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Bird sounds and their contributions to perceived attention restoration and stress recovery
Abstract
Natural environments, and particularly visual stimuli in nature, are usually perceived as restorative following stress and attention fatigue. Studies extending these findings to auditory natural stimuli have used soundscapes comprising multiple types of sound. Birdsong recurs as a type of sound used in such studies, but little is known about restorative perceptions of bird sounds on their own and how these may relate to existing theories of environmental restoration. Via semi-structured interviews with twenty adult participants, bird songs and calls were found to be the type of natural sound most commonly associated with perceived stress recovery and attention restoration. However, not all bird sounds were regarded as helpful for such processes. Three themes formed the basis of these perceived relationships: affective appraisals, cognitive appraisals, and relationships with nature. Sub-themes of the acoustic, aesthetic, and associative properties of bird sounds were also related to restorative perceptions. Future studies should quantitatively examine the potential of a variety of bird sounds to aid attention restoration and stress recovery, and how these might be predicted by acoustic, aesthetic, and associative properties, in order to better understand how and why sounds such as birdsong might provide restorative benefits.
... Despite growing recognition of the risks of disease transmission (Lawson et al. 2018), and the possible negative impacts on biodiversity (Shutt and Lees 2021), the practice of feeding garden birds is clearly a popular and accessible means of connecting with nature in urban environments. Hammoud et al. 2022) and restoration (Ratcliffe et al. 2013(Ratcliffe et al. , 2020Zhu et al. 2020). Effects are greater in conditions of perceived species diversity (Cameron et al. 2020;Cox and Gaston 2015), and when people actively encounter birds (Cox et al. 2018). ...
... Magpies and Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are disliked for being 'noisy, rackety birds, vulgar and aggressive' (Mynott, p 59, in Moss 2011). In an interview study, Ratcliffe et al. (2013) found that people made sharp distinctions between birds based on their songs and noises, with Crows and Magpies considered raucous and harsh. Cox et al. (2018) suggest songbirds and woodpeckers, who are generally attractive and bring pleasure to people, offer cultural services in the form of wellbeing and connection to nature, whereas genera such as gulls, pigeons and corvids, are considered to bring disservices through their association with disease transmission, pollution, and damage to property. ...
... As noted earlier, affective responses to birds and their behaviour are also central to people's motivations for feeding birds and the pleasure they receive from watching and listening to them. Rich accounts of the role of emotions emerge in qualitative research, revealing the nature and strength of people's emotional affiliation with birds (e.g., Chapman 2015;Clark et al. 2019;Curtin 2009;Lorimer 2008;Ratcliffe et al. 2013). Emotions can shape people's behaviour in relation to feeding and caring for wild birds. ...
The feeding of garden birds is a popular and accessible means of connecting with wildlife in urban environments in the United Kingdom. Past research has found that the main motivations for feeding birds are psychological benefits, concern for bird welfare, and connecting to nature. This study explores whether a brief birdwatching activity impacts on wellbeing, anxiety, and nature connection. One hundred and fifty-six participants took part in a birdwatching activity, identifying the species that entered their garden during a thirty-minute period. Participants were randomly allocated to the ‘joy’ group, who rated their feeling of joy on seeing each species, or the ‘count’ group, who counted the number of birds of each species. Measures of wellbeing, state anxiety and nature connection were completed before and after the observation period. Both groups had improved wellbeing, anxiety, and nature connection, though decreases in anxiety were greatest for those in the joy group. These results suggest that activating a sense of joy heightens the psychological benefits of watching garden birds. These benefits and the strengthening of nature connections highlight the reciprocal relationship between humans and birds and the importance of actions towards healthy, sustainable urban ecosystems.
... The relation is strengthened mainly by acoustic characteristics of sounds, such as the frequency spectrum, amplitude, temporal envelope (Zwicker and Fastl, 1990), directivity or sharpness (proportion of high frequencies in total frequencies), roughness (ratio of burst duration to total duration) and other psychoacoustic parameters (Kang et al., 2016). The interpretation of the meaning of sounds and their similarity (Gygi et al., 2007) or their monotony, aesthetic properties (Ratcliffe et al., 2013) and context (Medvedev et al., 2015) in which they are embedded (e.g., connection with the visual stimuli, see Carles et al., 1999) is also strengthening factors. ...
... The varying noisiness of sounds revealed that natural sound sources (Ellermeier et al., 2001) are generally preferred over traffic and machinery noise (Carles et al., 1999;Yang and Kang, 2005;Dubois et al., 2006;Van den Bosch et al., 2018), with a higher activity of parasympathetic nervous system being recorded after exposure to them (Ulrich et al., 1991;Annerstedt et al., 2013). Birdsong and the rustling of branches were particularly positively perceived for inducing states of relaxation (Carles et al., 1999;Yang and Kang, 2005), attention restoration, stress recovery (Ratcliffe et al., 2013;Medvedev et al., 2015) and pain reduction (Diette et al., 2003). Such sounds were also part of nature-based rehabilitation which exhibited positive results in patients suffering from stress-related mental disorders (Cerwén et al., 2016). ...
... However, due to the monotony and unpleasantness of the sound of chainsaws, the changes can acquire higher values (Weber et al., 1980;Gomez and Danuser, 2004). The group of EPs listening to the sounds of a forest is expected to give a more positive evaluation (Carles et al., 1999;Yang and Kang, 2005) as well as more a positive and higher classification of attention restoration and stress recovery (Ratcliffe et al., 2013;Medvedev et al., 2015). ...
We explored differences in the course of physiological functions and in the subjective evaluations in response to listening to a 7-min recording of the sound of a chainsaw and to the sounds of a forest. A Biofeedback 2000x-pert apparatus was used for continual recording of the following physiological functions in 50 examined persons: abdominal and thoracic respiration and their amplitude and frequency, electrodermal activity (skin conductance level), finger skin temperature, heart rate (pulse, blood volume pulse and blood volume pulse amplitude) and heart rate variability (HRV). The group of 25 subjects listening to the sound of a chainsaw exhibited significantly lower values of blood volume pulse amplitude, lower values in peak alpha frequency HRV and higher values in peak high-frequency HRV. In the time interval from 80 s to 209 s, in which the two groups showed the greatest differences, lower values of blood volume pulse were also recorded while listening to the sound of a chainsaw. Listening to the sound of a chainsaw is associated with a greater feeling of fatigue and higher tension, while listening to the sounds of a forest is even considered to elicit feelings of improved learning abilities. The assumption that listening to the sound of a chainsaw results in higher defense arousal was confirmed. The greater variability which is exhibited by a majority of physiological functions while listening to the forest sounds may also be an innovative finding. It seems that there are two types of arousal (sympathetic and parasympathetic) following from correlations between physiological functions and subjective assessment. Low values of blood volume pulse amplitude are especially important from the health perspective. They correspond to the amount of vasoconstriction which occurs in the endothelial dysfunction related to increased mortality, incidence of myocardial infarction, leg atherosclerosis and topically to COVID-19.
... In addition, a previous study reported that birds are kept giving satisfaction to their owners because they can provide a natural atmosphere in the form of beautiful appearances, colors, and songs (Putranto et al. 2021). That is confirmed by Ratcliffe et al. (2013), who wrote that listening to birds' chirp can benefit the brain and body, which would be caused human body relaxation. ...
... Study results were analyzed using a modified Sudjana formula cited by Saputro et al. (2016) below: ...
Putranto HD, Nurmeilliasari, Harahap AS, Brata B, Sutriyono, Yumiati Y. 2023. The evidence of cloaca display as an indicator to validate breeding behavior during the matchmaking phase on local Indonesia female White-rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus). Biodiversitas 24: 486-491. White-rumped Shama bird, which Indonesian bird lovers call the Murai Batu bird (Copsychus malabaricus), has been a favorite bird for almost a decade. This bird is well-known among bird keepers for its colors and male singing voices. Generally, we recognize some biological behaviors that are trusted as avian behaviors. However, some specific behaviors in wild and domesticated birds are still not detected and unclear. The objective of this study was to validate and analyze the scientific evidence, frequency, and duration of cloaca display appearance as indicators of the female White-rumped Shama birds breeding behavior during the matchmaking phase. By animal focal sampling method, 18 sexually mature females of local White-rumped Shama captivated and observed by the research peer team were observed intensively for cloaca display activity during 22 days of matchmaking observation duration. Those 18 female samples were treated for matchmaking with another 8 males. For the cloaca display frequency and duration parameter, a time sampling method was used by dividing a total of 6 hours of daily behavior observation into 3 hours of observation duration, 2 times a day with 6 hours of distance between one observation and to next observation. Daily behavior observation conducted between 06.00 am to 09.00 am continued from 03.00 pm to 06.00 pm. Cloaca display frequency was counted as how often a female shows a cloaca exposure to her male matchmaking partner during the daily observation period. Then, a cloaca display duration was measured in the unit of seconds for each cloaca display behavior confirmed. Seventeen (17) female White-rumped Shama birds (94% samples) exhibited motion of cloaca display, with 21 motions of cloaca display behaviors confirmed. The earliest cloaca display behavior was confirmed on day 15 after matchmaking began, and the latest behavior was confirmed on day 22 after matchmaking began. These behaviors were seen on average of day 18.9±2.256 after matchmaking began. The shortest duration of cloaca display behavior lasted for 1.62 seconds, and the longest lasted for 6.26 seconds, with an average duration of 4.37 seconds for each motion. The average daily confirmed cloaca display frequency among that female White-rumped Shama was 0.053 times in 22 days of matchmaking observation duration. Cloaca display motion is seen daily (21 days) during 22 days of observation conducted, and the relative frequency percentage of cloaca display behavior was 95.45%. There is no proven info about the breeding behavior of this bird, and based on our scientific results, we strongly believe cloaca display motion can be validated as the main indicator of Indonesia's local female White-rumped Shama birds' breeding behavior. It can be read from the relative frequency percentage of cloaca display motion of female White-rumped Shama, which is overtopped 95% or dominant motion in its breeding behavior.
... Music influences individuals' emotional states (Lundqvist, Carlsson, Hilmersson, & Juslin, 2009), stress level (Annerstedt et al., 2013), moods, tension, energy level, and perception of visual stimuli (Turley & Milliman, 2000). Similarly, bird sound's "relaxing and restorative" effects (Ratcliffe et al., 2013;Ratcliffe et al., 2016) have been associated with the feeling of "personal connectedness to nature" and an increased level of personal interactions with nature (Ratcliffe et al., 2013) which are linked to the benefits of promoting well-being (Depledge, Stone, & Bird, 2011). Accordingly, the experiment group was exposed to "Black Bird" songs 20 min prior to the experiment and during the experiment, while participants of the control group stayed in a silent room. ...
... Music influences individuals' emotional states (Lundqvist, Carlsson, Hilmersson, & Juslin, 2009), stress level (Annerstedt et al., 2013), moods, tension, energy level, and perception of visual stimuli (Turley & Milliman, 2000). Similarly, bird sound's "relaxing and restorative" effects (Ratcliffe et al., 2013;Ratcliffe et al., 2016) have been associated with the feeling of "personal connectedness to nature" and an increased level of personal interactions with nature (Ratcliffe et al., 2013) which are linked to the benefits of promoting well-being (Depledge, Stone, & Bird, 2011). Accordingly, the experiment group was exposed to "Black Bird" songs 20 min prior to the experiment and during the experiment, while participants of the control group stayed in a silent room. ...
Organic foods have been argued to be highly beneficial for human health and environmental sustainability. Interest in organic food consumption has been steadily growing. In practice, music and sounds of nature have widely been utilized in the food retailing industry to evoke customers and influence their sustainable product purchases. The present research explored the effects of subjective and objective knowledge, mood states, connectedness to nature (CtN), and visual attention to the organic logo on organic purchase by a controlled eye-tracking study. Sixty women, all with children participated in the study. Findings revealed that objective knowledge, subjective knowledge, and visual attention on organic labels posed significant effects on organic purchases. However, no such effects of mood states and connectedness to nature have been observed. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.
... In addition, research into birdsong (Ratcliffe et al, 2013) found that it was the type of natural sound most commonly associated with stress recovery when out in nature. Berman et al (2012) found a significant increase in memory and mood was experienced by adults suffering from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) following interactions with nature. ...
