Exposure to environments that contain natural features can benefit mood, cognition, and physiological responses. Previous research proposed exposure to nature restores voluntary attention -- attention that is directed towards a task through top down control. Voluntary attention is limited in capacity and depletes with use. Nature provides unique…

This case study explores ways that socio-cultural and environmental factors influence the technological experiences of marginalized, underrepresented youth at an urban summer learning program, which supports Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and environmental sustainability education. The study specifically explores the…

The main goal of this research is to evaluate the relationship between the built environment and public health of citizens in four different buffers of Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, Iran. There is a growing body of evidence that links the neighborhood design to public health and argues that the built environment impacts on the public health of…

This article reports seven new, original findings, based on 4 experiments, 56 environmental scenes, and 71 participants, on how the factors of area over which one could walk (boundary height, boundary porosity, and boundary proximity) influence perceived spaciousness or enclosure. Perceived spaciousness was most strongly related by the area over…

This paper estimates the effect of the childhood environment on a large array of social and economic outcomes lasting almost 60 years, for both the affected cohorts and for their children. To do this, we exploit a natural experiment provided by the 1949 Magic Carpet operation, where over 50,000 Yemenite immigrants were airlifted to Israel. The…

Shows how Martha Muchow's observations of urban children's use of environment and her close attention to relevant features of the physical environment at a molar level, anticipate many recent developments in ecological psychology. (Author/SO)

Looks at the environment and finds past man-made endeavors insufficient to produce better surroundings for individuals to learn, work, and play. Discusses exceptions that prove man can, in cooperation with the natural environment, design and build a better total living environment. (Author)

Evaluates and provides information about books and films that publishers consider useful for teaching children about the urban environment and the problems of maintaining a satisfactory ecological condition within that environment. (Author)

A state bureau of environmental education has developed a master plan, and state funds are allocated to school systems or individual teachers for the development of "exemplary programs or instruction materials." (Author/MLF)

Provides brief biographical sketch and describes Muchow's research contributions. Discusses the content of her investigation of the environmental experience of a group of urban children and their activities in diverse settings. (Author/SO)

Independent of any effects of formal schooling, the urban environment has had a complex educative effect, requiring objective analysis to be adequately understood. (JK)