Attentional Demands of Executive Function Tasks in Indoor and Outdoor Settings

Behavioral and Neuroelectrical Evidence

Abstract

This study explored the influence of green environments on children’s cognitive functions by using an experimental, within-subjects design to comparechildren’sneural responses as they engaged in assessments of attention, inhibitory control, and spatial working memory in two different environments: a natural outdoor area and an indoor laboratory room. Ten children ages 6 to 11 years (M= 9.3; SD= 1.5) participated. Children performed significantly better on the spatial working memory task outdoors compared to indoors. There were no significant differences in attention or inhibitory control, but two markers of neurological activity weresignificantly larger indoorsthanoutdoors,suggesting that more cognitive resources were needed to achieve the same level of performance indoors compared to outdoors.