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Effects of foliage plants on human physiological and psychological responses at different temperatures

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Escalation of task demands and time pressures tends to make a worker run into work stress, which leads to mental fatigue and depression. The mental fatigue can be reduced when attention capacity is restored. Nature can serve as a source of fascination which can restore the attention capacity. People bring plants indoors so they can experience nature in their workplace. The stress and fatigue are also affected by air temperatures. The increase or decrease of temperatures from the comfort zone may induce the stress and fatigue. The objective of this study is to investigate the intervention of using foliage plants placed inside a building at different air temperature levels. The effects of foliage plants on human stress and fatigue were measured by human physiological responses such as heart rate, amylase level, electroencephalography (EEG), and the secondary task-reaction time. Several different tasks, namely typing, math and logical sequences are included in the investigation of these studies. Fifteen subjects, with the age ranged from 22 to 38 years old have participated in the study using within subject design. From the study, it is revealed that the presence of foliage plants at several temperatures have different effects on meditation, secondary task reaction time and typing accuracy. This study also revealed that the presence of plants on several types of tasks has different effects of attention which are useful for increasing work performance.
Content may be subject to copyright.
Effects of foliage plants on human physiological and psychological responses at
different temperatures
Desto Jumeno and Hiroshi Matsumoto
Citation: AIP Conference Proceedings 1649, 32 (2015); doi: 10.1063/1.4913541
View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4913541
View Table of Contents: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/proceeding/aipcp/1649?ver=pdfcov
Published by the AIP Publishing
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Effects of Foliage Plants on Human Physiological and
Psychological Responses at Different Temperatures
Desto Jumeno1,a, Hiroshi Matsumoto2,b
1,2Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, Toyohashi, Japan
1Jurusan Teknik Industri, Universitas Andalas, Padang, Indonesia
a)destojmn@gmail.com
b)matsu@ace.tut.ac.jp
Abstract. Escalation of task demands and time pressures tends to make a worker run into work stress, which leads to mental
fatigue and depression. The mental fatigue can be reduced when attention capacity is restored. Nature can serve as a source of
fascination which can restore the attention capacity. People bring plants indoors so they can experience nature in their
workplace. The stress and fatigue are also affected by air temperatures. The increase or decrease of temperatures from the
comfort zone may induce the stress and fatigue. The objective of this study is to investigate the intervention of using foliage
plants placed inside a building at different air temperature levels.
The effects of foliage plants on human stress and fatigue were measured by human physiological responses such as heart
rate, amylase level, electroencephalography (EEG), and the secondary task-reaction time. Several different tasks, namely
typing, math and logical sequences are included in the investigation of these studies. Fifteen subjects, with the age ranged
from 22 to 38 years old have participated in the study using within subject design.
From the study, it is revealed that the presence of foliage plants at several temperatures have different effects on
meditation, secondary task reaction time and typing accuracy. This study also revealed that the presence of plants on several
types of tasks has different effects of attention which are useful for increasing work performance.
Key words: foliage plant, temperature, stress, attention, EEG
INTRODUCTION
Strong competition in business necessitates companies to streamline their operation which in turn producing an
increase in task demand. At the same time companies are also required to react to customer’s demand as fast as
possible, producing time pressures to workers. Escalation of task demands and time pressures tends to make a
worker run into work stress, which leads to mental fatigue and depression. The mental fatigue can be reduced when
attention capacity is restored. Nature can serve as a source of fascination which can restore the attention capacity
(1). For psychological restoration people are more favored to natural environment rather than urban environment
(2). People bring plants indoors so they can experience nature in their workplace. The increase in the number of
indoor plants may increase the impressions of the employees on their environment (3). Furthermore, other previous
studies also reveal that the presence of plants can reduce stress of the employee, health complaint, and increase
employee’s satisfaction and quality of working life (48). Therefore, the interaction of human with plants affects
human attitudes, behaviors and physiological responses.
Another means to cure depression and anxiety is by meditation. Meditation promotes relaxation, both for mind
relaxation and muscle relaxation, compassion and patience. Meditation also prevents one from being stressed or
cures one from a depression. People have long been studying meditation using electroencephalography/EEG (9).
