In his study, Kaplan (2001) defined environment fascination as the physical surroundings where people are free to pursue their interests, explore details in the environment, and personally define meanings in the environment. Fascination is a vital part of a restorative experience, which also requires for a person to completely change a habitual environment. Kaplan & Kaplan (2011) differentiate two types of fascination “hard” and “soft”. “Hard” fascination usually would give an effect of arousal, and includes factors such as fast movements and loud noises, for example, watching sports games on television or visiting the amusement parks. This kind of a fascination attracts an attention, which as consequences makes to loosen a self-control …show more content…
Attention Restoration Theory (ART) speak about the ability of a person to achieve a restoration of concentration by being in the natural environments. In the Attention Restoration Theory, Kaplan (2011) says, that mental fatigue is a result of the one’s direct attention and how it can be fulfilled, that person would feel restored. Living and working in an urban environment is usually associated with the elevated amounts of the stress. The fatigue is accumulating if one would direct its attention too long on tasks or stressful activities. This can lead to physical and mental conditions such as fatigue, irritability, and easy distractibility, sometimes even aggression. The recovering from mental fatigue is possible if one would switch ones’ attention to any other activities that are not requiring any attention at all like mind wondering or walking at the natural settings. Also, it is suggested to change the environment in order to achieve a better relaxation outcome. This permits to replenish and restore mental, cognitive and attentional …show more content…
In the study “Attention Restoration Theory: A systematic review of the attention restoration potential of exposure to natural environments” conducted by Ohly et al. (2016), applies a theoretical background to the research project. The researchers have done both an analytical literature review and experiments which included randomized studies related to the influence of natural environment on the individuals’ attention. The study was tested on natural and not natural settings and results were examined. According to Ohly et al “objective measures of attention were used. The study results supported the ART and hypothesis that the natural environments have a positive influence on attention restoration. Even though this study had positive results it had limitations in form of small sample size, not enough investigations and variation in study results. Ohly et al stated that because of a diversity of evidence there is some sort of ambiguity concerning which aspects of attention can be influenced by one being in the natural
In chapter eight of Drunk Tank Pink, Adam Alter talks about locations and how the environment affected people’s daily lives. The chapter began by describing experiments involving people who grew up in different environments and how the different environments affected their behavior to certain situations. Those experiments had results proposing the idea that living in crowded areas would inhibit generosity and living in noisy places would hinder intellectual growth, and vice versa. Chapter eight also included experiments that were affiliated with nature; the researchers observed that people’s stress levels decreased and their health improved when some form of nature such as trees and grass were present. Some experiments focused on how the legibility
William James, an American psychologist, proposed the first theory of what we now call “selective attention”. Selective attention is the assumption that in order to focus on one activity going on in your environment, you must hinder all other tasks occurring in the background. A good illustration of this would be to block out the music playing for the sake of progress on school work. This is referred to as the spotlight theory. In premise, your visual attention works like a spotlight. There is a focal point, or place or concentration. Beyond the focal point is considered to be fringe; seen by the viewer, but not observed clearly. Outside of the focal point and fringe is surplus and not viewed at all (Cherry, 2014).
The human brain is a complex and interesting organ that we still do not know everything about. In the essay “Attention Deficit: the Brain Syndrome of Our Era,” the author Richard Restak talks about how our brains have changed in the way we see and respond to everything around us because of technology. Our brains have had to adapt to the different changes and the speed at which technology has advanced. Yet many argue these changes have not been for the better while others say that these changes will only benefit us. The change in the way the brain functions that he discusses, I think, are for the better of a person because advancements in technology is the way of the future and all of these changes will be for the better in the future.
In 1995, a Boston police officer responded to a 911 call regarding a shooting. Spotting a potential suspect he gave chase. During the pursuit the officer ran by an assault in progress without stopping to assist the victim. Later, he would claim that he never saw the assault because he was focused on chasing his suspect (Chabris, Weinberger, Fontaine & Simmons, 2011). This is an example of inattentional blindness or the failure to perceive objects or events when attention is focused elsewhere (Mack & Rock, 1998). Parents distracted by children, teenagers talking on cellphones and even professionals trained to be observant of their environment can fall prey to this phenomenon. Though people are not susceptible to inattentional blindness to the same degree, it is feasible that some may be less susceptible due to difficulties staying focused on a task at hand. This paper will examine the possibility that elderly people are less susceptible to inattentional blindness due to a decrease in attention skills.
