scholarly journals Does the Mode of Exercise Influence the Benefits Obtained by Green Exercise?

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (16) ◽  
pp. 3004
Author(s):  
Matthew Fraser ◽  
Sarah-Anne Munoz ◽  
Sandra MacRury
Keyword(s):  
Test Results ◽  
Attention Restoration Theory ◽  
Directed Attention ◽  
Green Exercise ◽  
Attention Restoration ◽  
Effective Performance ◽  
Research Gap ◽  
Positive Feelings ◽  
Exercise Induced ◽  
Study Participants

Green exercise studies have tended to use walking as a modality of exercise to establish benefits to mental health. Whether green exercise benefits translate into different forms of green exercise has been deemed an important research gap. A mixed-methods study design was used to compare psychological responses between two forms of green exercise; golf and walking. A total of 20 participants (10 in each group), with a range of ages and experience were recruited to take part in the study. Participants in the walking condition exhibited significantly greater levels of dissociative cognitions than golf condition participants. Consequently, only the walking condition significantly improved in a directed attention test. Results from the Exercise-Induced Feeling Inventory questionnaire found the walking condition demonstrated increases in all four subscales, whereas the golf condition showed no significant improvements. Based on the findings from the qualitative analysis, distinct differences were seen with regards to the perception of the environment. Participants in the golf condition noted natural elements as obstacles to effective performance, whereas the walking group noted natural stimuli as evoking positive feelings. In agreement with the Attention Restoration Theory, the current study demonstrates that the benefits of green exercise are somewhat reduced when greater levels of directed attention towards the activity are exhibited during green exercise.

Incompatibility and Mental Fatigue

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 827-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas R. Herzog ◽  
Lauren J. Hayes ◽  
Rebecca C. Applin ◽  
Anna M. Weatherly
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Mental Fatigue ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Attention Restoration Theory ◽  
Directed Attention ◽  
Attention Restoration ◽  
Positive Correlations ◽  
Attention Fatigue ◽  
Report Measure

A straightforward prediction from attention restoration theory is that the level of incompatibility in a person’s life should be positively correlated with that person’s level of mental (or directed attention) fatigue. The authors tested this prediction by developing a new self-report measure of incompatibility in which they attempted to isolate all the six categories of incompatibility described by S. Kaplan: distraction, deficit of information, duty, deception, difficulty, and danger. Factor analysis revealed six factors that corresponded reasonably well to those six categories. This article found that a composite incompatibility score was positively correlated with a separate self-report measure of mental fatigue and so were all six of the subscale scores. With the exception of the score for duty, these positive correlations remained after partialing out a separate measure of the level of stress in the person’s life. The authors concluded that the proposed categories of incompatibility can be validly measured; that the constructs of incompatibility, mental fatigue, and stress are discriminable from each other; and that incompatibility is generally positively correlated with mental fatigue.

The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting With Nature

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 1207-1212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc G. Berman ◽  
John Jonides ◽  
Stephen Kaplan
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Attention Restoration Theory ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Directed Attention ◽  
Attention Restoration ◽  
Cognitive Benefits

We compare the restorative effects on cognitive functioning of interactions with natural versus urban environments. Attention restoration theory (ART) provides an analysis of the kinds of environments that lead to improvements in directed-attention abilities. Nature, which is filled with intriguing stimuli, modestly grabs attention in a bottom-up fashion, allowing top-down directed-attention abilities a chance to replenish. Unlike natural environments, urban environments are filled with stimulation that captures attention dramatically and additionally requires directed attention (e.g., to avoid being hit by a car), making them less restorative. We present two experiments that show that walking in nature or viewing pictures of nature can improve directed-attention abilities as measured with a backwards digit-span task and the Attention Network Task, thus validating attention restoration theory.

scholarly journals The reduction of directed attention fatigue through exposure to visual nature stimuli: Exploring a natural therapy for fatigue