Meditation is generally characterized by increasing alpha waves and theta waves and accompanied by a decrease in
the other waves. However, the way these waves occur at work, is still in question. There is a possibility that
meditation waves are not only occurring while one is not doing or thinking something, but also occur at work.
EEG also can be used for measuring attention (10). Attention can be determined using beta wave (14-30 Hz).
Not alike with meditation, when a person is attentive there is a greater beta wave (11). Moreover, attention also can
be measured using secondary task reaction time or STRT (12) and accuracy (13).
The stress and fatigue are also affected by air temperatures. A specified range of air temperature together with
humidity and air movement constitutes a comfort zone. According to ASHRAE 55-2010, the acceptable operating
temperatures are 20 25.5 oC in winter and 23 28 oC in the summer. The increase or decrease of temperatures
from the comfort zone may induce the stress and fatigue and may affect performance and safety. In Japan, the most
common comfort temperature is around 25oC. To maintain indoor temperature at this level, people use an air
conditioner in the summer and a heater in the winter. However, the use of an air conditioner and a heater requires
The Irago Conference 2014
AIP Conf. Proc. 1649, 32-40 (2015); doi: 10.1063/1.4913541
© 2015 AIP Publishing LLC 978-0-7354-1291-0/$30.00
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considerable amount of energy. The presence of indoor plants may affect the perception comfort of the occupant at
different temperatures. Thus, the presence of indoor plants may reduce the amount of energy required to maintain
the room stays in the comfort condition. However, most studies on the effect of foliage plants on human
physiological and psychological responses have been conducted in the prescribed temperature. No study on the
effect of plants on human physiological and psychological responses at different temperatures was found.
The objective of this study is to investigate the intervention of using indoors foliage plants on attention and
meditation at different air temperature levels. The study also investigated the effect of plants at several types of
tasks. Three types of tasks were investigated, namely typing, math and logics. Characteristics of tasks in the studies
on the effect of foliage plants on human physiological and psychological responses has been investigated in the
previous study (14).
In this study, the effect of plant on attention is measured using EEG and STRT (secondary task reaction time).
The study hypothesized that the presence of plants at different temperature levels has no effect on physiological and
psychological responses as well as the performance and accuracy of the subject.
METHOD
In this study, an experiment was conducted using a within subject design or a repeated measures design. The
independent variables (IV) of the experiment are plant and temperature. There were 2 levels of plant and no plant
conditions, and 3 levels of temperature, which is 22oC, 25oC, and 28oC. The dependent variables (DV) of the study
were human physiological responses such as heart rate, amylase level, electroencephalography (EEG), the secondary
task-reaction time (STRT), and task performance. There were 4 conditions tested in the experiment:
1. No plant condition, at temperature of 25oC
2. 6 foliage plants at temperature of 22oC
3. 6 foliage plants at temperature of 25oC
4. 6 foliage plants at temperature of 28oC
The condition of no plant and with the presence of plants is presented in Fig. 1. The experiment took place in the
Natural Energy Building at Toyohashi University of Technology. The space of the climatic chamber is 3.57 meters
long, 2.67 meter wide and 2.44 meter high. The illuminance of the room was 408 lx, by two fluorescent lamps
without any daylight, measured at desk level.
Plants used in the experiment were aglaonema commutatum, calathea concinna, spathyphillum, epiremnum
aureum, benjamin, and scheflera arboricola. Plant heights were varied between 25 cm and 50 cm. All plant leaves
are green. Foliage plants are located on the desk, 80 cm 120 cm from the subject position.
Fifteen subjects, with the age ranged from 22 to 38 years old participated in the study. All participants were
postgraduate students from various departments. All participants have lived in Japan for at least 2 years, so they all
have been acclimatized to the subtropical weather. All subjects participated in all conditions.
(a)
(b)
FIGURE 1. Room condition (a) without plant, (b) with the presence of plants
A subject only participated in the experiment two times maximum in a day during the experiment. To overcome
learning bias, randomization was carried out so that the sequence of conditions was different for one subject to the
other. Several different tasks, namely typing, math and logical sequences are included in the investigation of these
studies. The sequence of tasks also was randomized for each trial.
