Introduction
Environmental psychology has established that natural sounds are more restorative than urban or artificial noises. In this context, "restoration" refers to two distinct but complementary psychological processes: (1) the replenishment of attentional resources depleted by cognitive demands (Attention Restoration Theory, ART), and (2) the reduction of stress responses caused by environmental stressors (Stress Reduction Theory, SRT).


Purpose
This study investigated whether the sound of a running river would be perceived as more restorative when it was described as "live-streamed from a national park" than as "artificially synthesized," assuming that the former label would increase the sense of being away (ART).


Method
A total of 168 participants completed an online experiment and submitted valid responses. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups. All groups listened to the same 10-minute natural sound but received different descriptions of its source: (1) no-information control, (2) live-streamed from a national park, or (3) artificially synthesized. Self-reported restorative experiences were assessed using the Restoration Outcome Scale (ROS), a validated questionnaire administered both before and after the listening intervention. A linear mixed-effects model was used for analysis.


Results
A 10-minute exposure to the natural sound significantly increased ROS scores, B = 0.91, 95% CI [0.73, 1.09], regardless of source attribution. However, unexpectedly, neither the Time (pre- vs. post-intervention) * Live-streamed nor the Time * Synthesized interaction was significant.


Conclusions
These results suggest that natural sound may be intrinsically restorative regardless of its semantic source attributions, aligning with SRT. In contrast, describing the sound as "live-streamed from a national park" may not enhance the sense of being away (as hinted by ART) sufficiently to increase its restorative effect, at least when the sound is concrete (as opposed to abstract, such as pink or white noise).