SURG Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-13
Author(s):  
Michael Varkovetski
Keyword(s):  
Visual Stimulation ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Attention Restoration Theory ◽  
Directed Attention ◽  
Natural Landscape ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Attention Restoration ◽  
Test Application ◽  
Attention Fatigue

This study compares the restorative effects on directed attention functioning following exposure to natural landscape images versus scrambled/distorted landscape images. Attention restoration theory (ART) provides an analysis of the stimuli and environment required for restoration of cognitive fatigue. According to ART, nature employs attention through a bottom-up process in which intrinsically fascinating stimuli from the natural environment itself modestly dominate attention. This allows the mechanisms responsible for top-down processing, which is necessary for directed attention, to recover and replenish. Unlike natural environments, urban environments employ attention through bottom-up stimulation, which forces one to overcome the stimulation using directed attention, thus not allowing for the recovery of directed attention mechanisms. This study looks into whether solely visual stimulation of natural environments is adequate for the restoration of directed attention mechanisms as measured with the “Attention Test” application. The mean completion time on the Attention Test game was significantly lower in the nature image group (M = 54.33) when compared to the scrambled image group (M = 62.04), thus validating the visual aspect of ART.

Relation of Rated Fatigue and Changes in Energy after Exercise and over 14 Weeks in Previously Sedentary Women Exercisers

2002 ◽  
Vol 95 (3) ◽  
pp. 719-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
James J. Annesi
Keyword(s):  
Exercise Program ◽  
Mood States ◽  
Profile Of Mood States ◽  
Cardiovascular Exercise ◽  
Feeling State ◽  
Affective Change ◽  
Exercise Induced ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Sedentary Women ◽  
Asymptomatic Women

For 36 previously sedentary, asymptomatic women the relation of changes in Fatigue and Energy after exercise and over a 14-wk. period associated with participating in a moderate cardiovascular exercise program was analyzed. Scores on the Exercise-induced Feeling Inventory subscale of Physical Exhaustion significantly decreased, and those on the subscale of Revitalization significantly increased immediately after completion of exercise. Feeling state scores before exercise (high vs low on Physical Exhaustion and Revitalization) were not significantly associated with the change in scores on the subscales. Scores on the Profile of Mood States subscale of Fatigue significantly decreased and on the subscale of Vigor significantly increased over the 14-wk. study. Participants with initially higher Fatigue scores showed significantly greater mean change over the 14 wk. than those with lower scores. No such difference was found for changes in Vigor scores. Significant correlations between both measures of Fatigue (Physical Exhaustion and Fatigue) ( r = .36) and Energy (Revitalization and Vigor) ( r = .54) were found which indicated a relation between changes in feeling after exercise and those over 14 wk. Limitations and implications of the findings were discussed based on theories of exercise-induced affective change.

scholarly journals Nature-Based Physical Activity Advertising: Recommendations Based on Attention Restoration Theory and Psychoevolutionary Theory

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam G Gavarkovs
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Negative Mood ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Physical Activities ◽  
Natural Images ◽  
Message Design ◽  
Health And Wellness ◽  
Attention Restoration Theory ◽  
Attention Restoration ◽  
Health Promotion Campaign

Recent research has suggested that physical activity in natural areas may provide benefits that exceed those in other settings. Additional benefits include increased self-esteem and enjoyment of the activity, and decreased negative mood states and blood pressure. Therefore, encouraging nature-based physical activities may play an important role in the promotion of health and wellness. Advertising has been cited as an important component of a health promotion campaign; although to date no study has recommended strategies for designing advertising specific to nature-based physical activities. The purpose of this article is to review two prominent human-nature interaction frameworks, Attention Restoration Theory (ART) and Psychoevolutionary Theory (PET), and based on their tenets, recommend strategies for message design. The two recommendations proposed are: (1) to include natural images that meet the restorative criteria outlined in both theories; and (2) to explicitly feature the additional benefits of exercising in natural spaces in advertisements. Adhering to these recommendations in the advertisement design process may increase the effectiveness of the message.

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