Before performing the first task, the subject was given 10 minutes for acclimatization with room condition,
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because the temperature and humidity in the experiment room may be different with the outdoor temperature and
humidity. Each task lasted for 10 minutes, followed by taking rest for 5 minutes. The total time required for each
subject in each experimental session is 60 minutes.
Heart rate and body temperature were measured before and after each task. Body temperature was measured
inside the ear. Heart rate was measured near the chess using Polar S610i. Body temperature measured using Jintan
thermometer.
EEG measured by using Brainwave Visualizer from NeuroSky, Inc. EEG data were taken 5 times when the
subject is conducting the prescribed task from a monitor located outside the chamber. The EEG sensor and the
monitor are wireless. The EEG sensor sends signals through bluetooth to an android apps monitor called Brainwave
Visualizer. The outputs from Brainwave Visualizer apps are meditation wave’s rating and attention wave’s rating.
The scale of rating is from 0 to 100. Fatigue and stress were measured by using NIPRO amylase monitor, before
and after the experiment. A disposable stick for measuring amylase score was placed in the mouth, under the tongue,
for 30 seconds.
Secondary task reaction time (STRT) is conducted during the primary task. During the primary task, there would
be sound signals generated from a computer that can be heard by the subjects using an earphone. When the subject
hears the sound signal (secondary signal), he or she was instructed to react to the signal by pressing the enterkey
on the keyboard. STRT data were taken 4 times when the subject is conducting the prescribed task. After all tasks
has been finished, the subject then fills out the questionnaire.
Schedule of the experiment is presented in Fig. 2. The experiment was conducted in the summer (from July to
September 2014). Each experiment lasted for about 60 minutes.
FIGURE 2. Schedule of experiment
RESULTS
The experiment was conducted during the summer, with outside temperature from 20oC to 33oC. Climatic
conditions of the experiment are presented in Table 1.
TABLE 1. Conditions during the experiment
Variables
Measurement
Temperature (inside chamber)
22, 25 and 28oC
Temperature (outside)
20-33oC
Humidity (inside chamber)
49.6 - 60%
Humidity (outside)
73 88 %
Air speed (at air conditioner)
2.45 m/s
Air speed (at air ventilator)
0.8 m/s
Air speed (at working height)
0.01 m/s
Illuminance (at working height)
400 lx
Clothing insulation index
0.54 clo
Green coverage ratio
9.55%
In Table 2, the effects of plants on physiological responses and performances were presented. From Table 2, it
can be seen that there is a significant effect of task type on the secondary task reaction time (p < 0.05). A significant
effect of the interaction of plant and task type on the secondary task reaction time (p < 0.005) is also found in this
study.
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TABLE 2. The effect of plants on physiological responses and performances
Dependent Variable
F value
Degree of freedom
Significance
Heart rate
1.377
1.970
0.527
2
2
4
0.260
0.179
0.602
Attention
1.528
1.124
3.146
2
2
4
0.237
0.355
0.077
Meditation
0.839
0.618
0.291
2
2
2
0.375
0.554
0.752
Average body
temperature
1.147
1.966
2.123
2
2
4
0.302
0.179
0.159
Amylase
0.022
1
0.884
Reaction Time
0.310
4.321
9.598
1
2
2
0.587
0.036*
0.003*
Typing accuracy
0.454
1
0.512
Typing speed
1.154
1
0.301
Math productivity
0.075
1
0.788
Math accuracy
0.984
1
0.338
Logic productivity
0.035
1
0.853
Logic accuracy
0.012
1
0.916
The effect of room air temperatures on physiological responses and performances is presented in Table 3. From
Table 3, it can be seen that variable temperature has a significant effect on meditation. Fig. 3 depicts further the
relationship between temperature, meditation wavesrating and tasks. From Fig. 3, it can be seen that the meditation
wavesrating at 25oC temperature is higher than the wavesstrength in the other temperatures. It can be seen also
that the pattern of meditation wavesrating for every task is the same, suggesting that 25oC is the optimal
temperatures for the brainwaves to feel relax.
