Keywords
compatibility, mental fatigue, directed attention, restoration, ART
Disciplines
Psychology
Abstract
Are people sensitive to the level of compatibility in everyday settings? We manipulated via scenario both a specified goal and a setting typically associated with a given goal. Settings were either typically compatible with the specified goal or not. Different participants rated either compatibility (as a direct indicator of sensitivity to manipulated compatibility) or preference for being in the setting (as an indirect indicator of sensitivity). For both measures, mean ratings were significantly greater in the high-compatibility conditions than in the low-compatibility conditions. We conclude that people are indeed sensitive to the level of compatibility in everyday settings. These findings indicate that a core concept of Attention Restoration Theory (ART), compatibility, has psychological reality in everyday settings and thus support the construct validity and external validity of the compatibility concept.
ScholarWorks Citation
Herzog, Thomas R.; Hayes, Lauren J.; Applin, Rebecca C.; and Weatherly, Anna M., "Compatibility: An Experimental Demonstration" (2011). Peer Reviewed Articles. 49.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/psy_articles/49
Comments
Original Citation: Herzog, Thomas R., Lauren J. Hayes, Rebecca C. Applin, and Anna M. Weatherly. "Compatibility: An Experimental Demonstration." Environment and Behavior 43, no. 1 (2011): 90-105.