a no-brainer!
I thought wearing a mask is prima facia evidence you can’t make rational decisions.
Somebody that wears a mask displays bad decision making out of the box
The World Poker Tour commentators were suggesting that some poker players may continue to wear masks until they are forbidden. Poker players like to hide their faces.
Being a tournament chess player, I can affirm that there is an aspect of this for chess. A chess player does “read” the opponent by noting facial contortions. I am surprised that that was not suggested by the article.
Never mind the cloth masks which is like dropping any of these between peaks in the Rockies.
Ignorant is one thing and dumb is another but the combination is what is leading us into this idiocracy.
Many a Freeper was a covidiot masker and ran out and got the IQ test clot shots to boot.
Covid has become an evolutionary moment for humanity with the sheep culling themselves and their offspring both born and unborn.
Not confined to chess players..........
Yup
If I were picking an opponent in a contest of wits, the guy with the mask ... that’s the guy! He blatantly is telling the world, “I’m an idiot.”
Plus, reduced oxygen to the brain. Even better!
Now how does the little horsey move again?
>> Mask wearers are more likely to make poor decisions.
People that make poor decisions are more likely to ...
And another thing. The kids who were allowed to attend school but had to wear masks, did anyone consider the negative impact masks can have on kids with hearing impairents or speech impediments? As if they don’t have enough problems with comprehension and communication skills? Sounds like some ADA violations here.
Sign on the door read, "We implore you to wear a mask when entering this pharmacy," so I ran back home, donned a mask, and returned.
Have noticed that a mask also reduces one's field of vision. With a woolen cap pulled down to my eyebrows, and a mask obstructing the lower part of my field of vision, it's a real nuisance!
The mask also redirects one's breath, so one's glasses have a pronounced tendency to fog up.
Regards,
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