... Their research indicated that environments with a clear field of vision (high prospect) and a low number 12 of places to hide (refuge) were restorative, but those environments with low prospect and high refuge were low in perceived restoration. Ratcliffe et al (2013) highlight that whilst birdsong is synonymous with most people's experience of being outdoors, to many people the sounds of particular birds is more irritating than restorative (such as pigeons and gulls) or could be scary (ravens, birds of prey). 'Not all birds may be perceived as restorative, and not all listeners may find them restorative' (Ratclffe et al., 2013, p.223) Whilst some limitations and criticism of ART have been published (Ulrich et al, 1991; Joye & Dewitte, 2018) much of the critique focuses on the method used for researching the theory rather than on the theory itself. ...
There is little empirical research into the benefits and experiences of coaching specifically in the outdoors. Attention Restoration Theory (ART) identifies four facets that explain why nature enables the brain to restore directed attention, improve cognitive capabilities and relieve stress. It is proposed that ART is relevant to understanding the benefits of outdoor coaching because, according to ART, natural environments can help the brain to focus more efficiently, make decisions, think creatively and process information effectively by restoring directed attention and cognitive capacity - all of which are aspects of high quality coaching conversations. The aim of the research is to identify the benefits of outdoor coaching experienced by the participants and analyse them using Attention Restoration Theory as a framework to explain these benefits. Data regarding the felt experiences of nine participants who are currently having, or recently had, outdoor coaching is analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and discussed. The key findings show six identified key themes linking the participants’ felt experiences with the four facets of ART: Being side-by-side; movement and pace; the perceived benefits of outdoors vs indoors; thinking differently; openness and expanse; senses, emotions and feelings. We conclude that there are benefits to taking coaching conversations outside and that ART is a framework that can explain these benefits.
... Adding birdsong to the environment can significantly improve the restorative value of the environment. Birdsong was the sound most often associated with people's restorative experiences in nature [41]. By evoking thoughts or perceptions associated with biodiversity, a natural environment with birdsong can attract people and promote mental restoration [42][43][44][45], and enhance their landscape perception, thereby allowing them to connect to nature and achieve restoration [21]. ...
... Firstly, the combination of birdsong and landscape could enhance people's mental restoration; thus, birdsong can be incorporated into the design of a restorative environment. Planners could apply ecological restoration and other means to construct a bird-friendly environment for attracting birdsong [41]. Secondly, water sound does not fit all landscape features, but the combination of rich green species and water sound would make people feel restored in the environment. ...
The natural environment has been widely recognized as an important way of alleviating mental disorders. While a growing number of studies have discussed the restorative effect of the natural environment, the role of sounds in the natural environment (i.e., soundscape) on promoting mental restoration is under limited exploration. Therefore, we examined the restorative effect of visual stimuli and the combination of audio and visual factors in the natural environment. A total of 149 college students were divided into five groups, and exposed to different combinations of photos and sounds (with ‘silence’ as a control group) collected along the East Lake Greenway—the longest urban greenway in China. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the correlation between characteristics of the natural environment and volunteers’ mental restoration, with place attachment as a mediator. Results showed that: (1) sound can alter the effect of visual factors on mental restoration; (2) birdsong can significantly enhance the restorative benefit of urban greenways; (3) an environment that is covered in greenery and consists of water sounds will contribute to a higher level of mental restoration; (4) human noise will have a negative impact on mental restoration; (5) place attachment is a mediator between the natural environment and mental restoration. This study highlights the effectiveness of sounds in the natural environment in promoting mental restoration, and broadens our understanding of the link between the natural environment and mental health. We propose that not only visual factors, but also audio-visual combinations, should be considered when creating restorative environments.
... The Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES; Maes et al., 2013;Potschin & Haines-Young, 2016) defines cultural ecosystem services as intangible ecosystem outputs that can facilitate a range of experiential and intellectual activities, such as recreation, proximity to wildlife, social interaction, spiritual inspiration and reflection (Potschin & Haines-Young, 2016). Given their potential to promote stress recovery (Aletta et al., 2018;Alvarsson et al., 2010) and attention restoration (Krzywicka & Byrka, 2017;Payne, 2013;Ratcliffe et al., 2013;Uebel et al., 2021), natural soundscapes commonly experienced in urban parks, are increasingly recognised as important cultural ecosystem services in their own right (Francis et al., 2017). ...
... Importantly, such environmental education programs should also have a clear emphasis on experiencing nature, which may further help people feel part of and connected to local parks and natural areas (Clayton et al., 2017). It is also important to acknowledge that not all bird calls and songs are perceived as pleasant (Cox & Gaston, 2015;Ratcliffe et al., 2013Ratcliffe et al., , 2016. Consequently, strategies aimed at promoting a greater awareness of birds should have a clear focus on species with melodic, interesting calls and a history of positive appraisals, such as the majority of songbirds (Cox & Gaston, 2015). ...
Natural soundscapes experienced in parks are increasingly recognised as a valuable ecosystem service, yet urban parks soundscapes also commonly contain anthropogenic noise. While studies show bird calls can promote psychological restoration, the factors that might influence actual experiences of these sounds by individuals in urban parks are less clear. Equally, continual exposure to anthropogenic noise, such as vehicle traffic, is associated with negative health outcomes, but determinants influencing negative experiences of such sounds within a park soundscape are poorly understood. To address this gap we used an ex situ survey of over 4000 Australian residents and examined a range of spatial and social factors in influencing perceptions towards noticing and pleasantness of bird sounds and traffic noise within urban parks. The results indicate older age, recent park use, and valuing parks for uses such as exercising, socialising and to hear nature, were positively associated with pleasant bird sound experiences in parks. For traffic sounds, we found indicators of disadvantage, such as renting a home were associated with a higher likelihood of unpleasant experiences of traffic noise within parks. Notably, individuals using parks for social activities were still positively associated with pleasant bird sound experiences and less likely to perceive traffic sounds as unpleasant. Conversely, whilst those with greater nature‐relatedness had a strong positive association with pleasant bird sound experiences, they were more likely to perceive traffic as unpleasant. Overall, these findings suggest that whilst many types of park users can potentially experience the beneficial effects from bird sounds, the detrimental effects of traffic noise may constrain these benefits in certain social groups, particularly those of greater socio‐economic disadvantage. We discuss strategies to promote greater equity of therapeutic experiences of bird sounds in parks, whilst outlining traffic mitigation measures within urban parks. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
... Birdsong has attracted greater attention due to its physiopsychological restorative effects on visitiors in urban green spaces (Alvarsson et al., 2010;Benfield et al., 2014;Hume & Ahtamad, 2013;Ma & Shu, 2018;Ratcliffe et al., 2013). Ratcliffe et al. (2013) summarized factors that contribute to this and showed that affective appraisals of helpful birdsong to visitors' levels of restoration can be related to positive valence and lower arousal, and the initiation of cognitive appraisals such as distraction from one's problems, easy attention, and novelty. ...
... Birdsong has attracted greater attention due to its physiopsychological restorative effects on visitiors in urban green spaces (Alvarsson et al., 2010;Benfield et al., 2014;Hume & Ahtamad, 2013;Ma & Shu, 2018;Ratcliffe et al., 2013). Ratcliffe et al. (2013) summarized factors that contribute to this and showed that affective appraisals of helpful birdsong to visitors' levels of restoration can be related to positive valence and lower arousal, and the initiation of cognitive appraisals such as distraction from one's problems, easy attention, and novelty. For example, an environmental setting with birdsong was more positively perceived and birdsong was beneficial in decreasing skin conductance level and increasing the pleasantness of a soundscape (de Coensel et al., 2011;Hedblom et al., 2014;Medvedev et al., 2015). ...
People obtain a host of benefits and increased well-being from multi-sensory experiences in natural environments. In order to examine the effects of multi-sensory combinations, this study thus measured physiological (ST, SCL, α-EEG, β-EEG) and psychological (STAI-S) restoration and the overall perceived quality evaluation with four independent plant landscapes (lawn, rose garden, osmanthus garden and pine forest). Participants (308) were recruited and randomly assigned to 14 independent groups to experience one of the following stimuli: (1) only birdsong; (2) birdsong + photo (4 types); (3) birdsong + odor (4 types); and (4) birdsong + photo + congruent odor (4 types). Note that one group served as a control group. The main findings showed that: 1. Integrating visual stimuli of birdsong improved physiological restoration, and the overall perceived quality evaluation but held no psychological effect. 2. Introducing olfactory stimuli of birdsong had an adverse restoration physiologically and no significant effect on psychological restoration and the overall preference, but enhanced the perceived overall feelings of attraction to the landscape and a sense of overall harmony. 3. Introducing a combination of visual-olfactory stimuli led to increased physiological restoration (only for β-EEG) and overall perceived quality evaluation but also had no significant effect psychologically. These findings indicate that multisensory stimuli resulted in greater physiological and psychological restorations, and positive and negative interactive effects on human well-being, providing insights to further study examining the interaction of different sensory experiences in urban parks.
... Additionally, a large number of studies have shown that the soundscape affects our health and quality of life (Shepherd, Welch, Dirks & McBride, 2013;Von Lindern, Hartig & Lercher, 2016). Some of the results of these studies revealed that natural sounds have stronger restorative effects (Li & Kang, 2019;Ratcliffe, Gatersleben & Sowden, 2013). Some studies have shown that the natural environment can not only relieve stress (from the stress phase to the baseline), but also improve cognitive ability and positive emotions (beyond the baseline, even if there is no stress phase) (Korpela & Ratcliffe, 2021). ...
... Natural sound and noise were polarised by each restorative factor. This was obviously consistent with the results of previous studies of restorative theory that indicated that the natural environment can be more restorative than urban traffic and pedestrian street scenarios (Berto, 2005;Ratcliffe et al., 2013). In contrast, it was difficult to distinguish different scenarios from the physiological data. ...
The present study aimed to identify the trends of changes in physiological indicators and subjective restorativeness in response to audio-visual interactions in the environment. Four scenarios types were presented using four different modalities (video-sound, image-sound, sound-only, and video-only; each modality was evaluated by independent groups of subjects). The physiological responses and subjective restoration of subjects were measured to assess the interactions between the audio-visual modalities. These data were also analysed to determine the physiological and subjective differences between dynamic and static visual presentations. We found that with visual modalities, the heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV) calculated using the standard deviation of the NN intervals (SDNN[sbnd]HRV), high-frequency band in the HRV power spectrum (HF[sbnd]HRV), alpha reactivity on electroencephalography, and skin temperature (ST) decreased; however, the beta reactivity on EEG and skin conductance level (SCL) increased. With auditory modalities, the SDNN[sbnd]HRV, HF-HRV, ST, and respiration depth decreased; however, the respiration rate and SCL increased. Use of static images and sound to reproduce the natural environment evoked more physiological comfort and subjective restorativeness. These findings could provide physiological insights for the theory of the restorative environment.
... From the aspect of psychological response, insects and bird sounds are more abundant than other sounds; therefore, they have a larger influence on the health benefits than quiet soundscapes and monotonous, noisy, and unnatural sounds. Ratcliffe et al. conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 subjects and found that birdsong was the most suitable natural sound type for releasing stress and restoring attention, which was of significant potential for stress recovery [51]. Our study also verified the decompression theory of Ulrich et al. [52], who observed that a positive environment substantially relaxed people, reduced the sense of pressure, and provided a positive physiological response. ...
... However, this approach has some limitations. For instance, Ratcliffe et al. found that the soundscape of green spaces had higher health benefits, which might be related to the high vegetation coverage [51]. Watts et al. found that the higher health benefits of blue spaces were related to the restorative benefits of water sounds as well as visual landscape features [53]. ...
The development of China’s national parks is still in the initial stage, and few scholars have studied the effects of soundscapes on human physiology and psychology from the perspective of the auditory senses in national parks. In this study, the Qianjiangyuan National Park System Pilot Area was taken as the research subject, physiological indicators of subjects were collected through a biopAC-MP150 multi-channel physiological instrument data platform, and the subjective psychological response of soundscapes was measured using a Likert scale. The results showed that the sound of water had the most significant effect on the heart rate and respiratory rate of the subjects. Agricultural sound had the greatest impact on the skin conduction levels, while conversation had the least overall impact on human physiology. There were significant differences in comfort, excitement, and significance among the different soundscapes (p < 0.001). The sounds of insects are more likely to elicit feelings of comfort and excitement, while the sounds of birds are more likely to arouse curiosity. No significant correlation was observed between the physiological indices and psychological indices. The study on the effects of different soundscapes on human physiology and psychology in China’s national parks will provide a basis for the decision makers of national parks to formulate more effective planning, design, and management policies regarding soundscapes.