viVigilance tasks require great deal of attention for an extended period of time. (Helton & Warm 2008) People who take place in such tasks usually find themselves struggling to concentrate after a period of time, this leads to decrease of accuracy and speed of the task, also known as vigilance decrement. There have been previous researches that suggest studies that have been the introduction to vigilance decrement theory. During the years of World War 2, radar system were used to detect enemy’s means of transport (submarine) while being under water. (Caggiano & Parasuraman , 2004). The radar monitor was also used couple of years after the world war 2 on Royal Air Force, same results had occurred. (Helton & Warm 2008). It was concluded that there has been a decrease in performance, the longer someone spends staring at radar monitors, their level of vigilance drops significantly. (Caggiano & Parasuraman , 2004) There have been many more studies that were carried for people who work for Macworth, studies showed attention can only be sustain for a short period of time, the longer the period of time was for vigilance task the worse they performed. This has been said for both human beings and non-human beings. (Helton & warm 2008)
Home is experienced in a multitude of ways using our senses. Impressions of our past and present homes materialize from a familiar smell, sight, feeling, taste or sound. We all live in a multi-sensory environment, where we can use one or more of our senses on a daily basis to absorb our surroundings. However, it is easily arguable that although each sense can conjure up a memory, or imprint a grasp of where we live or lived, certain senses are stronger with the recollection or the feelings we have of our home. If we live in the same home as other people, some of us will associate a certain smell to the home, while others will not; or a sound, etc., that I would not associate with that home. I will be pursuing the reasons why we absorb our environments
Richard Louv, the author of, “Last Child in the Woods: Saving our children from nature deficit-disorder,” talks about nature and its benefits to a healthy development. Time Experiencing with nature allows people to have healthy development since it promotes creativity and imagination. It does not take more than a couple of steps outside to see nature. It is all around us. It can even be right outside our window. Leaving the blinds open can bring peace of mind, just by viewing it. As people experience time with nature, no matter the age, they develop greater creativity and imagination. It is like people today fear nature.
Obsession is an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind the state of being obsessed with someone or something. In the famous horror film The Chainsaw Massacre, the character Bubba is attacked and craves for the skin off of his victims, just like the true killer Ed Gein, who killed and body snatcher bodies. Why are we captivated to this? Some like the move, just because the different scenes that will make you jumps and the suspense of movies, or even some find it chilling to see how people are being tourchered. But that doesn’t make us a killer. Some may be intrigued to the ways one kills another but as long you're not the one making the killing or any short of form of a living thing such as an animal or a person or are showing other traits or had suffered psychological abuse during childhood, sexually stressful events during childhood, bed wetting, growing up lonely, creating fantasies, and doing physical abuse towards others. Then just enjoy those movies, or criminal
Celebrated by a 25th Anniversary Edition publication in 2014, Mindfulness by Ellen J. Langer explores the ideas of mindlessness and mindfulness and their implications on health and wellbeing. Langer is a very accomplished psychologist having received her BA from New York University and her PhD from Yale. She has been a Professor of Psychology at Harvard since 1977. A few of her achievements include the NYU Alumni Achievement Award, the Arthur Staats Award for Unifying Psychology, and the World Congress Award. Langer has authored 11 books and over 200 research articles on topics such as perceived control, successful aging, and decision-making. However, all of her research has a focus on mindfulness.
Modern life is full of hassle, stress and frustrations. Stress is so common that is has become a way of life of many people. Stress isn’t always negative. In small measures, it can help you cope well under pressure and encourage you to do your best. Stress has known to be a common factor for students these days due to work overload. Stress can cause some lifestyle problems, for example, headaches, loss of appetite, heart attacks, obesity, aging, depression, nervous breakdown and loss of focus. There are many ways in which stress could be overcome, such as yoga and meditation. Studies have found that stress has both positive and negative effect on everyone. Even though meditation is conventional, people still practice it in hopes of stave off stress. Meditations have been used for centuries by everyone as one of the cures to help reduce stress in their daily life.
It is human nature to create an altered reality that is more suitable for habitation both physically and emotionally to protect the psyche. It is within this innately human subjective perception of realit...
Restful alertness is more present during the meditative state. This means that a person is peaceful yet aware of his surroundings.
On the other hand, nature elements are proven to restore attentional fatigue and contribute both psychological and physiological benefits (Hartig et al., 2003; Ulrich & Simons, 1986; Ulrich et al., 1991). R. Kaplan and Kaplan (1989) proposed a restorative environment requires four features: being away, extent, fascination and compatibility to promote recovery from attentional fatigue. In natural environment, urban dwellers can obtain a sense of freedom from daily routine and projects that require massive mental efforts (being away). Nature usually has abundant and coherent landscape structures. It encompasses trails for exploration (extent), and many attractive elements, such as: animals, trees or plants, water features (fascination), and it
The main purpose of this chapter is: to illustrate that when we practice mindfulness, we are more aware of our senses and can more fully enjoy what they have to offer. Living in an overindulgent, demanding society, individuals lose sight of the simplicities. The five basic senses – sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch – appear for many individuals at birth, resting unnoticed throughout life. With continuous stimulation from the external environment and internal factors, our senses do not turn on and off. Due to this continuous stimulation, individuals lose appreciation for their senses. By participating in mindfulness, an individual pulls himself or herself from reality, reflecting on their present experience.
The brain is a complex machine capable of performing a multitude of tasks. More than that, it is also able to grow and develop. Amongst the many activities that aid in the enhancement of the abilities of the brain, many do not recognize that the effortless act of solemnly focusing on one’s own mind and sensations can actually enhance cognitive function; moreover, it can also boost physical and mental health. Accordingly, meditation has been confirmed to provide a wide range of benefits. By calming your thoughts now and then, you may notice improvements in the way you carry out particular tasks. With regular practice, this act of attaining a certain state of awareness through deep concentration