The Effect of Aquarium as Restorative Element(<Feature 1>Restorative environments)

Abstract

It is believed that natural setting contribute to reduce stress. Kaplan (1995) proposed attention restoration theory (ART) to explain this effect and they concluded that natural setting has restorative component. In this study, we investigated whether the aquarium has restorative component and whether it is effective to reduce stress. 30 students participated in the experiment. They engaged in 15 minutes typing work, and then took the rest for 10 minutes in either of 2 kinds of rooms; the room with an aquarium and without it. Aquarium composed of some kinds of tropical fish and water plants. We measured subject's heart rate variability, eye movement, salivary alpha-amylase and their feelings during the experiment. We also measured their images of aquarium and the room which they stayed. The results of the experiment showed that 1) aquarium has restorative component and it influenced the images of the room which it was placed 2) LF/HF ratio significantly correlated to the time which subjects gazed at the aquarium.