... Indeed, people find some of the built environments relaxing, such as historic sites or cafes, and cultural background, age, social components, and individual dispositions may influence these feelings (Weber & Trojan, 2018). In addition, there are differences between what people perceive as relaxing in natural stimuli (Ratcliffe et al., 2013). For example, the singing of any bird species is not perceived as relaxing, but the degree of perceived relaxation is affected by the associations with the bird and the acoustic properties of the sound (Ratcliffe et al., 2013(Ratcliffe et al., , 2020. ...
... In addition, there are differences between what people perceive as relaxing in natural stimuli (Ratcliffe et al., 2013). For example, the singing of any bird species is not perceived as relaxing, but the degree of perceived relaxation is affected by the associations with the bird and the acoustic properties of the sound (Ratcliffe et al., 2013(Ratcliffe et al., , 2020. ...
Exposure to natural environments has positive psychological effects. These effects have been explained from an evolutionary perspective, emphasizing humans’ innate preference for natural stimuli. We tested whether top-down cognitive processes influence the psychophysiological effects of environments. The source of an ambiguous sound was attributed to either nature (waterfall) or industry (factory). The results suggested that the participants’ subjective experiences were more pleasant and relaxed when the sound was attributed to nature than to industry. The influence of source attribution was also reflected in physiological measures that were free of subjective biases. The power of the brain’s lower alpha band activity was stronger in the nature scenario than in the industry condition. The individuals’ nature connectedness moderated the influence of source attribution on theta band power and electrodermal activity. The results support an evolutionary-constructivist perspective which assumes that the individual’s meanings and associations modulate the innate bottom-up effects of nature exposure.
... The restorative effects of windows might be enhanced when other sensory modalities relevant for attention restoration are considered, specifically auditory and olfactory stimuli. Nature sounds, like bird songs, usually elicit positive emotional responses (Hedblom et al., 2019a(Hedblom et al., , 2019bMarselle, Irvine, Lorenzo-Arribas, & Warber, 2016;Ratcliffe, Gatersleben, & Sowden, 2013;Ratcliffe, 2021), and can improve indoor soundscapes by masking unwanted sounds (Coensel, Vanwetswinkel, & Botteldooren, 2011;Hao, Kang, & Wö rtche, 2016). ...
... Nature odors are also intrinsic to the experience of being outdoors in nature and have been found to facilitate stress reduction and support mental recovery in nature therapy (Pálsdó ttir, Spendrup, Mårtensson, & Wendin, 2021). It is, therefore, not surprising that sounds and smells can improve the restorative effects even of simulated nature exposure (Annerstedt et al., 2013;Kjellgren & Buhrkall, 2010;Press & Minta, 2000;Ratcliffe et al., 2013;Valtchanov, Barton, & Ellard, 2010). ...
Exposure to nature can improve psychological well-being such as attention restoration. These restorative benefits may be provided by windows looking onto nature, yet studies on the restorative qualities of windows have largely taken place in calm environments where restoration demands are relatively low. Thus, the restorative effects of windows in busy environments warrant examination. This virtual reality (VR) experimental study measured the restorative qualities of windows with nature views in a busy setting. We exposed 88 undergraduate participants to an open, closed, or no window condition by creating a CAVE-like VR environment. The participants saw a 6-min wall-projected video of a busy university café along with indoor sounds played in the background and the scent of coffee created by an essential oil diffuser. Birdsongs and dirt smells were added to the open window condition. The Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS) and Restoration Outcomes Scale (ROS) were administered after VR exposure. Results showed that compared to no window, the open window was more restorative in terms of the ROS, PRS, and the PRS subscales related to fascination and being away. The closed window was more restorative in terms of the ROS and being away subscale. Unexpectedly, the addition of sounds and smells virtually coming through the open window did not provide restorative qualities beyond what was provided by the closed window. These findings provide suggestive evidence that virtual windows looking onto nature provide restorative effects for people in busy indoor environments.
... Nature experiences can be classified as direct or indirect. Experiences of plants, animals, heat, and airflow are examples of the direct type [29][30][31], whereas materials related to nature, such as textures and patterns, are examples of indirect experiences [28,29]. In nature-mimicking urban environments, increased attention, greater positive emotions, and lower stress have been observed. ...
... First, green walls with designed patterns provide visual comfort and prevent the visual exhaustion associated with repetitive viewing of more conventional cityscape features [29,31]. Second, the eco-diversity introduced by green walls promotes the habitation of various species, such as butterflies or birds [21,30]. Third, compared with green roofs, green walls installed at lower levels are more accessible to the public, providing haptic opportunities [32]. ...
As urban crowding has increased globally, the construction industry has not commensurately focused on environmental sustainability or the quality of urban life. In this study, the use of ecofriendly living wall systems (LWSs) and their interactions with acoustic support systems (SSs) were investigated to develop a cost-effective urban greening strategy, emphasizing noise attenuation that promotes environmental sustainability and human health. Jacobaea maritima and recycled-plastic were used to create wood-plastic composites (WPC) for LWS-SSs, and their sound absorption coefficients (αs) were measured in a reverberation room. The results were compared with those of previous studies, indicating the following factors as influences on sound absorption: LWS weight and morphology, SS structure, additional panel absorbers, perforated board design, surface pattern, plant density, plant variety, substrate depth, and greenery coverage. SSs with simple acoustic designs compensated for deficiencies in LWS noise reduction capacity for frequencies under 1,000 Hz. Compared with plants employed in previous studies, J. maritima achieved superior sound absorption and occupied less space. The interactions among factors suggest that weight, which determines the sound absorption capacity of the panels, is the key factor affecting the LWSs. The results also indicated that full greenery coverage is potentially unnecessary, given that slightly less greenery coverage was more cost-effective while still achieving considerable αs and aesthetic charm. To conclude, SS should be carefully considered when designing LWS, and WPC with molding flexibility can help LWS be adapted to diverse topographies. All the aforementioned factors can be adjusted to optimize the effectiveness of urban LWSs.
... The factors of indoor planting design which affect attention recovery were determined by a focus group discussion [67,68] based on different pictures of indoor plants in factory staff break areas. Eleven graduate students (including a host and a recorder, four men and five women) from the Harbin Institute of Technology took part in the discussion. ...
A more efficient attention recovery of workers during their break time is essential for achieving higher productivity and wellness. In recent years, the biophilic design that introduces indoor plants has become one of the solutions to these problems. This study aims to determine the impact factors and corresponding levels related to indoor planting design concerning workers’ attention recovery. Firstly, the volume ratio, layout, and leaf size of indoor plants and the corresponding levels were put forward by a focus group study with ten participants. Secondly, the orthogonal experiment method established nine virtual recovery scenarios based on characteristics extraction of staff break areas in the factory. Thirdly, eighteen participants were guided to feel fatigued by experiencing the sustained attention to response test to measure the baseline attention level of participants. Then, participants rested in the virtual scenarios. Lastly, the attention test was conducted again to observe participants’ attention recovery degree. The difference values of participants’ sensitivity, reaction times, and the number of correct responses between the two detection targets were applied to evaluate the attention recovery. Results showed that the volume ratio of indoor plants had the most significant effect on workers’ attention recovery; 3% by volume ratio, mixed floor and wall plants and floor planting with large leaves were demonstrated as the optimal indoor planting design for attention recovery.
... gardening, birdwatching, watching nature through a window, walking or hiking, photographing nature and visiting a park or natural area) was associated with better well-being is consistent with recent studies demonstrating the restorative effect of nature (Soga et al., 2021;Tomasso et al., 2021). Given a large part of our audience reported birdwatching almost daily, our findings also align with research suggesting that bird diversity and exposure to bird sounds may be beneficial to human health and functioning (Darcy et al., 2022;Hedblom et al., 2017;Ratcliffe et al., 2013); that perceived and actual bird diversity are positively associated with psychological well-being (Dallimer et al., 2012); that gardening is beneficial to mental health and wellbeing (Soga et al., 2017) and that window views of nature are associated with mental health benefits (Bratman et al., 2012; Gilchrist F I G U R E 2 Estimated standardized coefficients ±95% CIs for hierarchical multiple regression analysis models to predict independent variables (connection to nature, nature excursions, nearby nature and nature media on dependent variables loneliness (a), rumination (b), pandemic emotional impact (c) and mental health (d) ...
Numerous studies have shown the positive association between nature engagement and well‐being. During the early phases of the SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic, nature engagement changed dramatically as mental health and well‐being declined across the globe. This study examines how psychological connection to nature and engagement with nature in various forms is associated with well‐being during the SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic. Specifically, we examine which types of nature engagement (i.e. with nearby nature, through nature excursions and media‐based) are more strongly associated with well‐being based on measures of loneliness, rumination, pandemic emotional impact and mental health. We employed a cross‐sectional online survey of adults (N = 3282) residing in the United States, 25% of whom report seldom spending time in nature. Our findings revealed that the psychological construct of connection to nature was associated with less loneliness and greater mental health. Overall, nature engagement was a consistent predictor of well‐being, but different types of activities predicted varying outcomes on our four dependent variables. Greater engagement with nearby nature during the pandemic was associated with less rumination, less pandemic emotional impact and better mental health while nature excursions (e.g. camping, backpacking) and media‐based nature engagement were associated with greater loneliness, more emotional impact from the pandemic and worse mental health. In addition, nature engagement via media was associated with greater rumination. Our findings suggest that promoting opportunities to increase engagement with and access to nearby nature is associated with better human well‐being, especially during challenging events, and should be part of a multi‐pronged approach for coping with the next public health crisis. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
... These findings are in line with the findings by Heinzerling et al. [52] where sounds from natural environment can lead to stress reduction, increased energy and altered states of consciousness. However, this needs to be carefully considered as Ratcliffe et al. [90] has found that sounds from specific birds can have a negative impact on stress recovery or attention restoration. ...
... Starting from Kaplan's Attention Restoration Theory (ART) [26] and, thanks to the use of psychological scales [27][28][29] developed to measure the magnitude of the restorativeness, they showed as the restorative capability of urban spaces does not only depend on the noise level but is modulated by the physical and not physical factors. In fact, the urban sound environment doesn't only negatively affect the restorativeness of urban spaces, such as for the road traffic noise, but some sounds as water [6,30] or bird [31,32] sound, can play a role in mitigating their negative effects [33]. Similar positive effects have also been caused by the presence of green elements (e.g., plants and flowers) [34,35] and by the combination of both acoustics and visual elements [36,37]. ...
Due to the difficulty of accessing quiet urban areas as defined by the EU Directive 2002/49/EC and of designing new ones, especially in the historical centers, it becomes more and more important to recognize pockets of quiet which can provide visitors with time for their physical and mental restoration. To this aim, an investigation methodology has been developed in previous studies conducted in Naples (Italy), Istanbul (Turkey) and Murcia (Spain) focused on finding and characterization of alternative quiet spaces which could offer opportunities to rest from the surrounding noise, which highlighted the role of non-auditory aspects on the restorativeness of urban spaces, such as green and water elements, or of historic and cultural value. This methodology which includes objective and subjective assessment has been used to characterize and illustrate the potentialities of the existing and potential spaces for restoration within the ancient center of the city of Florence (Italy). Concerning acoustic measurements, the “quietness” is confirmed by the fact that the differences between the sound levels (LAeq) of the surrounding areas and those within selected sites is greater than 9 dB; while the outcomes of the survey confirm the expectations especially concerning the importance and relevance, the cultural value, the historical-artistic elements, the perceived sense of being away and the distinction with the external acoustic environment.
... Similarly, different sound sources also impact soundscape assessment (Liu et al., 2019). Positive sounds, such as natural sounds, are assumed to enhance acoustic comfort in urban parks (Tse et al., 2012;Ratcliffe et al., 2013;Liu et al., 2014a;Jeon and Hong, 2015). In terms of acoustic evaluation, acoustic comfort and subjective loudness are used in SEQ. ...
Introduction
Previous soundscape studies focused on sound perception and acoustic comfort in sampled sites and ignored the characteristics of the experiential process along the paths. Therefore, the effects of soundwalk paths on soundscape assessment should be explored.
