Visual Analog Scales (Comfort & Exertion)
Description
A collection of six Visual Analog Scales (VAS) for measuring comfort, temperature sensation, Mental Exertion (RSME) and physical exertion (Borg's RPE)
About This Test
This test battery includes six independent Visual Analog Scales that can be individually enabled or disabled via parameters. Each scale uses continuous visual analog response with labeled anchor points. The six scales are: **1. Comfort Scale (11-point)**: Overall comfort/discomfort level ranging from 'Greatest Imaginable Discomfort' through neutral to 'Greatest Imaginable Comfort'. Based on standard VAS methodology (Aitken, 1969). **2. Hot/Cold Scale (9-point)**: Thermal sensation scale ranging from 'Very Cold' through 'Neutral' to 'Very Hot'. Standard thermal comfort assessment scale. **3. Wet/Dry Scale (3-point)**: Skin moisture sensation ranging from 'Very Dry' through 'Neutral/Normal' to 'Soaking/Dripping Wet'. **4. Temperature Change Preference (3-point)**: Preference for room temperature adjustment: 'Cooler', 'No Change', or 'Warmer'. **5. Borg RPE Scale (6-20)**: Rating of Perceived Exertion for physical effort. The classic Borg scale with anchors at 6 (No exertion), 9 (Extremely light), 11 (Very light), 13 (Light), 15 (Somewhat hard), 17 (Hard/Heavy), 19 (Very hard), and 20 (Maximal exertion). Includes explanatory text for each level. **6. RSME Scale**: Rating of Subjective Mental Effort (Zijlstra & van Doorn, 1985). Continuous visual analog scale with 9 verbal anchors ranging from 'Absolutely no effort' to 'Extreme effort'. Participants click on the visual analog line to indicate their response. Each scale includes a 'Continue' button to advance. All responses are saved to a single CSV file with timestamp and raw scale values.
Test Details
VAScalesVAScales.pbl🚀 Try Without Registration
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Scientific Background
Original Task References:
These references describe the original task that this PEBL implementation is based on.
- Aitken, R. C. (1969). Measurement of feelings using visual analogue scales. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, 62, 89-93.
- Borg, G. A. (1982). Psychophysical bases of perceived exertion. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 14(5), 377-381.
- Borg, G. (1970). Perceived exertion as an indicator of somatic stress. Scandinavian Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 2(2), 92-98.
- Zijlstra, F., & van Doorn, L. (1985). The construction of a scale to measure subjective effort. Technical Report, Delft University of Technology.
- Mueller, S.T., Tan, Y.Y., Flint, I. (2019). Development and Evaluation of a Model of Human Comfort and Cognitive Ability for Moderate Differences in Thermal Environment. In: Stephanidis, C. (eds) HCI International 2019 – Late Breaking Papers. HCII 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 11786. Springer, Cham.
Data Output
physioscales-{subnum}.csv
Data Columns
| Column Name | Description |
|---|---|
| subnum | Participant ID |
| timestamp | ISO timestamp of test completion |
| time | Time in seconds since test start |
| comfort | Comfort scale response (continuous 0-1, or 'NA' if disabled). 0=Greatest imaginable discomfort, 1=Greatest imaginable comfort |
| hotcold | Hot/Cold scale response (continuous 0-1, or 'NA' if disabled). 0=Very cold, 0.5=Neutral, 1=Very hot |
| wetdry | Wet/Dry scale response (continuous 0-1, or 'NA' if disabled). 0=Very dry, 0.5=Neutral, 1=Soaking wet |
| temp | Temperature change preference (continuous 0-1, or 'NA' if disabled). 0=Cooler, 0.5=No change, 1=Warmer |
| borgrpe | Borg RPE score (continuous 0-1, or 'NA' if disabled). Normalized from 6-20 scale. Can be converted back: rating = 6 + (value * 14) |
| rsme | RSME score (continuous 0-1, or 'NA' if disabled). 0=Absolutely no effort, 1=Extreme effort |
Scoring and Interpretation
Example Data
| subnum | timestamp | time | comfort | hotcold | wetdry | temp | borgrpe | rsme |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 111 | Sun Nov 2 22:12:10 2025 | 30.328 | 31.4286 | 0.937143 | 1.54286 | 4.31143 | 7 | 43.1538 |
Sample data showing typical output format. Actual values will vary by participant.
About This Test
A collection of six Visual Analog Scales (VAS) for measuring comfort, temperature sensation, Mental Exertion (RSME) and physical exertion (Borg's RPE)
Category: Personality & Rating Scales
Estimated Duration: 3 minutes
Available Translations: 1 language
Documentation Sources:
Test description file, Test implementation, Parameter schema
Documentation Status: Complete