It also can be seen from Table 3 that variable task has a significant effect on attention. Fig. 4 depicts further how
the attention wavesrating for each task has a different level. From Fig. 4, it can be seen that attention wavesrating
in math has a higher level than the attention wave's rating on the other tasks. Also, the attention wavesrating in the
typing task has a lower level than attention wavesrating on the other tasks.
From the experiment, a significant effect of room air temperature on average body temperature is shown in Table
3. The relationship between the room air temperature and the average body temperature is shown in Fig. 5. From
Fig. 5, it can be seen that the average body temperature is increased as the room air temperature increased, and the
pattern of the three tasks is almost similar.
As can be seen from Table 3, a significant effect of temperature on reaction time was found. Reaction time
measured in this experiment is secondary task reaction time (STRT) which is a measure of attention. Fig. 4 shows
the effect of temperature on the average reaction time. From Fig. 6, it can be seen that reaction time was lower in
25oC then in the other temperatures. From Fig. 6, it also can be seen that reaction time in typing task is higher than
that in the other tasks.
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Moreover, it also can be seen from Table 3 that temperature has a significant effect on typing accuracy. Fig. 7
shows further the relationship between typing accuracy and air temperature. From Fig. 7, it can be seen that the
typing accuracy increases with the air temperature. However, for the female, the optimum temperature is 25oC.
TABLE 3. The effect of temperatures on physiological responses and performances
Independent Variable
Dependent Variable
F value
Degree of freedom
Significance
Temperature
Task
Temperature x Task
Heart rate
0.285
0.005
0.21
2
2
4
0.754
0.995
0.932
Temperature
Task
Temperature x Task
Attention
1.15
3.78
0.36
2
2
4
0.348
0.050*
0.829
Temperature
Task
Temperature x Task
Meditation
3.92
0.83
0.361
2
2
4
0.032*
0.448
0.835
Temperature
Task
Temperature x Task
Average body
temperature
32.19
1.00
3.357
2
2
4
0.00*
0.394
0.050*
Temperature
Task
Temperature x Task
Reaction Time
6.19
0.028
0.727
2
2
4
0.014*
0.972
0.593
Temperature
Typing accuracy
3.34
2
0.050*
Temperature
Typing speed
1.40
2
0.283
Temperature
Math Productivity
1.13
2
0.356
Math accuracy
0.554
2
0.589
Temperature
Logics productivity
0.492
2
0.623
Logics accuracy
1.31
2
0.287
In the comparison of temperature levels shown in Fig. 3 Fig. 7, 22oC temperature is worse than the other
temperature levels almost in all dependent variables, except for attention wave strength and secondary task reaction
task on the math task. Temperature of 25oC was the best in meditation wave rating, and also in secondary task
reaction time for logic sequence and typing tasks. Temperature of 28oC was the best for attention wave rating on the
logic sequence and typing tasks, and also the typing accuracy.
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FIGURE 3. The effect of temperature on meditation
FIGURE 4. The effect of temperature on attention
FIGURE 5. The effect of Room air temperature on attention
61#
62#
63#
64#
65#
66#
67#
68#
69#
70#
71#
22# 25# 28#
Medita'on*waves*ra'ng*
Temperatures*(oC)*
Typing#
#Math#
Logics#
54#
56#
58#
60#
62#
64#
66#
68#
70#
22# 25# 28#
A8en'on*waves*ra'ng*
Temperatures*(oC)*
Typing#
Math#
Logics##
35.4#
35.6#
35.8#
36#
36.2#
36.4#
36.6#
22# 25# 28#
Average*Body*Temperature*
(oC)*
Room*Air*Temperature*(oC)*
Typing#
Math#
Logics#
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FIGURE 6. The effect of temperature on reaction time
FIGURE 7. The effect of temperature on typing accuracy
DISCUSSION
From the EEG analysis, it is revealed that the type of task has a significant effect on attention, whereas
meditation is significantly affected by temperatures. In this study, the subject paid more attention in math task than
that in the logic task and in the typing task. Solving math problem requires attentiveness and concentration, which
associated with beta brainwave (14 to 30 Hz). The difference in height of beta waves between solving math
problems, logic sequence, and typing task, shows that brain cells and neuron are working harder in solving math
problems task than logic sequence and typing tasks. Higher level of attentiveness and concentration is required for
solving math problems because this kind of thinking uses only the left side of the brain continuously and work only
with numbers and then recall solution from the long term memory. It differs from solving logic task which uses also
the other side of the brain to find solution, which is not only work on numbers but also pictures, positions and
nonstandard figures. It also differs from typing task, which use less portion of the load in the brain, but also
distributing the load to both hands and eyes. The results of this study on the effect of task types on attention are
consistent with the results of Shibata & Suzuki (2002), which compared association task and sorting task. In their
results, the subject paid more attention in the association task than that in the sorting task. It also shows that the
association task requires more thinking than the sorting task.
