Human Attention Restoration, Flow, and Creativity: A Conceptual Integration

Overview

Journal J Imaging

Publisher MDPI

Specialty Radiology

Date 2024 Apr 26

PMID 38667981

Authors

Teresa P Pham

Thomas Sanocki

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

In today's fast paced, attention-demanding society, executive functions and attentional resources are often taxed. Individuals need ways to sustain and restore these resources. We first review the concepts of attention and restoration, as instantiated in Attention Restoration Theory (ART). ART emphasizes the role of nature in restoring attention. We then discuss the essentials of experiments on the causal influences of nature. Next, we expand the concept of ART to include modern, designed environments. We outline a wider perspective termed attentional ecology, in which attention behavior is viewed within a larger system involving the human and their interactions with environmental demands over time. When the ecology is optimal, mental functioning can be a positive "flow" that is productive, sustainable for the individual, and sometimes creative.

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