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Latest revision as of 09:43, 24 September 2012

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Attention Restoration Theory (ART) asserts that people can concentrate better after spending time in nature, or even looking at scenes of nature. Natural environments abound with "soft fascinations" which a person can reflect upon in "effortless attention", such as clouds moving across the sky, leaves rustling in a breeze or water bubbling over rocks in a stream. The theory was developed by Rachel and Stephen Kaplan in the 1980s in their book The experience of nature: A psychological perspective,[1][2][3] and has since been found by others to hold true in medical outcomes as well as intellectual task attention, as described below. Berman et al discuss the foundation of the Attention Restoration Theory (ART). "ART is based on past research showing the separation of attention into two components: involuntary attention, where attention is captured by inherently intriguing or important stimuli, and voluntary or directed attention, where attention is directed by cognitive-control processes." [4]

Directed attention

Attention Restoration Theory describes a person as being in several states of attention:

  • Directed attention
  • Directed attention fatigue
  • Effortless attention
  • Restored attention

Tasks that require mental effort draw upon "directed attention". People must expend effort to achieve focus, to delay expression of inappropriate emotions or actions, and to inhibit distractions. That is, they must concentrate on the higher task, avoiding distractions. Performing the actual task also requires other knowledge and skills.

In Peopleware, a landmark book on office work, Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister[5] report that in an office environment, workers may take 15 minutes to achieve this state of flow in their concentration, and that it will be destroyed in a moment by an interruption such as a telephone call.

The task may be fascinating so that it allows "effortless attention", or may have sufficient scope to sustain interaction without boredom, or may simply be more compatible with a person's interests. However, after a period of directed attention, people begin to suffer "directed attention fatigue". They become distracted, irritable, impatient. They become less effective in performing their tasks.

Attention may be "restored" by changing to a different kind of task that uses different parts of the brain,[2][6] as in the familiar idiom "a change is as good as a rest". Alternatively, exposure to natural environments and wilderness has psychological benefits including attention restoration.

Nature has an abundance of fascinating objects

. "Soft fascinations" such as clouds in the sky or leaves rustling in a breeze, gain our attention relatively effortlessly and are compatible with our wants and needs. This is by comparison to snakes and spiders, which gain our attention out of fear.[7] The Biophilia hypothesis argues that people are instinctively enthusiastic about nature.

After spending some time of effortless attention to soft fascinations removed from their day to day tasks, people may have a chance to reflect. This brings a "restorative" benefit which allows further attention.

Stress reduction

Nature can help reduce a person's stress, as well as improve attention

.

After medical surgery, patients resting in rooms overlooking trees recovered better than those in rooms with only a view of a brick wall.[8] They experienced fewer complications from the surgery, recovered faster, and asked for fewer painkiller drugs. Similarly, natural scenes can reduce stress before an event.[9]

Women with breast cancer who walked in a park, watched birds, or tended flowers, achieved better attention after surgery.[6] Merely keeping sight of natural features improves self-discipline in inner-city girls.[10] Children in New York State were less stressed by adversity when they lived in rural areas.[11] Stress in college examinations was similarly reduced by viewing natural scenes.[12] Viewing scenes of urban streets and artifacts excluding nature did not achieve any stress reduction, in a similar study upon workers viewing a film about industrial accidents.

Taking breaks outside in settings that contained some nature has been shown to reduce stress,[13] leaving nurses feeling refreshed, relaxed, and energized upon return to work.

See also

References

  1. Kaplan, R. (1989). The experience of nature: A psychological perspective, Cambridge University Press.
  2. 2.0 2.1 The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework. By Kaplan S. in Journal of Environmental Psychology 1995, v.15, pp169-182.
  3. Bell, P.A. (2001). Environmental Psychology, Fifth Edition, Harcourt College Publishers.
  4. Berman, Mare G et al. "The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting with Nature", Psychological Science, Vol 19. Num 12. Michigan, 28 May 2008. Retrieved on 2012-09-16.
  5. DeMarco, Tom (1988). Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams, John Wiley and Sons.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Attention Restoration Theory: Empirical Work and Practical Applications, by Cimprich B. (2007)
  7. Ulrich, Simons, Losito, Fiorito, Miles and Zelson 1991
  8. Ulrich R. 1984
  9. Ulrich R. 1986
  10. Taylor A.F., Kuo F.E., Sullivan W.C. (2001). Views of Nature and Self Discipline: Evidence from Inner City Children in Journal of Environmental Psychology (2001), vol. 21.
  11. Wells, Nancy M. (2003). Nearby Nature: A Buffer of Life Stress Among Rural Children. Environment and Behavior (35.3): 311–330.
  12. Ulrich R. 1979
  13. Irvine, K.N. Work breaks & well-being: The effect of nature on hospital nurses, Conference proceedings of the 131st Annual Meeting (November 15–19, 2003) of APHA
Attention
Aspects of attention
Absent-mindedness | Attentional control | Attention span | Attentional shift | Attention management | Attentional blink | Attentional bias | Attention economy | Attention and emotion | Attention optimization | Change blindness | Concentration |Dichotic listening | Directed attention fatigue | Distraction | Distractibility | Divided attention | Hyperfocus | Inattentional blindness | Mindfulness |Mind-wandering | Meditation | Salience | Selective attention | Selective inattention | Signal detection theory | Sustained attention | Vigilance | Visual search |
Developmental aspects of attention
centration | [[]] |
Neuroanatomy of attention
Attention versus memory in prefrontal cortex | Default mode network | Dorsal attention network | Medial geniculate nucleus | | Neural mechanisms | Ventral attention network | Intraparietal sulcus |
Neurochemistry of attention
Glutamatergic system  | [[]] |
Attention in clinical settings
ADHD | ADHD contoversy | ADD | AADD | Attention and aging | Attention restoration theory | Attention seeking | Attention training | Centering | Distractability | Hypervigilance | Hyperprosexia | Cognitive-shifting | Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy |
Attention in educational settings
Concentration |
Assessing attention
Benton | Continuous Performance Task | TOMM | Wechsler Memory Scale |
Treating attention problems
CBT | Psychotherapy |
Prominant workers in attention
Baddeley | Broadbent | [[]] | Treisman | Cave |
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