1#
1.2#
1.4#
1.6#
1.8#
2#
2.2#
2.4#
2.6#
2.8#
22# 25# 28#
Average*Reac'on*Time*(second)*
Temperature*(oC)*
Typing#
Math#
Logics#
55#
60#
65#
70#
75#
80#
85#
90#
95#
100#
22# 25# 28#
Typing*Accuracy*(%)*
Temperature*(oC)*
Female#
Male#
Average#
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From the result of this study, it is also important to see the phenomenon that when the subject solving math
problems, meditation waves (alpha and theta) exceeds attention wave (beta). It is against the general premise that
beta waves are identical with thinking aloud, while the alpha and theta waves synonymous with rest and tranquility.
This is not to say that the beta wave is equal to zero when the subject solving math problems. This fact shows that
the brain of human generates several brainwaves at different frequencies and rating simultaneously. As brain
constructed in several parts and different parts account for different kind of thinking, it may be seen that at the same
time, different parts of the brain generating different brainwave. For example, when the front left is active it
produces beta waves, but at the same time the other side of the brain is at rest and it produces alpha and theta waves.
The results of this study also revealed that temperatures have a significant effect on meditation. Subject working
in a chamber with foliage plants at 25oC temperature has a higher rating of meditation waves (alpha and theta) than
working in a chamber with foliage plants at 22oC and 28oC. With relative humidity of 49%-59%, temperature of
25oC is the most comfortable temperature condition for an office. Therefore, at this temperature the brain is more
easily to produce slower brain waves frequency like alpha and theta (4-13 Hz). This result also shows that the effect
of temperature on meditation waves is stronger than the effect of plants. If the effect of plants is stronger than the
effect of temperature, it can be expected that the meditation waves at 28oC are higher or the same with the
meditation waves at 25oC.
Furthermore, a significant effect of temperatures on subject's secondary task-reaction time was found in the
study. The results of this study show that reaction time on 25oC is shorter than reaction time on 22oc and 28oC. The
reaction is a secondary task in the experiment and is used to measure attention. Shorter reaction time means that the
subject has more resource for attention, thus has a better attention or is less stressful. This result also implied that the
effect of temperature on attention is stronger than the effect of plants. If the effect of plants is stronger than the
temperature, it can be expected that the reaction time at 28oC is shorter than that at 25oC.
The results of this study also show that temperature has a significant effect on typing accuracy. The accuracy of
typing increased with the temperature. However, there was no such difference in accuracy between 25oC and 28oC.
It might be expected that difference in accuracy might be caused by plants rather than by temperature. As, it is
suggested that 25oC is a desirable comfort temperature compared to 28oC, so the accuracy in 25oC should not be
lower than the accuracy at 28oC, if the temperature is expected to have a larger effect of the typing accuracy. Higher
accuracy in typing task may mean better concentration and attentiveness, because the subject got less number of
errors. It means that attentiveness in typing at temperature 25oC and 28oC is better than at temperature 22oC.
For typing accuracy and reaction time (STRT), both are affected by temperatures, whereas reaction time also
affected by the task and interaction of plants and task. Prinzmetal, McCool and Park (2005) also showed that
reaction time and accuracy reveal different mechanisms. Temperature and the presence of plants are noninformative
cues which form involuntary attention, whereas the task is informative cues which form voluntary attention.
