Existing research identifies that, despite no statistically significant impact on cognition, fully biophilic classrooms were associated with increases in students’ attentiveness, focus, memory retention, and self-reported engagement and comfort. Some students in previous studies reported feeling distracted and visually overwhelmed by the fully biophilic classroom, a variance from the assumed impact of more biophilic settings on cognitive performance. Optimal engagement and performance may depend on a balanced level of biophilic design that accounts for individual responses to sensory stimuli.
This finding is consistent with the theory of a zone of optimal functioning. Yerkes and Dodson (1908) found that performance increases with physiological and mental arousal up to a limit, after which performance decreases once arousal becomes too high—a phenomenon now referred to as the Yerkes-Dodson Law (YDL). The YDL is supported by Easterbrook’s cue-utilization theory, which holds that attention narrows and the range of information processed shrinks as arousal increases, with high arousal leading to peripheral cues being dropped, often resulting in performance impairments. In this regard, an inverted, bell-shaped relationship emerges between emotional arousal and performance, whereby optimal performance exists within a zone of arousal that is neither under- nor overstimulating.
In learning environments, stress and arousal can be harnessed constructively to promote memory, problem-solving, and learning through increased cortisol and blood flow. Excessive stress or arousal, however, can lead to allostatic strain and cognitive impairment.
This paper analyzes the impact of varying intensities of biophilic features within classrooms on students’ attention and cognitive performance. Based on empirical data and theory, it provides design strategies that balance sensory stimulation to optimize attentiveness, learning, and well-being, offering practical guidance to teachers and designers. These findings highlight the need to balance environmental, cognitive, and emotional factors in modern education. Student-centered design of biophilic elements can optimize learning outcomes while preventing overstimulation.