The Effects of Using a Nature-Sound Mobile Application on Psychological Well-Being and Cognitive Performance Among University Students

Abstract

Many university students have been struggling with multiple challenges that may cause mental fatigue. Exposure to the natural environment is found to have restorative effects on mental fatigue, which can be explained by its benefits in physiological, psychological, and cognitive aspects. While the natural environment contains both visual and auditory elements, research on the effects of auditory elements, such as nature sounds, is underdeveloped and limited to laboratory settings. It remains unclear what are the effects of exposure to nature sounds in daily life settings. The study was conducted with 71 students from a university, who were randomly assigned to the experimental group using a nature-sound mobile application in daily life and the control group not using the application. After a 4-week exposure to the intervention, the students in the experimental group outperformed their counterparts in the control group on psychological well-being reflected in positive affect, as well as cognitive performance reflected in flow state, attention (in terms of alerting) and working memory (in terms of accuracy and reaction time). The findings reveal the positive impact of exposure to relaxing nature sounds on university students’ psychological well-being and cognitive performance, as well as the potential of mobile applications to provide easy exposure to nature sounds.

Exposure to Nature Sounds through a Mobile Application in Daily Life: Effects on Learning Performance among University Students

“…Research shows that exposure to natural environments has substantial benefits for improving psychological well-being (e.g., positive effect) and cognitive performance (e.g., working memory) [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], which have the potential to improve learning performance. A prior study suggested that exposure to nature sounds (e.g., the sounds of birds, rainfall, and waves) through a mobile application in daily life can reduce university students’ mental fatigue and improve their cognitive performance [ 17 ]. However, research on whether exposure to nature sounds in daily life may influence students’ learning performance is underdeveloped.…”

“…For example, Hamann and Ivtzan [ 25 ] reported that exposure to a natural environment for 30 min per day for one month could improve the positive effects (e.g., happiness, meaning in life, and mindfulness) and decrease the negative effects (e.g., distress and upset). In terms of the cognitive dimension, exposure to nature can improve attention and executive function [ 17 , 28 , 29 ] and boost the flow state [ 17 , 30 , 31 ]. For example, presenting nature scenes (e.g., Hawaiian beach) through virtual reality in an open office helped office workers to foster a flow state [ 30 ], which is a positive experiential and mental state highly related to cognitive performance occurring when people are completely immersed in their activities [ 32 ].…”

“…Existing findings on the effects of exposure to nature on psychological and cognitive performances provide some insights into the possible effects of exposure to nature (including nature sounds) on learning performance. First , exposure to natural environments, including nature sounds, could help people reach a flow state [ 17 , 30 , 31 ], which might affect learning performance. The flow state is a positive experiential and mental state related to a high level of engagement or complete immersion in certain activities [ 32 ].…”

“…Second , the benefits of exposure to nature have also been reported as improving attention and executive functions [ 17 , 28 , 29 ], which might affect learning performance. In particular, the attention restoration theory places special emphasis on directed attention [ 20 , 21 ], which is a resource for self-regulation [ 50 ].…”

“…Third , exposure to nature can promote positive psychological well-being and reduce stress [ 25 , 26 , 27 ], which might lead to a positive effect on effective learning. For example, using a mobile application to listen to nature sounds for four weeks significantly increases university students’ positive emotions [ 17 ]. Garden-based learning can improve students’ self-esteem and self-confidence in learning [ 58 ].…”