ArticleFrontiers in psychology2026
Differential effects of simulated restorative environments on subjective and objective attentional outcomes.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Virtual environments are increasingly used to promote cognitive and psychological well-being, yet the influence of environment type and user characteristics (e.g., age) remains unclear, particularly in low-immersion formats such as videos. Moreover, the relationship between subjective and objective measures of cognition warrants further investigation. This study examined the effects of brief exposure to simulated 2D natural, artistic, or control (office) environments on subjective Perceived Attentive Efficiency, objective Cognitive Performance, and Perceived Restorativeness in 88 participants (44 young, 44 older adults). Participants completed single-item ratings of perceived attentive efficiency and digitalized neuropsychological tasks pre- and post-exposure, while restorativeness was assessed only post-exposure. Bayesian repeated-measures ANOVAs showed that participants exposed to natural and artistic environments reported higher perceived attentive efficiency and restorativeness than those exposed to the control environment. However, no corresponding improvements were observed in the objective cognitive measures. These findings suggest that, under the present experimental conditions, brief exposure to simulated 2D environments was associated with changes in subjective but not objective attentional outcomes. The comparable pattern of results observed for natural and artistic environments further suggests that factors such as positive valence or aesthetic appeal may contribute to perceived benefits, although the specific mechanisms involved require further investigation. No age-related differences emerged, indicating broadly similar responses across younger and older adults. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of considering both subjective and objective indicators when evaluating restorative environmental interventions and provide preliminary support for the potential value of scalable, low-cost virtual experiences for promoting perceived cognitive and psychological well-being.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.