Marc G. Berman and colleagues at the University of Michigan wanted to test the effect of a walk's scenery on cognitive function (Berman, Jonides & Kaplan, 2008; PDF). In the first of two studies participants were given a 35 minute task involving repeating loads of random numbers back to the experimenter, but in reverse order. After this cognitive psychology special they were sent out for a walk - one group around an arboretum and the other down a busy city street - both while being tracked with GPS devices. They each repeated the memory test when they got back.
The results showed that people's performance on the test improved by almost 20% after wandering amongst the trees. By comparison those subjected to a busy street did not reliably improve on the test.
In the second study participants weren't even allowed to leave the lab but instead some stared at pictures of natural scenes while others looked at urban environments. The improvements weren't quite as impressive as the first study, but, once again, the trees and fields beat the roads and lampposts.
These results replicated a previous study by Berto (2005) who found that just viewing pictures of natural scenes had a restorative effect on cognitive function. People's performance was soon restored by picture of trees, fields and hills, but not by streets, industrial units or even complex geometric patterns.
The results showed that people's performance on the test improved by almost 20% after wandering amongst the trees. By comparison those subjected to a busy street did not reliably improve on the test.
In the second study participants weren't even allowed to leave the lab but instead some stared at pictures of natural scenes while others looked at urban environments. The improvements weren't quite as impressive as the first study, but, once again, the trees and fields beat the roads and lampposts.
These results replicated a previous study by Berto (2005) who found that just viewing pictures of natural scenes had a restorative effect on cognitive function. People's performance was soon restored by picture of trees, fields and hills, but not by streets, industrial units or even complex geometric patterns.
More Information on the Study Here
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