When
it comes to ways of improving cognitive ability, much of our discussion
centers on complex interventions. But additional avenues for
broad-based cognitive improvement could be as simple as a walk in the
park. While spending more time outside may sound like practical folk
wisdom, research shows that natural environments provide real and
measurable psychological benefits. Let’s look at some of the findings.Two kinds of cognitive attention
It
has long been accepted among psychologists that attention and
concentration are a finite resource that is depleted throughout the day
as we perform cognitively demanding tasks. But research on this topic
makes a crucial distinction between two different ways that our
attention can be engaged.
Much
like the cognitive tasks we are faced with at school or at work, urban
environments deplete our resources by demanding “directed attention”,
where one must focus on processing specific stimuli while filtering out
others and suppressing physiological or emotional distractions. There is
traffic that must be avoided, signs that must be read, and street grids
or transit systems that must be navigated among constantly moving
crowds, all of which leads to mental fatigue
Natural
environments, on the other hand, interact with our cognition in the
radically different manner of fascination or “effortless attention”.
Stimuli like a beautiful sunset or a green meadow capture our attention
involuntarily and non-threateningly, without requiring conscious focus
or demanding a response. Like stretching muscles between workouts, such
natural environments engage our cognitive function in a way that
restores rather than drains their capacity.
Research proposed in the 1980s by Rachel and Stephen Kaplan has consistently validated the benefits of exposure to nature. In multiple studies,
exposure to natural environments significantly improved participants’
performance on attention, memory, and cognition tests when compared to
either urban or indoor environments. Amazingly, these benefits appear to
extend to more artificial substitutes such as indoor plants or even
just looking at nature photographs.
Mental and physiological health
Natural
environments have also correlated with reduced stress and better mental
health outcomes. According to Stanford researcher Gregory Bratman,
“nature scenes activate our parasympathetic nervous system in ways that
reduce stress and autonomic arousal, due to our connection to the
natural world.” For example, office workers with windows facing natural
scenery have reported higher job satisfaction and less workplace
frustration. When a recent study added brain scans into the mix,
nature walks were shown to reduce activity in the subgenual prefrontal
cortex, a brain region associated with depressive rumination.
Exposure
to nature appears to have physiological benefits as well. Nursing home
residents suffering from dementia showed improved mobility after
spending time in a garden, and hospital patients with green window views
recovered faster from surgery.
Social and behavioral intelligence
Supporting
the age-old refrain of being told to go play outside, studies suggest
that nature has even greater significance for children. The variety of
objects and patterns found in natural landscapes encourages imaginative
play, which is linked to social as well as cognitive development. A
study focusing on inner-city children found that, at least for girls,
greener home surroundings correlated with greater impulse control and
self-discipline. Likewise, playing in natural spaces was associated with
a reduction of symptom severity in children diagnosed with Attention
Deficit Disorder. In
a broader sense, the open and unstructured nature of outdoor natural
spaces encourages social cohesion through group activity and cooperative
problem-solving. And this benefit of green spaces also extends to
adults, especially those belonging to marginalized urban populations.
Implications
Something
as simple as exposure to nature can be an additional avenue for
improving learning outcomes alongside more targeted cognitive
interventions. However, access to natural spaces is already scarce in
the areas where many educationally disadvantaged children are
concentrated, and the issue is becoming more pressing as the rate of
urbanization increases worldwide. Given what we know about the
interlocking relationship between cognitive, behavioral, and emotional
development in early childhood, it behooves educators to lend more
consideration to environmental factors, so that we can provide children
with the best possible space in which to grow.
