Attention Restoration Theory: The Evidence

10 cited studies · updated 2026-11-10

Attention Restoration Theory (ART) holds that the effortful attention we use to work, read and navigate a city gets tired with use, and that natural settings let it recover because they hold attention without demanding it. Rachel and Stephen Kaplan developed the theory in the 1980s. It is one of the two main explanations for why contact with nature is good for people, and it is the basis of DwellScore's Attention Restoration score.#

Last updated: 2026-11-10. Studies are summarized from the papers in DwellScore's research index; each section links the original.#

The Theory in Brief#

ART separates two kinds of attention:#

  • Directed attention: deliberate focus that takes effort and shuts out distraction. Reading a contract, working at a screen, or crossing a busy street all draw on it. It is a limited resource, and using it for long periods produces directed attention fatigue: irritability, distractibility, poorer planning and weaker self-control.#
  • Involuntary attention, or fascination: attention that is captured without effort. A loud siren captures it harshly; clouds, leaves moving in wind or water capture it gently. The Kaplans called the gentle kind soft fascination. It holds attention while leaving room for reflection, and directed attention can rest.#

A setting is restorative when it offers four qualities (Kaplan, 1995):#

QualityMeaningUrban example
Being away#A mental shift from everyday demandsA park bench out of sight of traffic
Fascination#Effortless interest, ideally softTree canopy moving in wind
Extent#Feels like a coherent world large enough to exploreA long tree-lined street, a large park
Compatibility#Fits what you want to do thereA quiet path when you want a walk

Natural settings tend to provide all four at once, which is why the theory predicts they restore attention better than most built settings.#

ART is often paired with Roger Ulrich's Stress Reduction Theory, which holds that natural scenes lower physiological stress quickly through an evolved emotional response. The two explanations overlap: ART centers on cognitive recovery, Stress Reduction Theory on the body's stress response.#

Study 1: The Foundational Work#

Citation: Kaplan, R., & Kaplan, S. (1989). The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective. Cambridge University Press.#

Scope:#

  • A synthesis of two decades of research on how people perceive and prefer natural settings#

Key Findings:#

  • Natural environments restore directed attention through soft fascination, reducing mental fatigue#
  • Sets out the distinction between directed and involuntary attention on which the theory rests#

Study 2: The Integrative Framework#

Citation: Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15(3), 169-182. doi:10.1016/0272-4944(95)90001-2#

Scope:#

  • Theoretical paper reconciling attention restoration with stress-reduction accounts#

Key Findings:#

  • Defines the four properties of a restorative environment: being away, fascination, extent and compatibility#
  • Argues that natural environments are especially well suited to recovery from directed attention fatigue#

Study 3: A Walk in Nature Improves Directed Attention#

Citation: Berman, M.G., Jonides, J., & Kaplan, S. (2008). The cognitive benefits of interacting with nature. Psychological Science, 19(12), 1207-1212. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02225.x#

Sample Size / Scope:#

  • Two experiments with university students in Ann Arbor, Michigan#
  • Experiment 1: the same participants walked through an arboretum and, on another day, through downtown streets, and were tested before and after each walk#
  • Experiment 2: participants viewed photographs of natural or urban scenes#

Key Findings:#

  • Performance on a backwards digit-span test of directed attention improved after the nature walk, and not after the urban walk#
  • Viewing nature photographs also improved directed attention#
  • The improvement did not track changes in mood, which suggests the effect was cognitive rather than emotional#

Study 4: Nature and Urban Walks Measured in the Field#

Citation: 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 Psychology, 23(2), 109-123. doi:10.1016/S0272-4944(02)00109-3#

Sample Size / Scope:#

  • 112 young adults, randomly assigned to natural or urban conditions#
  • Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, attention tests and mood measures#

Key Findings:#

  • A walk in a nature reserve lowered blood pressure more than an urban walk#
  • Attention test performance improved after the nature walk and declined slightly after the urban walk#
  • Positive mood rose and anger fell in the natural setting, while the urban walk produced the reverse#

Study 5: Nature Walks and Rumination#

Citation: Bratman, G.N., Hamilton, J.P., Hahn, K.S., Daily, G.C., & Gross, J.J. (2015). Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(28), 8567-8572. doi:10.1073/pnas.1510459112#

Sample Size / Scope:#

  • 38 healthy adults, randomly assigned to a 90-minute walk in a natural area or alongside a busy road#
  • Self-reported rumination and brain imaging (fMRI) before and after#

Key Findings:#

  • The nature walk reduced rumination, the repetitive negative thinking linked to depression#
  • It also reduced activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, a brain region associated with rumination and depression risk#
  • The urban walk changed neither measure#

Study 6: A Window View and Recovery from Surgery#

Citation: Ulrich, R.S. (1984). View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science, 224(4647), 420-421. doi:10.1126/science.6143402#

