Water and Meadow Views Both Afford Perceived but Not Performance-Based Attention Restoration: Results From Two Experimental Studies

Abstract

Attention Restoration Theory proposes that exposure to natural environments helps to restore attention. For sustained attention—the ongoing application of focus to a task, the effect appears to be modest, and the underlying mechanisms of attention restoration remain unclear. Exposure to nature may improve attention performance through many means: modulation of alertness and one’s connection to nature were investigated here, in two separate studies. In both studies, participants performed the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) before and immediately after viewing a meadow, ocean, or urban image for 40 s, and then completed the Perceived Restorativeness Scale. In Study 1 (n = 68), an eye-tracker recorded the participants’ tonic pupil diameter during the SARTs, providing a measure of alertness. In Study 2 (n = 186), the effects of connectedness to nature on SART performance and perceived restoration were studied. In both studies, the image viewed was not associated with participants’ sustained attention performance; both nature images were perceived as equally restorative, and more restorative than the urban image. The image viewed was not associated with changes in alertness. Connectedness to nature was not associated with sustained attention performance, but it did moderate the relation between viewing the natural images and perceived restorativeness; participants reporting a higher connection to nature also reported feeling more restored after viewing the nature, but not the urban, images. Dissociation was found between the physiological and behavioral measures and the perceived restorativeness of the images. The results suggest that restoration associated with nature exposure is not associated with modulation of alertness but is associated with connectedness with nature.

Does Watching Videos With Natural Scenery Restore Attentional Resources?

“…The null effect found in the current study is consistent with existing studies that have failed to replicate the effect of viewing virtual natural environments on cognitive functions (Cassarino, Tuohy, & Setti, 2019; Emfield & Neider, 2014; K. A. Johnson et al, 2022; Kuziek, 2017).…”

“…In summary, the present study showed that viewing videos with natural scenery do not have any effect on working memory capacity in a high-powered pre-registered within-subject experimental study. Consistent with existing studies that failed to replicate the positive cognitive effect of viewing pictures of nature settings (e.g., Cassarino, Maisto, et al, 2019; K. A. Johnson et al, 2022; Neilson et al, 2021), the current study reaffirms this conclusion that virtual nature simulation does not reliably restore attentional resources.…”

“…Consistently, existing studies have found that direct exposure to real nature environments have positive effects on performance on tasks that demand executive attention (e.g., Faber Taylor & Kuo, 2009; Gamble et al, 2014; Stenfors et al, 2019; Stevenson et al, 2019; Tennessen & Cimprich, 1995). However, due to previous mixed findings (e.g., Cassarino, Tuohy, & Setti, 2019; Emfield & Neider, 2014; K. A. Johnson et al, 2022), it remains unclear whether virtual nature simulations can serve as a substitute for real nature experienced in the outdoors in terms of restoring executive attention.…”

“…However, the effect of virtual nature simulations on cognitive functions has not always shown themselves to be consistent. For example, several recent studies have reported failures to replicate the effect of viewing pictures of natural environments on cognitive functions (Cassarino, Maisto, et al, 2019; Emfield & Neider, 2014; K. A. Johnson et al, 2022; Kuziek, 2017; Neilson et al, 2021).…”

Current methodologies of greenspace exposure and mental health research—a scoping review

“…The ‘miscellaneous’ category ( n = 23) includes various items that did not seem to fit into any of the other categories, but still examined mental health. This includes outcomes such as sleepiness, smoking behavior or emotional eating patterns [e.g., ( 106 , 118 , 119 )]. Some of these studies also used validated tools, such as the Karolinska sleepiness scale, which assesses sleepiness in regard to the psycho-physical state [e.g., ( 119 )].…”