In Search of Beneficial Distractions: Exploring Restorative Environmental Distractions in Workplace Design

This study examines how visual stimuli presented during task performance, and during breaks between tasks, can function as a positive distraction on task performance and emotional regulation. Two parallel studies were conducted in an office environment in order to test whether restorative nature image presentation would impact performance and emotional regulation during a creative reasoning task and a directed attention task. Workplace design implications are also addressed.