Children’s Attentional Processes in Outdoor and Indoor Environments: The Role of Physiological Self-Regulation

Lucia Mason (), Benedetta Zagni, Francesca Bacchin, Carlotta Frison and Sara Scrimin
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Lucia Mason: Department of Educational Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padova, 35122 Padova, Italy
Benedetta Zagni: Department of Educational Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padova, 35122 Padova, Italy
Francesca Bacchin: Department of Educational Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padova, 35122 Padova, Italy
Carlotta Frison: Department of Educational Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padova, 35122 Padova, Italy
Sara Scrimin: Department of Educational Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padova, 35122 Padova, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 20, 1-14

Abstract: Previous research has documented that exposure to green spaces has the beneficial effects of attention restoration and stress reduction. This study investigated the effects of indoor (classroom) and outdoor (green school garden) environments on attentional processes in interaction with emotion and physiological self-regulation. Children in third and fourth grades ( n = 42) completed a school-related emotional Stroop task assessing the effects of outdoor and indoor classroom backgrounds when facing positive and negative stimuli. Children’s attentional patterns in a task completed in both environments were also assessed. Heart rate variability was registered at rest as an index of physiological self-regulation. The results revealed that children were less distracted from negative emotional materials when presented with outdoor compared with indoor background stimuli. Greater selective attention and sustained attention were shown in the green than in the classroom environment. Moreover, sustained attention varied in relation to physiological self-regulation but only when performing the task indoor.

Keywords: attention; green environments; indoor environments; nature; children; physiological self-regulation; emotion; heart rate variability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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