[btam]

There's also the possibility that this comes more from the change in atmosphere than the particular atmosphere that you change to. Maybe for some people here the change to an atmosphere of ambient sociability is just more of a contrast than the alternatives they've tried.

I've heard and have a lot of anecdotal evidence that would suggest this, but of course that's anecdotal evidence. However, I think most of the answers here are influenced at least somewhat by this.

Thoughts?

[rudasn]

I think you are referring to the Hawthorn effect/experiment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect

[bf84]

I had read years ago that studying in different locations tends to increase retention of material. Don't have the reference anymore.

Maybe there is a general principle of physical novelty stimulating or "prepping" the brain for intellectual work. Just speculation, though...