Sample Size / Scope:#

  • 23 matched pairs of gallbladder surgery patients in a Pennsylvania hospital#
  • Identical rooms except for the view: a small stand of trees or a brick wall#

Key Findings:#

  • Patients with the tree view had shorter postoperative stays (about 7.96 vs 8.70 days)#
  • They needed fewer doses of strong painkillers and received fewer negative comments in nurses' notes#
  • One of the first studies to show that what you can see from a window affects health#

Study 7: Stress Recovery in Natural and Urban Scenes#

Citation: Ulrich, R.S., Simons, R.F., Losito, B.D., Fiorito, E., Miles, M.A., & Zelson, M. (1991). Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 11(3), 201-230. doi:10.1016/S0272-4944(05)80184-7#

Sample Size / Scope:#

  • 120 participants watched a stressful film, then a video of either natural or urban settings#
  • Heart rate, skin conductance, muscle tension and pulse transit time recorded throughout#

Key Findings:#

  • Recovery from stress was faster and more complete with natural scenes, across physiological measures#
  • The basis of Stress Reduction Theory, the companion explanation to ART#

Study 8: Greener Window Views and Children's Self-Discipline#

Citation: Taylor, A.F., Kuo, F.E., & Sullivan, W.C. (2002). Views of nature and self-discipline: Evidence from inner city children. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 22(1-2), 49-63. doi:10.1006/jevp.2001.0241#

Sample Size / Scope:#

  • 169 children living in architecturally identical public housing buildings in Chicago, with varying amounts of greenery visible from home#

Key Findings:#

  • Girls with greener views from home scored better on concentration, impulse inhibition and delay of gratification#
  • The pattern did not hold for boys; the authors suggest boys spent more of their play time farther from home#
  • Supports ART's claim that self-discipline draws on the same directed attention that nature restores#

Study 9: Green Surroundings, Mental Fatigue and Aggression#

Citation: Kuo, F.E., & Sullivan, W.C. (2001). Aggression and violence in the inner city: Effects of environment via mental fatigue. Environment and Behavior, 33(4), 543-571. doi:10.1177/00139160121973124#

Sample Size / Scope:#

  • 145 residents of public housing buildings in Chicago, assigned to buildings with more or less nearby vegetation#

Key Findings:#

  • Residents of greener buildings reported less aggression and violence#
  • Measured attentional fatigue accounted for much of the difference, the pathway ART predicts#

Study 10: Street Trees and Health in a Large City#

Citation: Kardan, O., Gozdyra, P., Misic, B., Moola, F., Palmer, L.J., Paus, T., & Berman, M.G. (2015). Neighborhood greenspace and health in a large urban center. Scientific Reports, 5, 11610. doi:10.1038/srep11610#

Sample Size / Scope:#

  • 31,109 residents of Toronto, linked to the city's street-tree inventory and health survey data#

Key Findings:#

  • 10 more trees on a city block was associated with better self-reported health, comparable to being about 7 years younger or earning about $10,000 more a year#
  • More street trees were also associated with fewer cardio-metabolic conditions#
  • The authors report that trees along streets drove the association more than other trees, suggesting that what people pass every day counts#

How Strong Is the Evidence?#

The broad finding, that time in or views of nature help people recover from mental fatigue and stress, is consistent across laboratory, field and population studies. Some details are less settled:#

  • Which attention measures improve. Systematic reviews find the clearest effects on working memory, cognitive flexibility and attentional control, with mixed results on other tests (Ohly et al., 2016; Stevenson et al., 2018).#
  • Small samples. Many experiments test a few dozen university students, and effects on any single test are modest.#
  • Cause and effect in population studies. Studies such as Kardan et al. (2015) control for income, age and education, but cannot fully rule out that healthier people choose greener places.#
  • Dose. How much nature, of what kind and for how long is still being worked out.#

For the population evidence on trees specifically, see trees and mental health.#

Reviews cited above: Ohly, H., et al. (2016). Attention Restoration Theory: A systematic review of the attention restoration potential of exposure to natural environments. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B, 19(7), 305-343. doi:10.1080/10937404.2016.1196155. Stevenson, M.P., Schilhab, T., & Bentsen, P. (2018). Attention Restoration Theory II: A systematic review to clarify attention processes affected by exposure to natural environments. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B, 21(4), 227-268. doi:10.1080/10937404.2018.1505571.#

How DwellScore Uses It#

DwellScore's Attention Restoration score applies the theory to a home's surroundings, using public New York City data:#

  • Canopy density: street trees within walking distance, from the NYC street tree census (soft fascination, the everyday exposure Kardan et al. measured)#
  • Acoustic quiet: traffic exposure on the block, from DOT traffic counts (traffic noise works against being away)#
  • Prospect and refuge: the lot and street geometry (views out from a protected position)#
  • Park proximity: distance to parks and green corridors (extent and being away)#

Each factor is graded in the evidence matrix. For how this fits a purchase decision, see buying an apartment in NYC.#

Where these studies are used in DwellScore