The results of this study also show that the most suitable temperature for various tasks and variable is different.
Temperature of 22oC is best for achieving attention on the math task. Temperature of 25oC is best for meditation and
attention, or is least stressful at all tasks, especially in logic sequence task and typing tasks. Temperature of 28oC is
best for attention on the logic sequence task and typing tasks, and also for typing accuracy.
The limitation exists in the levels of temperature in this study. Three different temperatures within the range of
comfort were examined in this study. A further study can be conducted in the other level of temperatures, such as
outside the range of comfort, or at temperatures closer to the desirable temperature of 25oC. Also, this study only
measure brainwave while the subject is working. Further study can be conducted to measure brainwave during the
rest period so that the effect of plants on recovery can be investigated.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this study has investigated the effect of foliage plants on human physiological and psychological
responses at different temperatures and over several types of tasks. Satisfactory results have been obtained proving
that the presence of foliage plants at several temperatures has different effects on meditation, secondary task
reaction time (STRT) and typing accuracy. This study also revealed that the presence of plants on several types of
tasks has different effects of attention which are useful for increasing work performance.
The present study has only investigated three levels of temperatures within the range of comfort, 22oC, 25oC, and
28oC in summer. Consequently, a further study on the effect of smaller range of temperatures in various seasons is
required. Such research will sharpen the knowledge in this area and provide the best foundation for designing work
and its environment.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This study was funded by Directorate General of Higher Education, Ministry of National Education,
Indonesia. Also, this work has been supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) No. 26289202
of the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture (MEXT). We are grateful for their support. All
plants used in this study were provided by PLANET Co. Ltd. Japan. The authors would like to acknowledge
students and laboratory members of Toyohashi University of Technology for their participation in this study.
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... Moreover, the U shape pattern of beta band by increase of temperature was also reported [44,50]. Interferences of the cognitive tasks with thermal perception patterns of beta band can be inferred from higher dependency of beta band to test type rather than the temperature [53], and lack of beta band changes in different environments for rest sessions [51]. ...
... Hence, to achieve a more accurate portrayal of thermal perceptual states, it is also necessary to monitor other key indoor environmental factors. Nevertheless, there are only a few references where the pertinent aspects of lighting [29,30,38,39,46,47,49,53,76,90,91,94], acoustics [32,38,46,47,49,92,94], and air quality [29,30,39,44,47,60,65,76,80,82,90,91,93] are documented. ...
... For instance, in mixed thermal and acoustic environments [94], it was found that the combined impacts of noise and air temperature outweighed the effects of either factor alone. Some of the multidomain studies have focused on thermal and none-major indoor domains [31,53,93], some have focused on thermal domain and more than one other major indoor environmental domain [38,46,47], while few studies have simultaneously evaluated thermal and acoustic [94], and thermal and air quality domains [44,65,80]. ...
... The relationship between human and nature is crucial to reestablish a built environment that is conducive to the human health; known as 'biophilic design' (Kellert 2008). Apparently, the previous studies were based only on ornamental plants and conducted in contemporary buildings: in a greenhouse (Lee et al. 2015), in an indoor office (Jumeno and Matsumoto 2015), in a reverberation chamber of a university (Asdrubali et al. 2014;D'Alessandro, Asdrubali, and Mencarelli 2015), and many others. In Malaysia, the use of Malay local knowledge in edible and medicinal plants can be found in villages and smaller rural towns. ...
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Biophilic design is a well-known design philosophy based on human-nature relationships. However, it has not been explored extensively in the Malaysian context and most of the previous studies were based on plants which were not suitable for tropical climate. This paper analyses the application of biophilic design and the usage of local edible and medicinal plants in Baba-Nyonya heritage shophouses' courtyards in George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site, Penang, Malaysia. The aim of this research is to enhance the human quality of life through biophilic design with local knowledge application in the urban setting. Qualitative method strategies were applied to collect the data: photographic survey, plant inventory and building observation. Three heritage shophouses that had been adaptively reused into contemporary cafes were selected for this study. Significant results showed that Biophilic Design Pattern under the 'visual connection with nature (P1)' has been achieved through the application of edible and medicinal plants. Unfortunately, the local knowledge for applying edible and medicinal plants for achieving biophilic design compliance is weak. In the future, a further study is needed to identify the species of local edible and medicinal plants which can be applied in the Baba-Nyonya heritage shophouses courtyards.
