Final answer:
Attention Restoration Theory (ART) suggests that exposure to nature can restore cognitive abilities and attentional capacity. Natural environments with certain characteristics promote attention restoration.
Step-by-step explanation:
Attention Restoration Theory (ART) is a psychological concept that suggests that exposure to nature can help restore a person's cognitive abilities and attentional capacity. According to ART, spending time in natural environments, such as parks or forests, can provide a respite from the mental fatigue caused by everyday tasks and technology use.
For example, a study conducted by Berman et al. (2008) found that participants who took a walk in a natural setting performed better on a cognitive task than those who walked in an urban environment.
ART proposes that natural environments have certain characteristics that promote attention restoration, including being fascinating, having a sense of being away, having extent (the feeling of being in a large space), and having compatibility (the ability to engage in effortless attention).