The attention restoration theory and how colleges and universities should use it

Evidence suggests that many college and university students experience high levels of classroom and study-related fatigue (Fu and Cheng, 2017) and require appropriate opportunities for restoration (Hodson and Sander, 2017). This classroom and study-related fatigue is a major concern among administrators at institutions of higher learning as it is deemed to be a contributing factor to the psychological well-being of their students (Mohd Yusli et al.,2021). Throughout the student’s college and university experience, students spend a lot of time, learning new information, studying various courses, solving problems, completing assignments, collaborating on projects, preparing presentations, sitting for tests, and partaking in extracurricular activities, all of which are cognitively demanding and requires a mental effort to block and ignore distractions (DiPlacito and DeRango, 2021). This excess demand on cognition is initiated through each student’s need for directed attention capacity to be high and consistent (DiPlacito and DeRango, 2021) leads to attentional fatigue (Hodson and Sander, 2017). It has been highlighted that once students have exhausted their personal cognitive resources, cognitive fatigue will be accelerated and mental along with psychological imbalances become noticeable (Mohd Yusli et al.,2021). This cognitive fatigue according to Hodson and Sander, (2017) directly impacts the student’s concentration ability, tolerance to irritability, and task accuracy. Furthermore, during these occurrences, there are few opportunities for breaks that will allow these students to reclaim sufficient relaxation and restoration of directed attention (Hodson and Sander, 2017). According to Ryff (2018) the composition of psychological well-being is a five-factor composition that includes 1) positive relationships with others, 2) personal mastery, 3) autonomy, 4) a sense of having a purposeful and meaningful life, 5) personal growth and development. These five factors have been suggested by Ryff (2018) as being major influences on the overall mental and psychological state of students in college and university classrooms. One way in which to reduce the consequences of depleted cognitive recourses and the increase in cognitive fatigue as well as implementing areas of the five-factor composition is to have effective restoration breaks where the colleges and universities become restorative environments (Frumkin et al., 2017). Restorative environments according to Frumkin et al (2017) are defined as spatial resources that enable recovery from stress and recalibrate personal cognitive resources in meeting the academic demands of college and university endeavours. Lin et al (2019) explain that a restorative environment enhances and sustains the restored concentration and the attention levels of an individual when it has been exhausted by previous stressful situations. Researchers have mentioned that since college and universities, by the nature of the academic process, are a contributing factor in cognitive fatigue along with mental and psychological stress of their students, have a duty and responsibility to support the effective cognitive restoration of their students (Liprini and Coetzee, 2017; Ekkel and de Vries, 2017). It has been suggested by Liprini and Coetzee (2017); Ekkel and de Vries (2017) that natural spaces incorporated into college and university campus grounds provide unlimited, cumulative, and ample opportunities for play, rest, and restoration. Kaplan (1995) developed a theory to take attentional and psychological restoration among individuals, the attention restoration theory. The attention restoration theory is a micro-restorative experience and states that, when the mental effort is exerted, an individual will experience directed attention fatigue and that mental and psychological fatigue and concentration can be improved by time spent in or looking at nature. (Kaplan, 1995). According to Kaplan (1995), the natural environment must have four properties to provide this restorative effect: 1) Extent (the scope to feel immersed in the environment) 2) Being away (providing an escape from habitual activities) 3) Soft fascination (aspects of the environment that capture attention effortlessly) 4) Compatibility (individuals must want to be exposed to and appreciate the environment). This view by Kaplin (1996) is reinforced by Hipp et al (2016) who argued that, for fatigued students, a surrounding natural environment rich in affordances might initiate and sustain restorative experiences that are critical for daily functioning, especially if students perceive that their campus has restorative potential. Interestingly, van den Bogerd et al (2020) and Mitchell and Popham (2008) suggest that exposure to green views through windows has been associated with improved well-being and lower physiological enthusiasm and anxiety among and that, when nature is viewed through windows, an individual can effectively restore attention (Mitchell and Popham, 2008). A study by Tennessen and Cimprich (1995) highlighted that when college students looked at natural views through their dormitory windows, they scored higher in tests that demanded directed attention than those who only had partial natural views or windowless dormitories. This study concluded that window views act as a stress prevention tool and provide opportunities for mental and psychological restoration. Research by Williams et al (2018) has suggested that the college and university campus experience in respect to the open space and natural environment be the most useful restorer against mental and psychological stress as it allows the individual to reduce attention fatigue, enhances the ability of an individual to function cognitively and become a restorative process. With this research being common there is a need for college and university administrators to come up with initiatives that encourage students to exploit their college and university natural space either by engaging in physical activities or as a social common ground (Hartig et al., 2014). In addition to the research above, research in schools has suggested that adding plants into the classroom improves the mental and psychological restoration associated with high and constant levels of attentional fatigue (Han, 2017). Han (2008); Park (2008) and Daly, Burchett & Torpy (2010) research looked at the impact of plants in the classroom on the students’ physical health, performance, stress levels, directed attention levels and behavior and indicated that the students who had green plants in their classroom had improved physical health, performance, reduced stress levels, greater attentional levels and behavior in contrast to those students who did not have green plants in their classroom. The conclusion was having green plants in the classroom is directly related to the attentional restorative theory and to the student’s mental and psychological well-being.