Methods
In this study, a typical urban park was selected as a case study. The differences, characteristics, and effects of soundwalk paths on the soundscapes were explored, based on a soundwalk survey and laboratory study.
Results
The results are as follows: first, in the soundwalk, different soundwalk paths in the urban park had significant effects on the perceived extent of individual sound and soundscape assessment. Second, the soundscape assessment was consistent with the peak-end rule. In the laboratory experiments, the peak assessment of soundscape appeared at the end location of the soundwalk paths, it was critical to the overall soundscape assessment. Furthermore, in the soundwalk, the overall perceived extent of individual sound was strongly affected by the perceived extent of dominant sounds at the end location of the soundwalk paths. Third, in the soundwalk, the sound loudness contrast path (noise-quiet/quiet-noise) and sound source contrast path (natural-artificial sound/artificial-natural sound) were compared. In the noise-quiet path, the assessment of acoustic comfort was higher than that in the quiet-noise path, and the assessment of subjective loudness was lower than that in the quiet-noise path ( p < 0.01). The subjective loudness of the artificial-natural sound path was lower than that in the natural-artificial sound path ( p < 0.05).
Discussion
Thus, the design of the soundwalk paths was expected to enhance visitors’ soundscape assessment of urban parks.
... From an objective point of view, it is not just natural landscapes that can relieve stressful situations, natural sounds also have the same benefits. At the same time, our study is consistent with some of the conclusions of Zhao [45], and Ratcliffe [38,46], who used semi-structured interviews to analyze the effects of bird sounds on stress recovery. Another part of their conclusion was that not all birdsong has a stronger restorative effect, the reduced recovery of birdsong may be related to low levels of an existing connection to nature. ...
Urban public space environments are critical to the health of residents. In previous studies on urban park environments and health, landscape environment questionnaires have been the main method to evaluate the environmental quality and comfort of urban parks. The research on sound perception also focuses on the exploration of evaluation methods and evaluation indicators; there is little objective empirical evidence in these studies. To further explore the nature of the health role of urban parks, this study started with the sound types of urban parks, based on a field survey, combined the electrocardiogram (ECG) index with the sound type of the park through a portable intelligent device, and HR and RMSSD were selected as the ECG indicators to evaluate the stress relief status. The regression model between the type of acoustic environments and the ECG data was established through the analysis of relevant data. This paper tries to improve the physiological recovery benefit and influence mechanism of sound types in urban parks from an objective point of view and puts forward reasonable suggestions to improve the sound environment in urban parks. The preliminary results show that, in a short time frame, natural sound has a strong relieving effect on mental pressure, while mechanical sound has an obvious impediment effect on the recovery of mental pressure. The results also reveal that the human voice has no obvious impediment effect, and changes in wind and broadcast sound have little impact on the recovery of mental pressure.
... For example, biophilic office environments with stress recovery effects can be created by visual stimuli, including not only live plants but also greenery scenes displayed through projection and artworks [123,124]. Auditory stimuli can be achieved by playing ambient sounds, such as wind, streams, birds, and chirping crickets [125,126]. Olfactory stimuli can reduce stress but are less often incorporated in the biophilic design of office spaces [120]. Aromatherapy using essential oils is widely used for olfactory interventions in other settings [127]. ...
We regularly face stress during our everyday activities, to the extent that stress is recognized by the World Health Organization as the epidemic of the 21st century. Stress is how humans respond physically and psychologically to adjustments, experiences, conditions, and circumstances in their lives. While there are many reasons for stress, work and job pressure remain the main cause. Thus, companies are increasingly interested in creating healthier, more comfortable, and stress-free offices for their workers. The indoor environment can induce environmental stress when it cannot satisfy the individual needs for health and comfort. In fact, office environmental conditions (e.g., thermal, and indoor air conditions, lighting, and noise) and interior design parameters (e.g., office layout, colors, furniture, access to views, distance to window, personal control and biophilic design) have been found to affect office workers' stress levels. A line of research based on the stress recovery theory offers new insights for establishing offices that limit environmental stress and help with work stress recovery. To that end, this paper answers ten questions that explore the relation between the indoor office-built environment and stress levels among workers. The answers to the ten questions are based on an extensive literature review to draw conclusions from what has been achieved to date. Thus, this study presents a foundation for future environmental stress related research in offices.
... Their canopy cover enriches settings in which people in cities come together by providing awe-inspiring colours and fresh scents in the spring after a long winter, much needed natural shade in the summer, and an autumnal crunch under foot offering joy to walkers young and old [40]. As larger trees tend to be home to more biodiverse bird populations [41], their potency for catalysing restorative processes may be differentially greater than other forms of green space [42,43]. This connection with stereotypical portrayals of 'nature' may be sufficient, perhaps even necessary, for helping people feel part of something bigger than themselves. ...
Introduction
Associations between green space type and social loneliness (a scarcity of people one feels they can depend on) were investigated in city-living participants in the Sax Institute’s 45 and Up Study.
Methods
Availability of green space, tree canopy and open grass were measured as a percentage of land-use within 1.6 km road−network distance buffers using high-resolution data. Multilevel logistic regressions adjusted for confounding tested associations between each green space indicator with the odds of social loneliness at baseline (prevalence) and follow-up (incidence), adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic confounders.
Results
The prevalence of social loneliness at baseline was 5.3% (n = 5627 /105,498). Incidence of social loneliness at follow-up was 3.4% (n = 1772/51,365). Adjusted regressions indicated reduced odds of prevalent (OR = 0.95, 95%CI = 0.92–0.98) and incident social loneliness with 10% more green space (OR = 0.92, 95%CI = 0.90– 0.96). Similar associations were found with a 10% increase in tree canopy for both prevalent (OR = 0.92, 95%CI = 0.88–0.95) and incident social loneliness (OR = 0.92, 95%CI = 0.88–0.97). Two-way interaction terms indicated effect modification by sex but not couple status. Among women, a 10% increase in total green space was associated with lower odds of prevalent (OR = 0.95, 0.91–0.95) and incident (OR = 0.89, 0.85–0.95) social loneliness. A 10% increase in tree canopy among women was associated with lower odds of prevalent (OR = 0.89, 085–0.92) and incident (OR = 0.85, 0.80–0.92) social loneliness. Meanwhile, a 10% increase in open grass among women was associated with higher odds of prevalent (OR = 1.08, 1.01–1.15) and incident (OR = 1.19, 1.03–1.35) social loneliness. Associations for men were statistically significant for a 10% increase in total green space (OR = 0.96, 0.92–0.99) and tree canopy (OR = 0.93, 0.90–0.97) for prevalent social loneliness only.
Conclusion
Urban greening and tree canopy restoration may reduce risks of social loneliness, perhaps especially in women.
... Looking at the associations between presence of sound sources and decreased noise annoyance instead, the relevant labels were: Bird tweet, Footsteps, Non-identifiable, Other, and Rustling leaves; hence, the types of sound sources that would likely be found in a quiet natural soundscape/context. Likewise, findings confirm the potential that pleasant natural sounds have in reducing stress and offering opportunities for restoration [54]. Interestingly, when a non-identifiable sound source was identified in the recordings, annoyance scores were lower. ...
Noise annoyance has been often reported as one of the main adverse effects of noise exposure on human health, and there is consensus that it relates to several factors going beyond the mere energy content of the signal. Research has historically focused on a limited set of sound sources (e.g., transport and industrial noise); only more recently is attention being given to more holistic aspects of urban acoustic environments and the role they play in the noise annoyance perceptual construct. This is the main approach promoted in soundscape studies, looking at both wanted and unwanted sounds. In this study, three specific aspects were investigated, namely: (1) the effect of different sound sources combinations, (2) the number of sound sources present in the soundscape, and (3) the presence of individual sound source, on noise annoyance perception. For this purpose, a large-scale online experiment was carried out with 1.2k+ participants, using 2.8k+ audio recordings of complex urban acoustic environments to investigate how they would influence the perceived noise annoyance. Results showed that: (1) the combinations of different sound sources were not important, compared, instead, to the number of sound sources identified in the soundscape recording (regardless of sound sources type); (2) the annoyance ratings expressed a minimum when any two clearly distinguishable sound sources were present in a given urban soundscape; and (3) the presence (either in isolation or combination) of traffic-related sound sources increases noise annoyance , while the presence (either in isolation or combination) of nature-related sound sources decreases noise annoyance.
... Using semi-structured interviews, Ratcliffe and colleagues reported that most people experience birdsong as restorative from psychological stress and attentional fatigue 4 . In a follow-up investigation using quantitative measures, the same authors reported that specific qualities of bird sounds such as perceived familiarity, complexity and pattern are predictive of perceived restorative potential 5 . ...
The mental health benefits of everyday encounters with birdlife for mental health are poorly understood. Previous studies have typically relied on retrospective questionnaires or artificial set-ups with little ecological validity. In the present study, we used the Urban Mind smartphone application to examine the impact of seeing or hearing birds on self-reported mental wellbeing in real-life contexts. A sample of 1292 participants completed a total of 26,856 ecological momentary assessments between April 2018 and October 2021. Everyday encounters with birdlife were associated with time-lasting improvements in mental wellbeing. These improvements were evident not only in healthy people but also in those with a diagnosis of depression, the most common mental illness across the world. These findings have potential implications for both environmental and wildlife protection and mental healthcare policies. Specific measures, aimed at preserving and increasing everyday encounters with birdlife in urban areas, should be implemented.
... Finally, the traffic noise soundscapes had no effect on paranoia, whereas again both birdsong soundscapes significantly lowered it (medium effect sizes). The beneficial effects of birdsongs in particular concerning mood and attention restoration have been previously observed 20 . Mood recovery (e.g., after a stressor) or beneficial mood effects have repeatedly been reported for exposure with natural sounds 21,22 . ...
The present study investigated the effect of urban (traffic noise) vs. natural (birdsongs) soundscapes on mood, state paranoia, and cognitive performance, hypothesizing that birdsongs lead to significant improvements in these outcomes. An additional goal was to explore the differential impact of lower vs. higher diversity of the soundscapes by manipulating the number of different typical traffic sounds or songs of different bird species within the respective soundscapes. In a randomized online experiment, N = 295 participants were exposed to one out of four conditions for 6 min: traffic noise low, traffic noise high, birdsong low, and birdsong high diversity soundscapes. Before and after the exposure, participants performed a digit-span and dual n-back task, and filled out depression, anxiety, and paranoia questionnaires. The traffic noise soundscapes were associated with a significant increase in depression (small effect size in low, medium effect size in high diversity condition). Concerning the birdsong conditions, depression exclusively decreased after exposure to the high diversity soundscape (small effect size). Anxiety and paranoia significantly decreased in both birdsong conditions (medium effect sizes). For cognition, no effects were observed. In sum, the present study suggests that listening to birdsongs regardless of diversity improves anxiety, while traffic noise, also regardless of diversity, is related to higher depressiveness. Moreover, for the first time, beneficial, medium-sized effects of birdsong soundscapes were demonstrated, reducing paranoia. Overall, the results bear interesting implications for further research, such as actively manipulating soundscapes in different environments or settings (e.g., psychiatric wards) and testing their effect on subclinical or even clinical manifestations of anxiety and paranoia.
... Stress recovery can be "facilitated by the addition of sounds of nature to a virtual green environment in a laboratory setting" [6]. Certain bird sounds may "aid perceived restoration from stress or fatigue by encouraging positive affect and reduced arousal, alternative and effortless attentional focus to novel stimuli, and connection to nature" [7]. ...
Background:
Natural sounds are reportedly restorative, but most research has used one-off experiments conducted in artificial conditions. Research based on field experiments is still in its infancy. This study aimed to generate hypotheses on the restorative effects of listening to natural sounds on surgeons, representing professionals working in stressful conditions.
Methods:
Each of four surgeons (two experts and two residents) participated six times in an experiment where they took a 10-min break listening to natural sounds (four times) or without natural sounds (twice) after a surgical operation. We measured their skin conductance level, an indicator of sympathetic arousal, continuously during the break (measurement occasions N = 2520) and assessed their mood using two questionnaires before and after the break (N = 69 and N = 42). We also interviewed them after the break.
Results:
Based on statistical Linear Mixed-Effects modeling, we developed two hypotheses for further, more detailed studies: (H1) Listening to natural sounds after an operation improves surgeons' mood. (H2) Inexperienced surgeons' tension persists so long that the effect of natural sounds on their sympathetic arousal is negligible.
