The restorative environmental sounds perceived by children

Abstract

Previous studies have reported the perceived restorative potential of environmental sounds, but have mainly focused on the perceptions of adults. This study aimed to investigate the restorative environmental sounds based on children's perceptions. In the present experiment, children aged 8–12 (N = 36) were exposed to 32 audio-visual stimuli (2 visual × 16 sound stimuli), the perceived restorativeness of which was assessed using the Perceived Restorative Sounds Scale for Children. A factor analysis revealed three restorative qualities for both natural sounds and urban sounds, and they were interpreted as attractiveness, compatibility and coherence. In addition, a hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted to subdivide the sounds into four categories with different restorative qualities in two contexts. Finally, the results also showed that children's perceived restorative values of environmental sounds were positively correlated with fluctuation strength and sharpness, but negatively correlated with loudness and roughness. Those findings illustrate the restorative potentials of environmental sounds as perceived by children.