1 / 11

How Environmental Psychology can enrich your Psychology classes

How Environmental Psychology can enrich your Psychology classes. Dr. Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges Chair, Psychology Department UW-Green Bay. 5 Principles of Environmental Psychology. Capable of improving the physical environment (applied) Carried out in everyday settings

brigham
Télécharger la présentation

How Environmental Psychology can enrich your Psychology classes

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. How Environmental Psychology can enrich your Psychology classes Dr. Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges Chair, Psychology Department UW-Green Bay

  2. 5 Principles of Environmental Psychology • Capable of improving the physical environment (applied) • Carried out in everyday settings • Considers person and setting as a holistic entity – social ecology • Recognizes that people actively cope with and shape settings rather than just absorb them • Interdisciplinary

  3. The Restorative Effects of Nature

  4. Consequences of Indoor Lifestyles • Insomnia and chronic fatigue • Depression – S.A.D. • Bone disorders • Fertility Problems, PMS, Irregular cycles • Obesity and other food related illnesses • Increase cancer risk • Stress

  5. Research and Theory:Restorative Environments • Nature has been shown to provide opportunities for renewal of cognitive resources and psycho-physiological response capabilities.

  6. People perceive nature as restorative and prefer natural environments • Recent nationwide survey (Frerichs, 2004) showed 95% believe that a visit to nature relieves stress. • Motives for recreating outdoors include stress reduction, clearing the head, escape from civilization, and reflection on the important things in life. • People perceive nature as more beautiful and prefer it to the built environment.

  7. Nature is Restorative • More than 20 recent studies have concluded that exposure to nature (either passive viewing or active entry) is restorative • Attention Restoration Theory (ART) (e.g., Bagot, 2004; Berto, 2005; Lepore & Evans, 1996) • Directed attention fatigue = decreased concentration, increased irritability and stress • Nature restores by holding attention effortlessly (evolutionary history) and having high compatibility • Psycho-physiological stress recovery (Hartig, et. al., 2003) • After attention fatigue, nature (both brief views and walking) restores blood pressure to normal levels

  8. Stress, Health and Restoration • Ulrich’s (1984) surgical patient study found patients with a view of nature: • required less pain meds • were hospitalized 1 day less on average • received fewer negative evaluations from the nursing staff. • Replicated with pictures of nature versus abstract art

  9. Benefits of Residential Green Space • Ineffective stress recovery may undermine physical health • Urbanites without exposure to nature may display more symptoms of chronic stress. • Residents with abundant green space close and somewhat close (1-3 km) to home report fewer health problems (Maas, 2006). • Presence of green space promotes exercise, social contacts, better air quality and less noise.

More Related