Conclusions:
This risk-free, easy-to-use means of stress alleviation through natural sounds could benefit highly-stressed people working indoors.
... Research is increasingly applying the concept of perceived soundscape restorativeness (PSR), such as the influence of different sound sources on restorativeness (Alvarsson et al., 2010;Annerstedt et al., 2013;Krzywicka and Byrka, 2017;Medvedev et al., 2015;Zhang et al., 2017), the affecting mechanism of certain sound sources (Hedblom et al., 2019;Ratcliffe et al., 2013;Zhao et al., 2020), as well as the characteristics of PSR of certain subjects such as children Ma, 2018, 2020), mainly focusing on verification, quantification, and influential factors. Methods applied to assess PSR and its effects include public surveys (Herranz-Pascual et al., 2019;Payne and Bruce, 2019) and post-test and control experiments with stimulus materials of audio or audio-visual combinations (Deng et al., 2020;Zhao et al., 2018). ...
The capacity of urban parks to contribute to soundscape restorativeness, understood here as contributions to people’s recovery from attentional fatigue and reflection on life issues, is receiving increased interest in research and policy. However, scientific understanding of the influential mechanism of perceived soundscape restorativeness is still not clear. This paper aims to explore the effects of audio-visual interaction on perceived soundscape restorativeness (PSR) of urban parks, considering visitors of different social and demographic characteristics. The research design comprises a survey of 419 visitors to five urban parks in Fuzhou, China, general structure equation modeling, and multi-group model analysis. The results show a substantial dependence of visitors’ PSR values on respective perceptions of soundscape pleasantness and eventfulness, especially soundscape pleasantness. Visual landscape characteristics showed mediating effects on the influence of soundscape pleasantness and eventfulness on the perceived soundscape restorativeness (19.3% and 28.3% of the total effect, respectively). Age was the most influential social and demographic characteristic affecting the PSR, followed by gender, while occupation and educational background showed only limited effects. Future development of urban parks should strongly integrate soundscape design considerations to enhance positive PSR effects for visitors.
... Additional research has extended these findings, suggesting that individuals exposed to natural stimuli (i.e., views from windows of nature, nature sounds, and images of nature) have improved wellbeing than those without exposure to nature from their work environment (Bjornstad, Patil, & Raanaas, 2016;Kjellgren & Buhrkall, 2010;Ratcliffe, Gatersleben & Sowden, 2013). These findings reinforce the significant utility of nature for alleviating stress and promoting well-being in workers. ...
... Various plants such as gourd, bamboo, grasses, cattails, and eucalyptus can be planted for their sound-emitting characteristics. Some kind of wildlife should be introduced to the garden e.g., birds, toads, crickets, etc. Ratcliffe et al., [12], conducted an experiment with twenty adult participants to determine the effect of the overall role of birds' songs on stress recovery and attention restoration. However, not all bird sounds were found beneficial in these processes, but they reported that the bird song provides a healing effect and also aids in stress reduction. ...
A sensory garden is a self-contained garden or garden area that has a collection of plants that are appealing to one or more of the five senses. The major senses like sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch; are mainly enhanced in these kinds of gardens so that people of various ages can benefit from it and it can act as a therapy. This kind of garden has also been reported to be an amazing way for young people to explore their senses and learn about their surroundings and the people suffering from dementia and children requiring special needs. In both cases, it has proved to improve their overall health and decreased their agitation level to normal. The idea behind the sensory garden design was that the gardens should aim to stimulate users' senses and improve their physical abilities. These types of gardens have a huge impact on people's mental and physical health and it helps in improving their way of living as well. In this review paper, the elements and benefits of the sensory garden and its scenario in India have been discussed in detail.
... These features were particularly appreciated by people who visit cemeteries for nature reasons, older people, and women. Nature sounds, in particular bird songs and calls [74], but also from other animal taxa as orthopteran sounds [75] are the type of natural sounds that are associated with perceived stress recovery and attention restoration in different cultural contexts. It is likely that the cemetery feature hearing animals and quietness are connected. ...
Cemeteries are globally culturally protected greenspaces in cities that meet different societal needs and often harbor high biodiversity. To harness the potential of cemeteries as urban green infrastructure, stakeholders need to understand why people visit cemeteries and their preferences. We conducted an online survey in Berlin, Germany (n = 627) to understand (i) the reasons for cemetery visits; (ii) preferences for cemetery features; (iii) the effect of a dead tree as a wilderness component on preferences for differently managed green areas (wild, meadows, lawns); (iv) preferences of nature elements as comforting experiences; and (v) how reasons for the visit and sociodemographic variables relate to respondents’ preferences. The major reasons to visit cemeteries were ‘enjoying nature’, ‘mourning’, and ‘historical interest’ and most preferred cemetery features were ‘wildlife‘, ‘solitude’, and ‘vegetation‘. Presenting a dead tree did not modulate preference ratings for green areas
that were depicted on photographs. Comforting experiences with nature elements were high overall. The reasons to visit had besides socio-demographic variables predictive potential on pronounced preferences. The results underscore the importance of cemeteries as multidimensional places and indicate tolerance for the inclusion of dead trees as important wildlife habitat. Strategies to develop cemeteries as shared habitats for people and nature should also consider, besides socio-demographic background, the reasons for cemetery visits.
... Using EEG devices, Schmidt and Trainor (2001) found that the validity and intensity of musical emotions led to differences in frontal lobe potentials. Using music to help people cope with stress is also a standard method (Ratcliffe et al. 2013), especially when playing music for patients in hospitals (Devlin and Arneill 2016) or when customers are waiting (Karen 2015). Lang et al. (2015) found that rhythmic music seemed to activate "interpersonal motor coupling," making it easier for people to synchronize with the behaviors and attitudes of their partners. ...
Most augmented reality (AR) assembly guidance systems only utilize visual information. Regarding the sound, the human binaural effect helps users quickly identify the general direction of sound sources. At the same time, pleasant sounds can give people a sense of pleasure and relaxation. However, the effect on workers is still unknown when stereo sound and visual information are used together for assembly guidance. To assess the combination of sound and vision in AR assembly guidance, we constructed a stereo sound-assisted guidance system (SAG) based on AR. In our SAG system, we used the tone of a soft instrument called the Chinese lute as the sound source. To determine if SAG has an impact on assembly efficiency and user experience, we conducted a usability test to compare SAG with visual information alone. Results showed that the SAG system significantly improves the efficiency of assembly guidance. Moreover, simultaneous visual and auditory information processing does not increase user workload or learning difficulty. Additionally, in a noisy environment, pleasant sounds help to reduce mental strain.
... In fact, these two can be discussed together. For instance, some evidence suggests that birdsongs of different species varied from hardness and timbres, leading to the perception of either friendliness or aggression (Ratcliffe et al., 2013). In addition, the combination of bird calls from different species can present variable acoustic features (e.g., with regard to frequencies or fluctuation strengths) and is more likely to be appreciated (Hong et al., 2021). ...
In landscape planning and policy-making, environmental sounds have only negative impacts on human health. The natural sounds that promote healthy and supportive environments remain neglected. Although the soundscape concept and approach have considered natural sounds as a resource, the related knowledge has not been employed in landscape planning yet. The purpose of this study is to advance existing state of knowledge to synthesize common preferences for soundscape resources, and then to propose an assessment method for landscape planning. We introduce a planning-oriented soundscape resource evaluation framework to guide a PRISMA systematic literature review. The review includes an in-depth analysis of 74 peer-reviewed journal articles and a meta-analysis for 21 of them. We find that (1) current research has under-explored the soundscape with regard to spatiotemporal evolution, health benefits, and preferences and values; (2) in green spaces, people from different sociocultural contexts exhibit common preferences for soundscape resources. According to these, soundscape formal characters tend towards naturalness, diversity, and appropriateness; (3) exposure to natural sounds does have positive effects on human health and well-being, but the degree of the effects was varied. In addition to birdsongs and water sounds, wind-induced vegetation sounds also have high values. Based on these findings, we suggest basic natural sound scores and categorized indicators for evaluating NSES. It can be implemented in Geographic Information System to produce place-based and comparable results under uncertainty. The results can help landscape planners better consider the contribution of the acoustic environment to human health, well-being, and quality of life, protect the areas of high-quality soundscape resources without actual human uses, and reveal the differences between the actual provision of aesthetic values and demands for nature-based recreation.
... A special group of birders within the highly specialized birders are labeled ''twitchers'' that spend a considerable amount of time and money to chase and see rare bird species, which usually incurs high travel costs (Booth, Gaston, Evans, & Armsworth, 2011;Brock, Fraser, Law, Mitchell, & Roberts, 2021). Birding as leisure activity was chosen because the positive influence of bird diversity and birdsong diversity on human mental health and restoration seems an established link (Ratcliffe, Gatersleben, & Sowden, 2013). ...
Numerous studies have shown a positive impact of nature on psychological restoration and on well-being, which, in turn, are related to life satisfaction. Previous studies were place based or episode assessments, usually in the field. Here, we studied bird-watchers at different levels of their recreational specialization, especially the factor commitment. We applied a leisure activity-related questionnaire to assess psychological restorativeness. We analyzed responses from 388 bird-watchers (260 male, 127 female, 1 diverse) from an internet survey. Three factors emerged and were labeled as restoration, detachment, and experiencing freedom. We here show for the first time that the psychological restorativeness of a leisure activity is dependent on the recreational specialization level. Psychological commitment toward birding was related to all three factors. Thus, birders do not need to have a high knowledge or must do many birding trips, but rather birding needs to be important to their life. This, in turn, suggests that even beginners in bird-watching with low expertise may gain health benefits from their leisure activity.
... Finally, the tra c noise soundscapes had no effect on paranoia, whereas again both birdsong soundscapes signi cantly lowered it (medium effect size). The bene cial effects of birdsongs in particular concerning mood and attention restoration have been previously observed 13 . Mood recovery (e.g., after a stressor) or bene cial mood effects have repeatedly been reported for exposure with natural sounds 14,15 . ...
The present study investigated the effect of urban (traffic noise) vs. natural (birdsongs) soundscapes on mood, state paranoia, and cognitive performance, hypothesizing that birdsongs lead to significant improvements in these outcomes. An additional goal was to examine the differential impact of lower vs. higher diversity of the soundscapes by manipulating the number of different typical traffic sounds or songs of different bird species within the respective soundscapes. In a randomized online experiment, 295 participants were exposed to one out of four conditions for six minutes: traffic noise low, traffic noise high, birdsong low, and birdsong high diversity soundscapes. Before and after the exposure, participants performed a digit-span and dual n-back task, and filled out depression, anxiety, and paranoia questionnaires. The traffic noise soundscapes were associated with a significant increase in depression (small effect size in low, medium effect size in high diversity condition). Concerning the birdsong conditions, depression exclusively decreased after exposure to the high diversity soundscape (small effect size). Anxiety and paranoia significantly improved in both birdsong conditions (medium effect size). For cognition, no effects were observed. In sum, the present study shows that listening to birdsongs improves anxiety, while traffic noise is generally related to higher depressiveness, regardless of diversity. Moreover, for the first time, a beneficial, medium-sized effect of a natural birdsong soundscape was demonstrated for paranoia, which bears interesting implications for further research in paranoia-prone individuals or even psychiatric samples.
... Also, unlike other nature features, the water feature taps into our vision and audition. In our study, the sound of water was not tested, yet there has been much research that connects how auditory stimuli of nature attributes increase attention restoration and stress recovery (Ratcliffe et al., 2013). Thus, biophilic design features that have a different impact on different senses of humans should be examined in the future. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate a holistic way of incorporating biophilic building design that creates a restorative environment attractive to prospective urban hotel employees. This study additionally examines the role of perceived well-being from nature attributes and associated impacts on emotions and likelihood to choose to work for a hotel with nature attributes.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a conjoint analysis to detect the most resotrative individual and combinations of biophilic attributes that can improve employee well-being. In addition, nature attributes influence on emotions and intentions to work for a hotel were analyzed.
Findings
Results showed that not all nature attributes are equally evaluated by urban hotel prospective employees. In this study, the authors found that natural lighting, outdoor green views and indoor landscaping are important factors in the evaluation of an urban hotel with biophilic features. However, this tendency varies when the sample was divided by prospective employees’ who perceived higher or lower levels of well-being would be influenced by nature attributes.
