ble, either physically just out of sight or even within the imagination (Hartig et al. 1997b; Kaplan and Kaplan 1989). Psychological examples include “debugging a computer program or repairing a car or producing a showpiece cake” (Kaplan and Kaplan 1989, 184); activities which can be absorbing to the point of an individual no longer being aware of their surroundings. Physical examples include both non-natural environments such as shopping malls, casinos and zoos, all designed to give a sense of a whole other world, as well as natural environments such as distant wilderness or trails and paths designed to give the illusion of small areas being larger (Kaplan 1995). Although not in relation to ART, perhaps this component is better explained by Cobb (1969): “The child’s sense of wonder, displayed as surprise and joy, is aroused as a response to the mystery of [the] stimulus [of nature] that promises more to come or, better still, more to do” (28). Such promises may draw children into environments, but for children to remain, the environment must be interesting, the third component.
FascinationElements of Extent elicit Fascination, another component of restorative environments. Fascinating elements can be comprised of physical stimuli within the environment such as “sex and violence, competition and cooperation” (Kaplan and Kaplan 1989, 184) or “animals, people, water, fire” (Herzog, Black, Fountaine, and Knotts 1997, 165). Fascination can also occur via cognitive involvement- i.e., processes such as learning (Kaplan and Kaplan 1989), story telling, or problem solving (Herzog et al. 1997).
The contribution of Fascination is crucial for two reasons. First, fascinating physical stimuli or cognitive processes are by definition interesting and therefore “attract people and keep them from getting bored” (Kaplan and Kaplan 1989, 184). Secondly, fascinating stimuli or processes do not require the use of conscious, effortful directed attention (Kaplan and Kaplan 1989). Fascination alone however, does not complete a restorative experience. “People can be fascinated by events that may negatively affect their mental and emotional states, such as violence” (Hartig et al. 1997b, 178). Therefore, researchers formed the concept that fascination ranges along a continuum from hard fascination to soft fascination based on the elements of the stimuli (Kaplan and Kaplan 1989). Hard fascination involves dramatic attention grabbing stimuli such as watching auto racing (Kaplan 1995) and staring at horrific sights, or giant trees and vast waterfalls (Herzog et al. 1997; Williams 1998). Soft fascination is based on stimuli that “hold the attention in an undramatic fashion” (Williams 1998, 60) and includes activities such as learning (Kaplan and Kaplan 1989) and elements of nature such as sunsets and waterfalls, caves and fires (Kaplan and Kaplan 1989), leaves moving in a breeze and cloud formations (Kaplan 1995; Williams 1998). Elements closer to the soft fascination end of the spectrum are considered to be restorative (Kaplan 1995; Williams 1998) as they provide opportunities for effortless attention (Kaplan 2001b). As such, attention can be maintained over an extended period of time. Remaining in an environment, however, is dependent upon its compatibility with the purpose of entering the environment- the final component considered to comprise a restorative environment.
CompatibilityThe fourth and final component of a restorative environment is that of Compatibility; that is, the environment is believed to be supportive of an individual’s purpose while in the environment (Kaplan 1983; 1995; 2001b). There are a number of ways an environment could be incompatible with an individual’s desired behavior (Kaplan 1983). For example, environmental conditions may dictate certain behaviors at odds with individual goals, or stimuli within the environment may distract from goals. Alternatively, some predetermined activities may elicit spontaneous behaviors. For example, children may decide to play catch, a relatively stationary game, and end up playing brandy