Menser and colleagues investigated what makes an image seem like it shows a nature scene. They determined that “canopies [vegetation over eight feet tall], bodies of water, and mountains were found to be highly representative of nature, whereas unnatural elements [objects and man-made structures, such as boats and walkways, respectively] and close-range views [a view focused on a singular object or small area (e.g., flowers, plants, etc.)] were inversely related. Understanding semantic categories most representative of nature is useful in developing nature-centered interventions in behavioral performance research and other neuroimaging modalities.”
Teri Menser, Juha Baek, Jacob Siahaan, Jabob Kolman, Domenica Delgado, and Bita Kash. 2021. “Validating Visual Stimuli of Nature Images and Identifying the Representative Characteristics.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 12, 685815, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.658815
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.