Originality/value
Unlike previous studies, the authors tested a multiattribute design and results demonstrate the perceived restorative effect of nature attributes in an environment on prospective employees. In addition to extending the biophilic design in hospitality literature, the authors provide practical suggestions to urban hotels incorporating biophilic design and propose that specific elements have the propensity to enhance the well-being of prospective employees and reinforce positive emotions and intentions to work for urban hotels that incorporate them.
... Previous studies found that sensory stimulations such as sounds, smells, or temperature together with vision are needed to induce a realistic experience of a simulated environment [18,25]. Natural sounds such as birdsongs could facilitate the recovery process of the sympathetic nervous system [26] and were positively related to perceived restoration, denoting the process through which psychological and physiological recoveries are induced by particular environments or environmental compositions [27] and attention recovery [28]. Smells can function as a trigger or symbol for nature, and the natural scents of plants and flowers can be related to increased positive emotions of calmness, alertness, and others [29]. ...
This study aims to test the associations of nature contact with multiple dimensions of psychological functioning. A total of 90 university employees were randomly assigned to spend their lunch breaks on (1) a 30-min structured protocol of nature contact and (2) a control group for 10 consecutive weekdays. Psychological distress, psychological well-being, and work-related psychological outcomes were assessed at baseline (T1), the day after the 10-day intervention (T2), and three months after the intervention (T3). Mixed-design analyses of variance (ANOVA) were conducted. Overall, significant intervention effects were found in the structured protocol of nature contact on psychological distress, well-being outcomes, and work engagement (all p < 0.05), whereas the 3-month post-intervention effects were non-significant. Our study showed that nature-based activities during lunch breaks could enhance office workers’ mental health in general, but the effects could be short-lived, calling for regular nature-based programs in occupational settings.
... During the first COVID-19 lockdown, participants reported noticing more nature sounds and hearing louder bird song, as reported elsewhere [109]. Bird song may provide valuable opportunities for restoration [110], where certain bird sounds are associated with recovery from mental fatigue and stress [111]. Specifically, bird sounds that generate positively valenced appraisals (e.g., pleasant, melodic) can be restorative, while those that generate negatively valenced appraisals (e.g., unpleasant, stressful) are considered unhelpful [112]. ...
The importance of natural environments in supporting health and wellbeing has been well evidenced in supporting positive mental and physical health outcomes, including during periods of crisis and stress. Given the disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been greatest for those who are most vulnerable, understanding the role of natural environment and alternative forms of nature engagement in supporting health and wellbeing for vulnerable groups is important. This study explored how nature engagement supported health and wellbeing in those with a pre-existing health condition during the first UK lockdown. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 adults with a pre-existing health condition and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Four themes were identified: COVID-19 versus nature; Nature as an extension and replacement; Nature connectedness; and Therapeutic nature. The findings show the importance of nature in supporting health and wellbeing in those with a pre-existing health condition through engagement with private and public natural environments, micro-restorative opportunities, nature connection as an important pathway, and the therapeutic benefits of nature engagement. The present research extends the evidence-base beyond patterns of nature engagement to a deeper understanding of how those with existing health conditions perceived and interacted with nature in relation to their health and wellbeing during the first UK lockdown. Findings are discussed in relation to health supporting environments, micro-restorative opportunities, and policy implications
... Berman et al., 2008;Hartig et al., 2003b;Hartig et al., 1991) or different kinds of natural environments (e.g. Gatersleben & Andrews, 2013;Ratcliffe et al., 2013) and others of which assumed repeated contacts with nature in a residential or therapeutic context (e.g. Kuo & Sullivan, 2001;Cimprich, 1993; for a selective review, see Kaplan & Berman, 2010). ...
In this chapter, the authors consider how research on restorative environments can augment research on salutogenesis by calling attention to the dynamics of depletion and renewal of resources needed for the maintenance and promotion of health and well-being and by showing how the sociophysical environment comes into play in people’s ongoing efforts to manage diverse resources. The authors also consider how research on salutogenesis can augment research on restorative environments by encouraging a broader view of the kinds of resources that can be depleted and the different levels on which they are organised and become available. The authors thus indicate areas for more systematic, reciprocal exchange between the fields.
... This shows that indicators need to be expanded to address these shortcomings. Urban birds are a notable gap, as they are not only useful indicators of environmental change in these landscapes (Chamberlain et al., 2018;Evans et al., 2008;Strochbach et al., 2009), but also provide well-being benefits to humans, who are increasingly becoming concentrated in cities (Cox & Gaston, 2015;Fuller et al, 2007;Keniger et al., 2013;Ratcliffe, et al., 2013). ...
Better biodiversity indicators are needed to address information gaps, describe trends accurately and robustly and be useful for decisionmakers. Citizen science's potential to help address these challenges often goes unrealized, despite promises by organizers to deliver such information. This paper addresses these challenges by demonstrating the powerful utility of citizen science results for improving our knowledge of the state of New Zealand's garden birds, from the national to the local scale. For 14 species and three annual assessments, we: (a) calculate changes in bird counts over the medium to short term (over 10 and 5 years, respectively); (b) use an alert system to identify trends of interest or concern and collate the assessments in an online interactive tool; and (c) apply the results to address management questions. Seven species have declined nationally in gardens in the medium term, but the population trends of six of these have improved in the short term (the declines of three have been reversed). For Otago, as a regional example, a wider range of medium‐term alerts was initially raised, and positive short‐term changes were also more evident. Performance differed across Otago's districts: positive increases were muted in Dunedin City, while Waitaki had the highest number of increasing species and Central Otago more species rapidly increasing. For 54 neighbourhoods managed by Predator Free Dunedin, as a local example, the baseline medium‐term assessment detected rapid declines in two species, moderate to shallow declines in five species and increases in three species. Based on these findings, managers could improve benefits for biodiversity by using: (a) trends, to direct and evaluate policy investments; (b) benchmarks, to provide social incentives; and (c) targets, to give management purpose and direction. Our case study highlights how citizen science can address biodiversity information gaps and make powerful management contributions at scale by delivering metrics that are robust and comparable across time and space, showing decisionmakers how to readily access and interpret information of interest, building trust and value and highlighting how spatially hierarchical assessments can facilitate multiple end‐user benefits. Better biodiversity indicators are needed to address information gaps, describe trends accurately and robustly and be useful for decisionmakers. Citizen science's potential to help address these challenges often goes unrealized, despite promises by organizers to deliver such information. This paper addresses these challenges by demonstrating the powerful utility of citizen science results for improving our knowledge of the state of New Zealand's garden birds, from the national to the local scale. For 14 species and three annual assessments, we: (a) calculate changes in bird counts over the medium to short term (over 10 and 5 years, respectively); (b) use an alert system to identify trends of interest or concern and collate the assessments in an online interactive tool; and (c) apply the results to address management questions. Seven species have declined nationally in gardens in the medium term, but the population trends of six of these have improved in the short term (the declines of three have been reversed). For Otago, as a regional example, a wider range of medium‐term alerts was initially raised, and positive short‐term changes were also more evident. Performance differed across Otago's districts: positive increases were muted in Dunedin City, while Waitaki had the highest number of increasing species and Central Otago more species rapidly increasing. For 54 neighbourhoods managed by Predator Free Dunedin, as a local example, the baseline medium‐term assessment detected rapid declines in two species, moderate to shallow declines in five species and increases in three species. Based on these findings, managers could improve benefits for biodiversity by using: (a) trends, to direct and evaluate policy investments; (b) benchmarks, to provide social incentives; and (c) targets, to give management purpose and direction. Our case study highlights how citizen science can address biodiversity information gaps and make powerful management contributions at scale by delivering metrics that are robust and comparable across time and space, showing decisionmakers how to readily access and interpret information of interest, building trust and value and highlighting how spatially hierarchical assessments can facilitate multiple end‐user benefits. Our study demonstrated how citizen science can help address biodiversity information gaps and make powerful contributions to management at multiple scales. By applying advances in statistical techniques to noisy data, it delivered robust metrics that are comparable across time and space. By using an alert system and an online interactive tool, it showed how decision‐makers can readily access and interpret information of interest. By inviting peer review of our approach and resources, it sought to build trust and value. By linking biodiversity measures to trends, benchmarks, or targets, it provides mental models to show how the results can address management questions.
The therapeutic landscapes literature has evolved considerably since the concept was first proposed to understand how experiences of health and wellbeing unfold and develop through physical, social and symbolic dimensions of landscape encounter. Informed by a critical scoping review, this paper charts how the senses have been attended to across the therapeutic landscapes literature published since 2007 (the publication date of the previous edited volume on Therapeutic Landscapes). We focus specifically on literature pertaining to ‘nature-based’ therapeutic encounters, responding to calls to re-situate the body in wider interdisciplinary scholarship around nature, health and wellbeing. We attend to imagined and embodied visual, sonic, olfactory, haptic and gustatory sensations, and the varied ways in which these are interpreted and made sense of individually and collectively. In line with prominent visual landscape preoccupations, this body of literature largely privileges and focuses on the visual sense. While there is increasing interest in auditory, haptic and olfactory qualities of encounter, taste remains largely overlooked. This uneven focus neglects the potential richness and diversity of therapeutic sensescape encounters, as well as the cultural and social sensory histories that shape how contemporary encounters may be experienced and interpreted. Suggestions for future research are outlined, including methodological and empirical directions across the social sciences, arts and humanities.
Attention restoration theory (ART) predicts that the natural environment can restore consumed attentional resources. Previous studies also found presenting natural scenes visually can also have such an effect but whether natural sounds may also have this effect has not been fully examined. In this study, we used an exploratory approach to build a library of natural sounds. We surveyed 204 people by asking them to name ten different types of ‘natural’ sounds and the ten types of ‘relaxing’ sounds. The collected more than 1,800 answers were then coded according to the source and the characteristics. Finally, twenty-one categories of sounds emerged from these responses. Among them, six categories were considered to be both relaxing and natural (e.g. birds’ songs). For other categories, they were only natural (e.g. thunder) or only relaxing (e.g. music). We discussed how to use this sound library in future studies.
Human activities can be noisy, especially in urban areas, and affect animals detrimentally. Traffic noise may interfere with acoustic communication through masking and may yield noise‐dependent modification of acoustic signals. Such vocal flexibility in birds has been investigated most often for songs, but rarely for calls, even though calls are typically used more frequently. Here we exposed male House Finches Haemorhous mexicanus from urban areas in Mexico City to low and high levels of anthropogenic noise. We investigated: 1) variation in call type repertoire use among birds caught at localities with different noise levels, 2) call type use in response to experimental noise exposure, and 3) whether there were immediate noise‐dependent spectral or temporal adjustments. We found no locality‐dependent call repertoires, as males from all sites shared most of their call types. Males in quiet areas called with higher frequency and longer duration than birds from more noisy areas. However, this case study lacked replication of sites’ limiting the generality of conclusions that can be drawn. Under experimental noise exposure, we also found no shift in call repertoire use. However, in line with expectations, one of two dominant call types of relatively low frequency showed an increase in peak frequency under experimentally elevated noise conditions, while the birds also produced shorter versions of the two dominant call types in the noisier treatment. In summary, we found no evidence for noise‐dependent call repertoire use in our case study, but we confirmed experimentally that House Finches are capable of immediate spectral and temporal call adjustments in response to noise level fluctuations.
Objectives:
Mental health problems are increasing at an alarming rate, calling for the need for more cost-effective and easily accessible interventions. Visual images and sounds depicting nature have been found to have positive effects on individuals' mood and well-being; however, the combined effects of images and sounds have been scarcely investigated. This study therefore aimed to compare the mood effects of viewing nature-related soothing images versus listening to soothing sounds versus a combination of both.
Methods:
In this study, 149 participants aged 18-83 years old (M = 35.88, SD = 15.63; 72.5% female, male 26.8%, .7% transgender) were randomised into three intervention conditions: images only, sounds only or combined (images and sounds). Baseline depressive and anxiety symptoms were indexed, and four outcome variables (positive affect, negative affect, serenity affect and depressive mood states) were measured pre- and post-intervention.
Results:
Findings showed that all participants, regardless of group, reported a decrease in negative affect, positive affect and depressive mood as well as an increase in serenity affect (including feelings of soothe). However, there were no group differences. Exploratory analyses found that individuals with higher levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms at baseline experienced greater reduction in negative affect and depressive mood state, as well as a larger increase in serenity affect.
