Nature and Psychology

Anne R. Schutte received her Ph. D. from the University of Iowa and is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the Department of Psychology and is a resident faculty in the Center for Brain, Biology & Behavior. Her research interests are in the area of cognitive development, with a particular focus on the envrionmental factors, such as natural environments, that influence cognition.Julia Torquati is a Professor in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Buffett Early Childhood Institute Community Chair in Infant Mental Health. She conducts research on the role of teachers’ attachment security and reflective function on the quality of teacher-child relationships, and the influence of natural environments on children’s development.Jeffrey R. Stevens is an Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the Department of Psychology, having received his Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. In addition to being a faculty member in the Department of Psychology, he is also a resident faculty member of the Center for Brain, Biology & Behavior. Dr. Stevens' research integrates cognitive and evolutionary perspectives to study decision making in humans and other animals.

• Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Nature and Attention.- Chapter 3. The Natural-Built Distinction in Environmental Preference and Restoration: Bottom-Up and Top-Down Explanations.- Chapter 4. An Environmental Neuroscience Perspective on the Benefits of Nature.- Chapter 5. Nature and Restoration: Beyond the Conventional Narrative.- Chapter 6. Knowing Nature in Childhood: Learning and Wellbeing through Engagement with the Natural World.- Chapter 7. The natural environment as a resilience factor: Nature’s role as a buffer of the effects of risk and adversity.- Chapter 8. Perceiving ‘Natural’ Environments: An Ecological Perspective with Reflections on the Chapters.