Superior Visual Search Accuracy after Exposure to Natural Relative to Urban Environments

Abstract

Recent studies have demonstrated a performance benefit when interacting in natural compared to urban environments. Presently, we are interested in testing whether visual search performance would differ depending on environmental exposure. We exposed participants to images of either natural scenes or urban scenes and asked them to complete a visual conjunction search (identifying the letter O embedded in an array of Q’s). Consistent with existing literature, findings revealed that participants were more accurate at identifying targets when they were exposed to images of nature relative to participants exposed to images of urban environments.

Complexity As Key to Designing Cognitive-Friendly Environments for Older People

“…Lastly, at a macro scale, different studies based on ART have reported the cognitive benefits of exposure to green (both for real environments and pictures) in young and older people, in terms of visual search (Sandry et al, 2012), as well as voluntary attention and executive functions (Laumann et al, 2001; Hartig et al, 2003; Berto, 2005; Berman et al, 2008; Kaplan and Berman, 2010; Berry et al, 2014; Gamble et al, 2014). Berman et al (2012) also found improvements in memory span after a walk in nature for patients with depressive disorders.…”

Natural environments, ancestral diets, and microbial ecology: is there a modern “paleo-deficit disorder”? Part I

“…One of those studies also found that beach attendance among children aged 7–11 is associated with pro-social behavior [ 227 ]. A growing body of research also suggests that natural environments may be an effective means to mitigate some of the consequences of the cognitive load characteristic of modern urban environments [ 228 , 229 ].…”