Conclusions:
These findings therefore provide preliminary evidence that, upon further research and development, images and sounds depicting nature can potentially be developed for use as an effective tool to improve mood and well-being.
Adopting an evidence-based approach, this book uses two state-of-the-art experimental studies to explore nature’s therapeutic benefits in healthcare environments, emphasizing how windows and transparent spaces can strengthen people–nature interactions. High-quality, supportive, and patient-centred healthcare environments are a key priority for healthcare designers worldwide, with ageing populations creating a demand for remodeled and updated facilities. The first study demonstrates individual psychophysiological responses, moods, and preferences in simulated hospital waiting areas with different levels of visual access to nature through windows, while the second experiment uses cutting-edge immersive virtual reality techniques to explore how gardens and nature views impact people’s spatial cognition, wayfinding behaviors, and experience when navigating hospitals. Through these studies and discussions drawing on architectural theory, the book highlights the important benefits of having access to nature from hospital interiors. This concise volume will appeal to academics and designers interested in therapeutic landscapes and healthcare architecture.
Die Ergebnisse eines dreijährigen Forschungsprojekts wurden in einem deutschsprachigen Handbuch zusammengefasst, um die strukturellen Anforderungen an Wälder für Prävention (Kurwald) und Therapie (Heilwald) zu definieren. Neben der Literaturrecherche wurden in 15 Regionen Ortsbegehungen in verschiedenen Wäldern Bayerns, Deutschland, durchgeführt, um die Qualität des Waldes zu beurteilen. Ebenfalls wurde ein Kriterienkatalog und ein Screening-Tool zur Bewertung der Waldstruktur für Gesundheitsinterventionen (präventive und therapeutische Maßnahmen) entwickelt sowie eine professionelle Weiterbildung für ein Wald-Gesundheitstraining bzw. Waldtherapie durchgeführt. Nun kann jede Gemeinde, jeder Waldbesitzer oder jede Gesundheitseinrichtung in der Nähe eines Waldes den Ausweisungsprozess für einen Kur- oder Heilwald in Bayern starten.
The results of a three-year research project were summarized in a German-language manual to define the structural requirements of forests for prevention (Kurwald or recreational forest) and therapy (Heilwald or therapy forest). In addition to the literature reviews, site visits were conducted in 15 regions in various forests in Bavaria, Germany, to assess the quality of the forest. Also, a criteria catalog and a screening tool for assessing forest structure for health interventions (preventive and therapeutic measures) were developed, and professional training for forest health training or forest therapy was conducted. Now, any community, forest owner or health facility near a forest can start the designation process for a recreational or therapy forest in Bavaria.
Disused urban cemeteries (DUCs) represent complex landscapes that have long been recognised as sites of social, environmental and recreational fulfilment. Despite this, they are still marginally understood and rarely incorporated into urban planning conversations. This paper investigates perceptions of DUCs and how they can help bridge the gap in planning knowledge. Through an explorative case study of London’s Abney Park Cemetery, user perceptions were elicited through 26 semi-structured interviews. Thematic analyses revealed the DUC is still a highly valued land use because it provides urban inhabitants with a break from the monotony of man-made. This function and its associated features are then considered within a framework of urban planning implications.KeywordsUrbanisationPublic perceptionsCemeteriesLondonExtemporaneityMan-made
Farming women have rarely been the focus of scholarly work on drought and/or distress. This article focuses on farming women's lived experience of drought and distress, drawing on a participatory film making project created by a small group of farming women from Southern Australia. Feminist materialism and Barad's (2003) concept of ‘intra‐action’ provides a useful lens to examine both the film as an artefact as well as the discussions among the women during its creation. Intra‐action enables an exploration of how farming women's bodies come into being as distressed in moments of time through and with drought as a complex constellation of multiple ‘matter’. The film and narratives show distressed bodies emerging with dust, wind, objects and the suffering of non‐human animals. For these women, distress emerges from hearing, sensing, seeing and feeling the irritation of dirt splattered against window panes, the emotional pain and economic consequences of top soil blowing across paddocks and as feed becomes hard to source, the recognition of the suffering of sheep. The power of these animate and inanimate ‘things’ – windmills, windows, troughs, work boots, animals and soil – were sensorily entangled with women's bodies. For farming women, distress materialises within their bodies through processes of intra‐action in their more‐than‐human worlds This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
This randomized clinical trial study with aim to investigate the effect of intervention through audio-visual clip of nature on the level of anxiety and physiological parameters of 64 patient’s candidate for gastric endoscopy.
Shinrin-Yoku describes “bathing in the atmosphere of the forest”. This chapter is about the atmosphere of the forest. It is based on the special climatic factors of forests and their exchange with the environment and the overall atmosphere. We perceive and process the forest atmosphere with all our senses, which includes the structure of the forest and its aesthetics. All these individual elements of the forest atmosphere have concrete health-promoting or even therapeutic effects, which are also demonstrated.
There is a growing interest in the health improvement functions of green spaces. Natural sounds are one of the factors that have various effects on the human mind and body; however, the mechanisms of these effects are poorly understood. This study investigated the psychological effects of diverse orthoptera calls. Sixty-nine participants were exposed to seven different sound sources, which comprised 1–4 different species, and then asked to answer questions on impressions and preferences. We compared the differences in preference scores according to species and number of species. Factor analysis was used to identify the common factors of impressions. Structural equation modeling was used to understand the influence of participants’ attributes on their preferences. The results showed that as the number of species increased, the sound preference score increased. As a result of the factor analysis of the impressions, the factors Calm, Gorgeous, Musicality, and Deep were extracted; the factor scores of Gorgeous and Musicality increased as the number of species increased. Both, the inclusion of certain species and an increased diversity of species, increased the score. The influence of the participants’ attributes on the preference was negligible; however, the characteristics of the sound source had a relatively large influence. This result indicates that the presence of diverse species of orthopteran sounds supplies ecosystem services to humans. In landscape planning, conserving and creating places with a high diversity of orthoptera is effective in improving the quality of life.
Three studies examine the effects of exposure to nature on positive affect and ability to reflect on a life problem. Participants spent 15 min walking in a natural setting (Studies 1, 2, & 3), an urban setting (Study 1), or watching videos of natural and urban settings (Studies 2 & 3). In all three studies, exposure to nature increased connectedness to nature, attentional capacity, positive emotions, and ability to reflect on a life problem; these effects are more dramatic for actual nature than for virtual nature. Mediational analyses indicate that the positive effects of exposure to nature are partially mediated by increases in connectedness to nature and are not mediated by increases in attentional capacity. The discussion focuses on the mechanisms that underlie the exposure to nature/well-being effects.
Thematic analysis is a poorly demarcated, rarely acknowledged, yet widely used qualitative analytic method within psychology. In this paper, we argue that it offers an accessible and theoretically flexible approach to analysing qualitative data. We outline what thematic analysis is, locating it in relation to other qualitative analytic methods that search for themes or patterns, and in relation to different epistemological and ontological positions. We then provide clear guidelines to those wanting to start thematic analysis, or conduct it in a more deliberate and rigorous way, and consider potential pitfalls in conducting thematic analysis. Finally, we outline the disadvantages and advantages of thematic analysis. We conclude by advocating thematic analysis as a useful and flexible method for qualitative research in and beyond psychology.
Argues that evolutionary heritage underlies humans' consistent preference for stimuli from the natural environment and that research on affective and aesthetic responses is needed to understand human interaction with the environment. It is noted that the rapidly expanding empirical record concerning aesthetic and affective responses to natural environments is in need of a well-developed theoretical foundation. An integrated conceptual framework to address this theoretical lack, drawing on recent theory and research on emotion, is proposed. This framework explains how affects arise in the natural environment; postulates their functions; and links them to cognition, activity in physiological systems, and behavior. The present author, in developing the framework, questions the view that feelings result from cognitive processes, asserting that feelings (not thoughts) are the initial response in environmental encounters. The observer's initial feeling reaction shapes subsequent cognitive events. The relative sequence of feeling and thinking in environmental encounters represents a fundamental issue in understanding human interaction with the environment. (98 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
These two quotations reflect common attitudes about music. Tolstoy’s comment suggests that music conveys emotion, whereas Torke’s question implies that music influences listeners’ emotions. Section 5.2 of the present chapter includes a discussion of the various theoretical approaches that
are used to explain affective responses to music. Few scholars dispute the claim that listeners recognize emotions in music.
Some argue, however, that music does not elicit true emotions in the listener (e.g., Kivy 1980, 1990, 2001). For example,
many years ago Meyer (1956) posited that affective responses to music consist of experiences of tension and relaxation (rather
than actual emotions), which occur when listeners’ expectancies about what will happen next in a piece of music are violated
or fulfilled, respectively. This position has been challenged in recent years with findings from studies using behavioral,
physiological, and neurological measures, all of which indicate that listeners respond affectively to music (e.g., Krumhansl
1997; Gagnon and Peretz 2003; Mitterschiffthaler et al. 2007; Witvliet and Vrana 2007). Nonetheless, the debate continues
(e.g., Konečni 2008).
Five studies assessed the validity and reliability of the connectedness to nature scale (CNS), a new measure of individuals’ trait levels of feeling emotionally connected to the natural world. Data from two community and three college samples demonstrated that the CNS has good psychometric properties, correlates with related variables (the new environmental paradigm scale, identity as an environmentalist), and is uncorrelated with potential confounds (verbal ability, social desirability). This paper supports ecopsychologists’ contention that connection to nature is an important predictor of ecological behavior and subjective well-being. It also extends social psychological research on self–other overlap, perspective taking, and altruistic behavior to the overlap between self and nature. The CNS promises to be a useful empirical tool for research on the relationship between humans and the natural world.
Different conceptual perspectives converge to predict that if individuals are stressed, an encounter with most unthreatening natural environments will have a stress reducing or restorative influence, whereas many urban environments will hamper recuperation. Hypotheses regarding emotional, attentional and physiological aspects of stress reducing influences of nature are derived from a psycho-evolutionary theory. To investigate these hypotheses, 120 subjects first viewed a stressful movie, and then were exposed to color/sound videotapes of one of six different natural and urban settings. Data concerning stress recovery during the environmental presentations were obtained from self-ratings of affective states and a battery of physiological measures: heart period, muscle tension, skin conductance and pulse transit time, a non-invasive measure that correlates with systolic blood pressure. Findings from the physiological and verbal measures converged to indicate that recovery was faster and more complete when subjects were exposed to natural rather than urban environments. The pattern of physiological findings raised the possibility that responses to nature had a salient parasympathetic nervous system component; however, there was no evidence of pronounced parasympathetic involvement in responses to the urban settings. There were directional differences in cardiac responses to the natural vs urban settings, suggesting that attention/intake was higher during the natural exposures. However, both the stressor film and the nature settings elicited high levels of involuntary or automatic attention, which contradicts the notion that restorative influences of nature stem from involuntary attention or fascination. Findings were consistent with the predictions of the psycho-evolutionary theory that restorative influences of nature involve a shift towards a more positively-toned emotional state, positive changes in physiological activity levels, and that these changes are accompanied by sustained attention/intake. Content differences in terms of natural vs human-made properties appeared decisive in accounting for the differences in recuperation and perceptual intake.
Research suggests that visual impressions of natural compared with urban environments facilitate recovery after psychological stress. To test whether auditory stimulation has similar effects, 40 subjects were exposed to sounds from nature or noisy environments after a stressful mental arithmetic task. Skin conductance level (SCL) was used to index sympathetic activation, and high frequency heart rate variability (HF HRV) was used to index parasympathetic activation. Although HF HRV showed no effects, SCL recovery tended to be faster during natural sound than noisy environments. These results suggest that nature sounds facilitate recovery from sympathetic activation after a psychological stressor.
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.
Content analysis is a widely used qualitative research technique. Rather than being a single method, current applications of content analysis show three distinct approaches: conventional, directed, or summative. All three approaches are used to interpret meaning from the content of text data and, hence, adhere to the naturalistic paradigm. The major differences among the approaches are coding schemes, origins of codes, and threats to trustworthiness. In conventional content analysis, coding categories are derived directly from the text data. With a directed approach, analysis starts with a theory or relevant research findings as guidance for initial codes. A summative content analysis involves counting and comparisons, usually of keywords or content, followed by the interpretation of the underlying context. The authors delineate analytic procedures specific to each approach and techniques addressing trustworthiness with hypothetical examples drawn from the area of end-of-life care.