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A job satisfaction survey was posted on the Internet and administered to office workers in Texas and the Midwest. The survey included questions regarding job satisfaction, physical work environments, the presence or absence of live interior plants and windows, environmental preferences of the office workers, and demographic information. Approximately 450 completed responses were included in the final sample. Data were analyzed to compare levels of job satisfaction of employees who worked in office spaces with live interior plants or window views of exterior green spaces and employees who worked in office environments without live plants or windows. Statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) were found regarding perceptions of overall life quality, overall perceptions of job satisfaction, and in the job satisfaction subcategories of "nature of work," "supervision," and "coworkers" among employees who worked in office spaces with live interior plants or window views and those employees who worked in office environments without live plants or windows. Findings indicated that individuals who worked in offices with plants and windows reported that they felt better about their job and the work they performed. This study also provided evidence that those employees who worked in offices that had plants or windows reported higher overall quality-of-life scores. Multivariate analysis of variance comparisons indicated that there were no statistically significant differences among the categories of "age," "ethnicity," "salary," "education levels," and "position" among employees who worked in offices with or without plants or window views. However, there were gender differences in comparisons of males in that male participants in offices with plants rated job satisfaction statements higher when compared with males working in offices with no plants. No differences were found in comparisons of female respondents.
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Human Issues in Horticulture (HIH) is a relatively new aspect of horticulture research that focuses beyond traditional horticulture (the production, maintenance, and use of crops) to include understanding the humans who utilize the plants and the role that plants play in life quality. Quite simply, HIH is the study of the application of horticulture to all aspects of daily life.
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During the learning process, whether students remain attentive throughout instruction generally influences their learning efficacy. If teachers can instantly identify whether students are attentive they can be suitably reminded to remain focused, thereby improving their learning effects. Traditional teaching methods generally require that teachers observe students' expressions to determine whether they are attentively learning. However, this method is often inaccurate and increases the burden on teachers. With the development of electroencephalography (EEG) detection tools, mobile brainwave sensors have become mature and affordable equipment. Therefore, in this study, whether students are attentive or inattentive during instruction is determined by observing their EEG signals. Because distinguishing between attentiveness and inattentiveness is challenging, two scenarios were developed for this study to measure the subjects' EEG signals when attentive and inattentive. After collecting EEG data using mobile sensors, various common features were extracted from the raw data. A support vector machine (SVM) classifier was used to calculate and analyze these features to identify the combination of features that best indicates whether students are attentive. Based on the experiment results, the method proposed in this study provides a classification accuracy of up to 76.82%. The study results can be used as a reference for learning system designs in the future.
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This study documents some of the benefits of adding plants to a windowless work place - a college computer lab. Participants' blood pressure and emotions were monitored while completing a simple, timed computer task in the presence or absence of plants. When plants were added to this interior space, the participants were more productive (12% quicker reaction time on the computer task) and less stressed (systolic blood pressure readings lowered by one to four units). Immediately after completing the task, participants in the room with plants present reported feeling more attentive (an increase of 0.5 on a self-reported scale from one to five) than people in the room with no plants.
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Environmental preferences vary with the environments evaluated and the people who evaluated them. When research has considered the explanatory power of person variables, it has focused on traits or demographic characteristics. Little research has considered how environmental preferences vary with regularly occurring psychological states, such as attentional fatigue. In this experiment, we investigated the need for psychological restoration as a within-individual determinant of the common preference differential between natural and urban environments. We treated preference as an attitude, constituted of beliefs about the likelihood of restoration during a walk in a given environment and the evaluation of restoration given different restoration needs. College students (N=103) completed the procedure just before a morning lecture (less fatigue condition) or immediately after an afternoon lecture, which itself followed the passage of time and other activities over the day (more fatigue condition). In both fatigue conditions, participants reported more favorable attitudes toward a walk in a forest than a walk in a city center, but this difference was larger with the more fatigued. This result apparently owes to the more fatigued participants’ more positive evaluation of attentional recovery, and a greater judged likelihood of restoration when walking in the forest.
