Thermal Comfort and Strength of Local Tolerance to Cold

Thermal comfort and discomfort provide much or the motivation for behavior, including behavioral temperature regulation. Consideration of the factors relationg to thermal discomfort is therefore a major problem in human themoregulation. On the other hand the hunting reaction of finger skin temperature in the cold has been served as an assessment of local tolerance to cold. In order to know how development of behavioral thermoregulation correlate with individual differences in cold tolerance, subjective reports of discomfort and temperature sensation, at 2 or 5-minute interval by using the verbal categories, were obtained with measurements of finger skin temperature for 76male and fimale adults during the test of local tolerance to cold. Discomfort and temperature estimates have been plotted against the finger skin temperature. Subjective estimates of pleasantness, comfort and temperature sensations, disappeared at higher finger skin temperature in the strong who was judged by the hunting reaction of finger skin temperature in the cold, than that in the weak. Almost similar results were obtained from the observation for women, with an exception of marked differences in affective resposes because of the menstrual cycle. Next to this, discomfort and temperature estimates were studies along with the menstrual cycle of women. From a comparison with results in the postovulatory phase, it is evident that discomfort from cold and sensation of cold appeared at higher finger skin temperature in the preovulatory phase. Results may explain the differrences in behavioral thermoregulation between pre- and postovulatory periods.