The Restorative Environmental Sounds Perceived by Children

Previous studies have reported perceived restorative potential of various environmental sounds. Those studies considered the perceptions of adults but not children. This study aimed to investigate the restorative potential of environmental sounds at the basis of children's perception. In the experiment, 36 children were exposed to 16 environmental sounds (8 natural sounds and 8 urban sounds) under two contexts (school classrooms and urban parks, respectively), and then asked to evaluate all sounds using perceived restorative sounds scale for children (PRSS-C). A principle component analysis reveals three key 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 effects under two contexts. Finally, the results showed that children's perceived restorative potential of environmental sounds were positively correlated with fluctuation strength and tonality of the sounds, but negatively correlated with loudness and roughness. Those findings illustrate the restorative potential of environmental sounds perceived by children, and provide practical guidance for the improvement of children's living environments.