Bright light and high-density negative air ion exposure are efficacious for winter and non-seasonal depression compared with a low-density negative ion placebo. Similarly, auditory stimuli improve mood in clinical populations. This study compared the short-term effects of bright light, an auditory stimulus, and high- and low-density negative ions on mood and alertness in mildly depressed and non-depressed adults.
One hundred and eighteen subjects, 69 women and 49 men (mean age+/-S.D., 19.4+/-1.7 years), participated once across the year. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: bright light (10,000 lux; n=29), auditory stimuli (60 dB; n=30), or high-density (4.5x10(14) ions/s flow rate; n=29) or low-density (1.7x10(11) ions/s; n=30; placebo control) negative ions. Exposure was for 30 min on three consecutive evenings between 1900 and 2100 hours. Mood and alertness assessments, using standardized scales, occurred before, and 15 and 30 min during exposure. The Beck Depression Inventory classified subjects as depressed (> or =10; n=35) or non-depressed (<10; n=83).
The three active stimuli, but not the low-density placebo, reduced depression, total mood disturbance (a global affect measure) and/or anger within 15-30 min. Neither testing season nor degree of depressive symptoms affected response to stimuli.
The auditory stimulus, bright light and high-density ions all produced rapid mood changes - with small to medium effect sizes - in depressed and non-depressed subjects, compared with the low-density placebo, despite equivalent pre-study expectations. Thus, these stimuli improve mood acutely in a student sample, including a subset with depressive symptoms.
Spring returns and with it the birds. But it also brings throngs of birders who emerge, binoculars in hand, to catch a glimpse of a rare or previously unseen species or to simply lay eyes on a particularly fine specimen of a familiar type. In a delightful meditation that unexpectedly ranges from the Volga Delta to Central Park and from Charles Dickens's Hard Times to a 1940s London burlesque show, Jeremy Mynott ponders what makes birds so beautiful and alluring to so many people.
This paper presents the development and testing of a Perceived Restorativeness Soundscape Scale (PRSS). The scale is designed to assess perceptions of a soundscape’s potential to provide psychological restoration. In study one, 123 participants were presented with audio–visual recordings from a UK urban, urban park and rural environment, which they rated using the created PRSS. A series of factor analyses resulted in a two factor solution consisting of a General Factor and a Being-Away-To and Coherence Factor to represent PRSS results and its theoretical components. An urban soundscape was perceived as lower in restorative potential than an urban park soundscape, which was perceived as lower in restorative potential than the rural soundscape. In study two, 194 participants used the developed PRSS to rate the soundscape of a UK urban park they had just visited. Factor analyses resulted in a General one Factor solution. The PRSS was able to differentiate between soundscapes from different urban parks. The success of considering a positive benefit of soundscapes, psychological restoration, via the PRSS is discussed.
On-site observations, personal field journals, and in-depth interviews were used to examine qualitative aspects of the wilderness experience as a source of spiritual inspiration. Two groups of women kept personal journal accounts of their daily `lived-experience' during one of two outdoor recreation trips; five participants went to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota, and seven went to the Grand Canyon of northern Arizona. Journal entries were content-analysed, exploring the commonalties and idiosyncrasies found between individual accounts. Results were used to develop a general interview guide. Follow-up in-depth personal interviews were conducted within 3 weeks of the conclusion of each trip. Interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were content-analysed, looking for commonalties and distinctions between the data. Participants spoke of the expansiveness of the landscape and an awareness of the sheer powers of nature as contributing to a meaningful wilderness experience, which thereby acted as spiritual inspiration for most individuals. Moreover, positive interpersonal interactions combined with complete immersion in a wilderness setting seemed to influence one's proclivity to perceiving elements of the landscape as possible sources of spiritual inspiration.
We tested propositions about the influences of social context and need for psychological restoration on preferences for natural and urban environments. We framed preference in terms of (1) beliefs about the likelihood of restoration during a walk in each type of environment and (2) the evaluation of restoration given differing restoration needs. Imagining themselves as alone or in the company of a friend, and as attentionally fatigued or fully refreshed, the 106 participants first evaluated recovery, reflection, and social stimulation outcomes. Next, they viewed slides simulating a walk through a forest or an urban center. They then rated the likelihood of recovery, reflection, and social stimulation outcomes from such a walk, as well as how safe it would be while walking. This procedure was repeated with the second environment. Attentional fatigue increased preference for the natural over the urban environment. Company increased preference for the urban environment but not for the natural environment. The absence of a general effect of company in the natural environment owes to two opposed effects: company enabled restoration through its effect on safety, while solitude enhanced restoration when safety was controlled for in the analysis.
This paper describes a concept, not altogether new but largely neglected, that should lead to a greater understanding of the information contained in certain classes of vocal communication signals of birds and mammals. The concept is based on empirical data, first pointed out by Collias (1960, p. 382), showing that natural selection has resulted in the structural convergence of many animal sounds used in "hostile" and "friendly" contexts. Simply stated, birds and mammals use harsh, relatively low-frequency sounds when hostile and higherfrequency, more pure tonelike sounds when frightened, appeasing, or approaching in a friendly manner. Thus, there appears to be a general relationship between the physical structures of sounds and the motivation underlying their use. I hope to develop the idea that this relationship has had a far greater influence on the evolution of animal communication systems than has hitherto been discussed. I will discuss the idea that there exist motivation-structural rules (MS) governing the physical structure of close contact sounds in animal communication systems. The greatest value of the MS concept is that it provides the opportunity to compare the evolution of vocal communication in any species against an abstract concept. The adaptive nature of communication systems against varying backgrounds of environment, social system, and competition will appear in clear relief.
The aim of the present study was to investigate cognitive, emotional, and physiological effects of two open-plan office noise conditions (high noise: 51 LAeq and low noise: 39 LAeq) during work in a simulated open-plan office, followed by four restoration conditions (river movie with sound, only river sound, silence, and office noise) after the work period. Students (N = 47) went through one practice session and two experimental sessions, one each with the low and high noise conditions. In each experimental session they worked for 2 h with tasks involving basic working memory processes. We also took physiological measures of stress (cortisol and catecholamines) and self-reports of mood and fatigue. Analyses indicate that the participants remembered fewer words, rated themselves as more tired, and were less motivated with work in noise compared to low noise. In the restoration phase the participants who saw a nature movie (including river sounds) rated themselves as having more energy after the restoration period in comparison with both the participants who listened to noise and river sounds. Remaining in office noise during the restoration phase also affected motivation more negatively than listening to river sounds or watching the nature movie. The findings bear on the appropriateness of open-plan office designs and the possibilities for restoration available in office settings.
We compared psychophysiological stress recovery and directed attention restoration in natural and urban field settings using repeated measures of ambulatory blood pressure, emotion, and attention collected from 112 randomly assigned young adults. To vary restoration needs, we had half of the subjects begin the environmental treatment directly after driving to the field site. The other half completed attentionally demanding tasks just before the treatment. After the drive or the tasks, sitting in a room with tree views promoted more rapid decline in diastolic blood pressure than sitting in a viewless room. Subsequently walking in a nature reserve initially fostered blood pressure change that indicated greater stress reduction than afforded by walking in the urban surroundings. Performance on an attentional test improved slightly from the pretest to the midpoint of the walk in the nature reserve, while it declined in the urban setting. This opened a performance gap that persisted after the walk. Positive affect increased and anger decreased in the nature reserve by the end of the walk; the opposite pattern emerged in the urban environment. The task manipulation affected emotional self-reports. We discuss implications of the results for theories about restorative environments and environmental health promotion measures.
This study aimed to compare the restorative effects of 30 min relaxation in a natural environment with an indoor simulation of the same natural environment. A repeated-measure design was carried out and 18 participants suffering from stress and/or burnout syndrome were counterbalanced into the two conditions. Both physiological measures and psychological instruments were applied. Further, qualitative descriptions of experiences were obtained. A phenomenological analysis of the qualitative data resulted in six categories for the natural environment: Intensified sensory perception; A feeling of harmony and union with nature; Well-being and quality of life; Renewed energy and awakening; “Here-and-now” thinking; and A sense of tranquillity, while for the simulated natural environment, there were five categories: Restlessness and anxiety; Lack of concentration; A sense of being cut off from nature's sensory input; A longing to be in ‘real’ nature; and Positive emotions. The natural environment yielded a significantly higher rating of degree of altered states of consciousness (ASC) and energy than the simulated natural environment. The results suggest that both environments facilitated stress reduction, with the natural environment additionally bringing increased energy and ASC, thus possibly enhancing and promoting restoration.
Two studies were conducted with the aim of developing a set of rating scale measures of restorative components of environments. In Study 1, 238 Norwegian undergraduates acting as subjects imagined themselves to be either in a nature environment or a city environment which they rated on unipolar scales intended to describe how they experienced the environments. In Study 2 another sample of 157 subjects recruited from the same population of Norwegian undergraduates viewed videos of a forest, park, sea area, city, and a snowy mountain, imagining themselves to be in these environments while performing ratings on the same scales. In both studies factor analyses yielded results in agreement with a theory proposed by Kaplan and Kaplan (1989). However, the being away factor posited by the theory was split into two factors, one with high loadings on rating scales tapping being physically away, the other with high loadings on rating scales tapping being psychologically away. The remaining three factors were defined by rating scales tapping extent, fascination, and compatibility, respectively. Composite measures of the factors had acceptable reliability. Furthermore, as predicted, environments with nature elements generally scored higher than city environments on all measures. Compatibility and fascination predicted preference ratings of the environments, whereas escape and compatibility predicted selfratings of relaxation.
Directed attention plays an important role in human information processing; its fatigue, in turn, has far-reaching consequences. Attention Restoration Theory provides an analysis of the kinds of experiences that lead to recovery from such fatigue. Natural environments turn out to be particularly rich in the characteristics necessary for restorative experiences. An integrative framework is proposed that places both directed attention and stress in the larger context of human-environment relationships.
Stress recovery during exposure to nature sound and environmental noise Conflict, arousal, and curiosity Aesthetics and psychobiology
- J J Alvarsson
- S Wien
- M E Nilsson
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On the occurrence and significance of motivation-structural rules in some bird and mammal sounds Birdscapes: Birds in our imagination and experience Population estimates for
- E S Morton
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- J Mynott
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The production of a perceived restorativeness soundscape scale Applied Acoustics, 74, 255e263 Alone or with a friend: A social context for psycho-logical restoration and environmental preferences
- S R Payne
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- T Hartig
Payne, S. R. (2012). The production of a perceived restorativeness soundscape scale. Applied Acoustics, 74, 255e263. Staats, H., & Hartig, T. (2004). Alone or with a friend: A social context for psycho-logical restoration and environmental preferences. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24, 199e211.
The cognitive benefits of interacting with nature The perceived quality of natural sounds. Acustica, 57, 185e188 Using thematic analysis in psychology
- M G Berman
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- S Kaplan
- V Braun
- V Clarke
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Bright light, negative air ions and auditory stimuli produce rapid mood changes in a student population: A placebo-controlled study. Psychological Medicine, 36, 1253e1263 Tracking restoration in natural and urban field settings Three approaches to qualitative content analysis
- N Goel
- G M Etwaroo
- T Hartig
- G W Evans
- L D Jamner
- D S Davis
- T Gärling
Goel, N., & Etwaroo, G. M. (2006). Bright light, negative air ions and auditory stimuli produce rapid mood changes in a student population: A placebo-controlled study. Psychological Medicine, 36, 1253e1263. Hartig, T., Evans, G. W., Jamner, L. D., Davis, D. S., & Gärling, T. (2003). Tracking restoration in natural and urban field settings. Journal of Environmental Psy-chology, 23, 109e123. Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15, 1277e1288.
Population estimates for Mid-2010 Retrieved from http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pop-estimate/ population-estimates-for-ukeengland-and-walesescotland-and-northern- ireland/mid-2010-population-estimates
- Ons Uk
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ONS. (2011). Population estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland, Mid-2010. Retrieved from http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pop-estimate/
population-estimates-for-ukeengland-and-walesescotland-and-northern-
ireland/mid-2010-population-estimates/.