Humans depend on the vital services provided by natural ecosystems. Regrettably, some individuals believe these ecosystem services are free; and therefore, have no value. An under-appreciated service provided by ecosystems is strengthening childhood development through interaction with nature to enhance childhood cognitive and physical development. The development of a child’s physical and cognitive abilities is complex with studies indicating multiple determinants and varied time scales. Childhood development is the product of many natural, social and built environmental attributes. While the impacts of social and built environments on childhood development are clearly described in the scientific literature, the role of natural environment is less clear. Even though people do not pay for this ecosystem service in a conventional sense, the loss of this service can result in a significant cost to humans through slower cognitive and physical development in children. Deprivation of these exposures to natural ecosystems can diminish a child’s development and eventually their underlying quality of life. While the impact of nature on childhood development is understood by most child developmental psychologists, this impact is under-appreciated by non-social scientists studying the contributions of ecosystem services in society. The complicated and symbiotic interactions of natural ecosystems, their services and childhood development are poorly acknowledged in the ecological literature. In this article, the important role of natural ecosystems and their services in childhood cognitive and physical development are examined through an examination of studies assessing this childhood development-ecosystem service connection.
| Published in | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 8, Issue 6) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.pbs.20190806.11 |
| Page(s) | 142-150 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Child Development, Ecosystem Services, Cognition, Nature
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APA Style
James Kevin Summers, Deborah Nicole Vivian, James Tobias Summers. (2019). The Role of Interaction with Nature in Childhood Development: An Under-Appreciated Ecosystem Service. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 8(6), 142-150. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20190806.11
ACS Style
James Kevin Summers; Deborah Nicole Vivian; James Tobias Summers. The Role of Interaction with Nature in Childhood Development: An Under-Appreciated Ecosystem Service. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2019, 8(6), 142-150. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20190806.11
AMA Style
James Kevin Summers, Deborah Nicole Vivian, James Tobias Summers. The Role of Interaction with Nature in Childhood Development: An Under-Appreciated Ecosystem Service. Psychol Behav Sci. 2019;8(6):142-150. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20190806.11
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Download@article{10.11648/j.pbs.20190806.11,
author = {James Kevin Summers and Deborah Nicole Vivian and James Tobias Summers},
title = {The Role of Interaction with Nature in Childhood Development: An Under-Appreciated Ecosystem Service},
journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
volume = {8},
number = {6},
pages = {142-150},
doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20190806.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20190806.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20190806.11},
abstract = {Humans depend on the vital services provided by natural ecosystems. Regrettably, some individuals believe these ecosystem services are free; and therefore, have no value. An under-appreciated service provided by ecosystems is strengthening childhood development through interaction with nature to enhance childhood cognitive and physical development. The development of a child’s physical and cognitive abilities is complex with studies indicating multiple determinants and varied time scales. Childhood development is the product of many natural, social and built environmental attributes. While the impacts of social and built environments on childhood development are clearly described in the scientific literature, the role of natural environment is less clear. Even though people do not pay for this ecosystem service in a conventional sense, the loss of this service can result in a significant cost to humans through slower cognitive and physical development in children. Deprivation of these exposures to natural ecosystems can diminish a child’s development and eventually their underlying quality of life. While the impact of nature on childhood development is understood by most child developmental psychologists, this impact is under-appreciated by non-social scientists studying the contributions of ecosystem services in society. The complicated and symbiotic interactions of natural ecosystems, their services and childhood development are poorly acknowledged in the ecological literature. In this article, the important role of natural ecosystems and their services in childhood cognitive and physical development are examined through an examination of studies assessing this childhood development-ecosystem service connection.},
year = {2019}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - The Role of Interaction with Nature in Childhood Development: An Under-Appreciated Ecosystem Service AU - James Kevin Summers AU - Deborah Nicole Vivian AU - James Tobias Summers Y1 - 2019/11/05 PY - 2019 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20190806.11 DO - 10.11648/j.pbs.20190806.11 T2 - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences JF - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences JO - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences SP - 142 EP - 150 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-7845 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20190806.11 AB - Humans depend on the vital services provided by natural ecosystems. Regrettably, some individuals believe these ecosystem services are free; and therefore, have no value. An under-appreciated service provided by ecosystems is strengthening childhood development through interaction with nature to enhance childhood cognitive and physical development. The development of a child’s physical and cognitive abilities is complex with studies indicating multiple determinants and varied time scales. Childhood development is the product of many natural, social and built environmental attributes. While the impacts of social and built environments on childhood development are clearly described in the scientific literature, the role of natural environment is less clear. Even though people do not pay for this ecosystem service in a conventional sense, the loss of this service can result in a significant cost to humans through slower cognitive and physical development in children. Deprivation of these exposures to natural ecosystems can diminish a child’s development and eventually their underlying quality of life. While the impact of nature on childhood development is understood by most child developmental psychologists, this impact is under-appreciated by non-social scientists studying the contributions of ecosystem services in society. The complicated and symbiotic interactions of natural ecosystems, their services and childhood development are poorly acknowledged in the ecological literature. In this article, the important role of natural ecosystems and their services in childhood cognitive and physical development are examined through an examination of studies assessing this childhood development-ecosystem service connection. VL - 8 IS - 6 ER -
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