Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Attention Restoration Theory (Kaplan, 1995) posits that the prolonged use of directed attention results in directed attention fatigue and that exposure to environments with restorative properties leads to increased attentional capacities. Despite a great deal of evidence illustrating this effect, there has been little research into the specific mechanisms accounting for this effect, and no research examining what is occurring in the mind during the restorative process. Most researchers have operated on the assumption that the relaxation of directed attention faculties accounts for the effect of attention restoration, with little evidence to completely support this assumption. However, conflicting evidence suggests that similar restorative effects for attention can be achieved by very different methods than attention restoration. Reflection has been conceptualized as a component or side-effect of the restorative process, but no research has examined how or if reflection adds to the effects of attention restoration. This study examined how reflective processes contribute to the restorative effect of attention restoration. In a randomized 2X3 design, 81 participants drawn from undergraduate university classes were given an attention-draining task, and then exposed to either restorative or non-restorative environments, and given either directed or generic prompts to reflect, or no prompt. Exposure to restorative environments was associated with greater attentional recovery than exposure to non-restorative enviornments. The greatest restoration appeared to occur in conditions with generic prompts to reflect, although this difference was not significant. Directed prompts were found to increase positive affect, and restorative conditions experienced significant decreases in negative affect and perceived arousal. Differential effects were found for the amount and type of reflection elicited in the conditions, but largely suggested that directed prompts elicited more internally-based feedback while generic prompts tended to elicit more externally-based reflection, and that the prompting reflection led to increases in reflection. These results suggest that reflection may play a greater role in the attention restoration process than previously believed.

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