Meditation, Restoration, and the Management of Mental Fatigue

An analysis of the underlying similarities between the Eastern meditation tradition and attention restoration theory (ART) provides a basis for an expanded framework for studying directed attention. The focus of the analysis is the active role the individual can play in the preservation and recovery of the directed attention capacity. Two complementary strategies are presented that can help individuals more effectively manage their attentional resource. One strategy involves avoiding unnecessary costs in terms of expenditure of directed attention. The other involves enhancing the effect of restorative opportunities. Both strategies are hypothesized to be more effective if one gains generic knowledge, self-knowledge, and specific skills. The interplay between a more active form of mental involvement and the more passive approach of meditation appears to have far-reaching ramifications for managing directed attention. Research on mental restoration has focused on the role of the environment and especially the natural environment. Such settings have been shown to 480 AUTHOR’S NOTE: This article benefited greatly from the many improvements in organization, expression, and content made by Rachel Kaplan and the many suggestions concerning consistency, clarity, and accuracy made by Terry Hartig. Thanks also to the SESAME group for providing a supportive environment for exploring many of the themes discussed here. The project was funded in part by USDA Forest Service, North Central Experiment Station, Urban Forestry Unit Co-operative Agreements. ENVIRONMENT AND BEHAVIOR, Vol. 33 No. 4, July 2001 480-506 © 2001 Sage Publications © 2001 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on April 17, 2008 http://eab.sagepub.com Downloaded from reduce both stress and directed attention fatigue (DAF) (Hartig & Evans, 1993). Far less emphasis, however, has been placed on the possibility of active participation by the individual in need of recovery. A major purpose of this article is to explore the potential of this mostly neglected component of the restorative process. The article examines the role of attention in the restoration process both from the perspective of attention restoration theory (ART) and by exploring insights from the meditation tradition. The two perspectives are different in important ways, most notably in the active role that is played by the individual. At the same time, there are interesting common issues. In particular, I explore two ways to bring these frameworks together, namely preserving directed attention by avoiding costs (i.e., things that drain the attentional resource) and recovering attention through enhancement of the restorative process. These lead to a variety of tools and strategies that are available in the quest for restoration and a set of hypotheses concerning their expected effect on an individual’s effectiveness.