Sonja Ehret

In an ever-accelerating world, experiences free of outcome expectancy and time pressure for the pursuit of intrinsic activities are increasingly rare. Such moments are described by the German term ‘Muße’. This qualitative study focused on prototypical objects of contemporary Muße architecture. The aim was to investigate empirically how individuals experience such spaces via their ambient atmosphere using semi-structured interviews. By Grounded Theory Methodology, a typology of spatial experiences was developed. The analysis revealed specific and general experience patterns, as well as conducive architectural means. The results are interpreted in terms of theories of Muße, restoration, aesthetic absorption and time experience.

Summary: Activities can have substantial impacts on temporal experience. We investigated how the impact of being active develops dynamically over the course of long waiting times. Participants waited in a library building, either sitting passively or walking around actively, for between 60 and 100 minutes. Retrospectively, they reported how different aspects of their temporal experiences developed throughout their wait: duration judgments, passage of time judgments, and general awareness of time. Duration was estimated to be shorter in the passive than in the active condition throughout the wait. In an early phase, the passage of time felt slower and time awareness was felt to be higher in the passive condition. Yet, this difference was resolved over the course of the wait. We conclude that the effects of activity on temporal experiences decrease over longer waiting periods.

Summary: In the present study, we examined the impact of the interaction of environmental and task‐induced attentional focus on time perception, specifically awareness of the time flow. We tested 48 participants in either a natural or urban setting over three 25‐ to 35‐min sessions. We manipulated the within‐subjects factor task by means of two tasks—one requiring directed attention on the task itself, the other undirected attention on the environment—alongside a control condition with no specific task. We measured time awareness, passage of time judgments, felt time judgments, and estimated time as dependent variables. For time awareness, we found an interaction between environment and task: in the natural environment, only a task requiring directed attention reduced time awareness; whereas, in the urban environment, both tasks reduced time awareness compared to the control condition. The results suggest that natural environments increase time awareness unless we focus our attention on a task.

Atmosphere can be defined as the affective quality of an environment. Prior research has shown that music can influence how an environment is affectively perceived. In the current study, we systematically examined in three experiments how musical and spatial atmosphere interact and influence the overall valence of the atmosphere. In Experiments 1a (n = 50) and 1b (n = 136), we identified two rooms and two musical pieces that strongly contrast in the valence of perceived atmosphere. In Experiments 2 and 3, 32 participants each were exposed to the four combinations of rooms and music for 10-min periods on two different days. Perceived overall atmosphere was assessed. Musical and spatial valence both significantly affected the experienced overall valence of atmosphere. A significant interaction between music and room showed that making one aspect of a perfectly pleasant overall atmosphere negative had a much stronger effect than making one aspect positive in a totally unpleasant atmosphere. This suggests that pleasant atmospheres are particularly vulnerable, which might be explained by an attentional bias toward negative information. Future research should focus on examining fundamental psychological mechanisms underlying the constitution of perceived atmosphere.

Apathy is a diminished goal-directed behavior stemming from a lack of motivation. It is one of the most common symptoms in dementia. While the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES) has proved to be a psychometrically robust measure for assessing apathy, the German version (AES_D) requires further validation. Associations of apathy with important variables in dementia care, such as cognitive impairment or caregiver burden, were repeatedly found, though contradictory findings have also been reported. The present study assessed apathy in 100 community-dwelling persons with dementia. Their informal and formal caregivers used the German informant version of the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES_D-I) to investigate the severity of dementia and cognitive deficits as measured with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Global Deterioration Scale (GDS), respectively. A reliability analysis was performed to estimate the internal consistency of the AES_D-I, and the data were tested for potential correlations with results from a shortened version of the AES_D-I (AES_D16-I). Cronbach’s α was .880 for the AES_D-I and .904 for the AES_D16-I. The prevalence of apathy was 77%, its severity was on average moderate to high. Significant (p < .05) negative correlations were shown between the AES_D16-I, the Barthel Index (BI), and the Quality of Life-Alzheimer’s Disease (QOL-AD). Correlations between the AES_D16-I, GDS, and Zarit Burden Interview were positive. After Bonferroni correction, the only correlations that remained significant were between the AES_D16-I and BI and QOL-AD. The present study underlines the favorable psychometric properties of the AES_D-I and confirms the high prevalence of apathy with considerable severity in the sample of community-dwelling persons with dementia. In addition, it contributes to the diversity of evidence on clinical correlates of apathy which require further clarification.