An Exploratory Study on the Effect of Virtual Environments on Cognitive Performances and Psychophysiological Responses

This is the dataset of the following study: Frigione, I., Massetti, G., Girondini, M., Etzi, R., Scurati, G. W., Ferrise, F., Chirico, A., Gaggioli, A., &amp; Gallace, A. (2022). An Exploratory Study on the Effect of Virtual Environments on Cognitive Performances and Psychophysiological Responses. <em>Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking</em>, <em>25</em>(10), 666–671. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2021.0162 Abstract: Research shows that reduced exposure to natural contexts is associated with an increase in psychophysical disorders. Recent evidence suggests that even a brief experience in natural scenarios can positively affect people's health and well-being. However, natural contexts are not always easily accessible. This study investigates the effects of natural and indoor virtual environments (VREs) on psychophysiological and cognitive responses. Following a within-subject design, 34 healthy participants were exposed to two VREs (i.e., a forest and a living room) in a counterbalanced order through a head-mounted display (Oculus Rift). Participants were asked to explore the scenarios and execute a modified version of the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test. Physiological parameters (heart rate, skin conductance level [SCL], and respiration rate) were recorded during the whole session. After the exposure to VREs, participants filled a set of visual analog scales to rate their subjective experience of presence, relaxation, and stress. Participants reported a higher perceived sense of relaxation in the virtual forest. Moreover, their SCLs were significantly higher in this environment, showing that the forest elicited higher physiological arousal than the living room. Furthermore, their SCLs were significantly higher during the attentional task in the virtual living room. The results suggest that a natural virtual environment can make people feel more relaxed and physiologically engaged than an indoor scenario. The latter instead can be linked to a performing venue, as reported for real contexts. However, these changes were not related to modulations of attentional performance.本数据集对应以下研究：Frigione, I.、Massetti, G.、Girondini, M.、Etzi, R.、Scurati, G. W.、Ferrise, F.、Chirico, A.、Gaggioli, A. 与 Gallace, A.（2022）。《虚拟环境对认知表现与心理生理反应的探索性研究》，发表于《网络心理学、行为与社交网络（Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking）》，第25卷第10期，页码666–671，DOI：10.1089/cyber.2021.0162。摘要：现有研究表明，接触自然环境的时长减少与心理生理障碍的发病风险升高存在关联。近期证据显示，即便短暂体验自然场景，也可对个体的健康与幸福感产生积极影响。然而，自然环境并非总能轻易获取。本研究旨在探究自然类与室内类虚拟环境（virtual environments, VREs）对个体心理生理及认知反应的影响。本研究采用被试内设计，招募34名健康被试，通过头戴式显示器（Oculus Rift）以平衡顺序分别暴露于两种虚拟环境：一处森林场景与一处客厅场景。要求被试探索场景并完成改良版的步调听觉连续加法测验（Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test）。整个实验过程中，记录了心率、皮肤电导率水平（skin conductance level, SCL）与呼吸频率等生理参数。完成虚拟环境暴露后，被试填写一系列视觉模拟量表，对自身的临场感、放松程度与压力水平进行主观评分。结果显示，被试在虚拟森林场景中报告的放松感知更高；同时，该场景下的SCL显著更高，表明森林场景比客厅场景引发了更强的生理唤醒。此外，在虚拟客厅场景中进行注意力任务时，被试的SCL显著升高。研究结果表明，相较于室内虚拟场景，自然类虚拟环境可让个体感到更放松，且生理参与度更高；而室内虚拟场景则可被视为表现型场景，这与真实场景中的相关发现一致。不过，上述变化并未伴随注意力表现的调控。