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In this study we investigate the effect of leafy plants on subjects' task performance and mood. As independent variables, two types of tasks and several room arrangements were used. There was an association or a sorting task and the room was arranged either with the plant placed in front of the subjects, to the side of the subjects, or with no plant placed in the room. Gender was also considered as a variable for analysis. Undergraduate students (F=63,M =83) performed either the association task or the sorting task under one of the three room arrangements. The association task was to create no more than 30 words for 20 different items. The sorting task was to sort 180 index cards into Japanese syllabary order.As for the task performance, Room×Gender interaction was significant in the scores of the association task (p<0·05). Male subjects working without plants performed worse than female subjects under the same conditions (p<0·01). Moreover, the task performances of the male subjects using the front arrangement were higher than that of the male subjects working without plants (p<0·10). It was concluded that the presence of the plants affected the association task more than the sorting task, and male subjects more than female subjects. It was also suggested that the presence of the leafy plants might affects creative work positively.
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Twelve 20-minute thermal biofeedback sessions were conducted with 26 university students. Visual stimuli were provided by a living foliage plant, a life-sized color photograph of that plant, or a metal stool (control). Of the participants, 38% responded positively to the presence of a live plant or plant photograph, while 23% showed lower stress in the control room. Stress reduction, as indicated by higher skin temperatures, occurred within the first 5 to 8 minutes of a 20-minute thermal-biofeedback session. A nonplant visual stimulus was not part of the experiment. The results are not intended as comparative, nor do they attribute unique or superior effects to plants. Due to the small number of participants, no significant results were obtained, but the trends were important and are being reported to help further research in this area.
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Our senses are constantly confronted with an excess of information. One mechanism that limits this input to a manageable amount is selective attention. An important effect of sustained attention is the facilitation of perception through enhanced contrast sensitivity. While the term ‘sustained’ suggests that this facilitative effect endures continuously as long as something is attended, we present electrophysiological evidence that perception at attended locations is actually modulated periodically. Subjects had to detect brief flashes of light that were presented peripherally at the individual contrast threshold such that subjects detected approximately half of the flashes (hits) and entirely missed the other half (misses). Additionally, a central cue instructed subjects where to focus their attention, so that stimuli could be presented either at the attended or the unattended location. EEG was recorded concurrently. As expected, the contrast threshold was lower for attended than for unattended stimuli. Analysis of the EEG data revealed that event-related potentials (ERPs) were of much larger amplitude for hits than for misses. Moreover, the single-trial amplitude of the ERP was correlated with the single-trial phase of spontaneous EEG oscillations in the theta (∼7Hz) frequency-band just before stimulus onset. In fact, the single-trial phase in this time-frequency range was significantly predictive of detection performance for attended stimuli - but not for unattended ones. Spontaneous EEG oscillations correspond to ongoing periodic fluctuations of the local electrical field and the excitability of neuronal populations. The present results extend our recent finding that visual detection performance fluctuates over time along with the phase of such oscillations in the theta (4-8Hz) and alpha (8-13Hz) range. By demonstrating that this effect exists only for attended stimuli, the data suggest that sustained attention in fact operates in a periodic fashion.
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This study directly tests the hypothesis that secondary task reaction time (STRTs) measured during television viewing index available resources rather than resources allocated by the viewer, resources required by the message, or resources remaining in the system. An initial test of the hypothesis did not support the theoretical interpretation of STRTs as either available or remaining resources. A subsequent secondary analysis introduced a new measure of television message complexity called information introduced. The stimuli were recoded using this measure and reanalyzed to test the same hypothesis. Results of the secondary analysis yielded a pattern of STRT responses supporting the prediction that STRTs are indexing avail-able resources.