Tag Archive for 'Richard Louv'

Why Nature (and Recess) Might Help Kids Learn

Published by Dan Willingham on January 8, 2009 in Research and Reports. 7 Comments

A few months back Robert posted an entry on “Nature Deficit Disorder“–the idea that children today don’t get enough time outdoors. The concern, according to Richard Louv, author of “Last Child in the Woods” is that interaction with nature helps develop important cognitive abilities. I said at the time that I was unaware of any research supporting the idea. I have since learned that there are data supporting something like this claim, at least.

The basic finding is not that interaction with nature is important for development, but that it is “restorative.” Several studies published in the last few years have shown that people do better on certain attention-demanding tasks after a brief interaction with nature. A recent study (Berman et al, 2008, Psychological Science, 19, 1207-1212) provides a convincing argument for what is behind the effect.

Here’s the basic idea: there are two ways that attention can be directed. In one case, attention is directed to something that you find inherently intriguing, e.g., a beautiful painting, or the flames in a fireplace.  In the other case, you direct attention to something that you want to think about (and you suppress attention going elsewhere).  This latter type of attention is more fatiguing.  This distinction between kinds of attention has been around for over 100 years, and a good deal of behavioral and neural data collected in the last thirty years supports it.

Interaction with nature provides, for most of us, lots of stimuli of inherent interest. We like to look at birds, flowers, and trees. Urban environments, in contrast, provide too many stimuli to which we direct attention–for example, the car that you’re afraid won’t slow down at the intersection–and also pelts us with so many stimuli that we must do a lot of suppression to avoid being overwhelmed. So interaction with nature is restorative because it provides a rest for the directive attention system.  Interestingly, the experimenters observed a difference in cognitive performance even after watching slides of nature vs. slides of urban environments. So it’s not just the peace and quiet of nature that’s behind the effect.

This directive type of attention is, many people believe, especially important to schooling. This finding fits well with other data showing that recess does provide a cognitive boost for students.

Would it help to project slides of natural scenes at urban schools during recess? It might be worth a try. The size of the effect reported in this experiment was not small.

Richard Louv’s Nature Deficit Disorder Research

Published by Robert Pondiscio on October 27, 2008 in Research and Reports. 0 Comments

A few weeks ago we wondered about the research behind the claims made by Richard Louv, author of the best-seller The Last Child in the Woods, who links lack of contact with nature to obesity, ADD, depression and diminished “executive function.”  Louv responds in the comments section here.

Does “Nature Deficit Disorder” Effect the Brain?

Published by Robert Pondiscio on October 17, 2008 in Research and Reports. 6 Comments

Richard Louv, is the author of the best-seller The Last Child in the Woods, which makes a passionate case that our children are suffering from “nature deficit disorder,” growing up disconnected from the natural world.  He links this lack of contact with nature to obesity, ADD and depression.  According to his website, Louv and his book have inspired “No Child Left Inside” initiatives in 27 states. 

It’s easy to see why his message resonates with parents and teachers in our risk-averse and increasingly wired world.  At a recent appearance described by the Providence Journal’s education columnist Julia Steiny, ”Louv was mid-sentence when an irate leader of a Girl Scout troop in the audience interrupted to complain that the scout camp forbids the girls to climb trees or walk on logs. The girls in the troop with her nodded with insulted agreement. Then a teacher piped up and said that her preschool forbids her to let the children touch fallen snow. Louv shrugged, shook his head and put his hands up in surrender.”  Notes Steiny:

Most intriguing to me was his discussion of nature’s effect on our brain’s “executive function,” which he described as “the voice in your head.” I would add that executive function governs your ability to assimilate lots of different kinds of information, and to act or make choices as a result. Louv said, “The best way to develop executive function is through imaginative, made-up games. But both independent play and nature have been disappearing. From Suzuki [music lessons] to soccer to the flip-down screen in the SUV so the kids can watch nature shows on the way to the play date, kids are dramatically split from nature. As a result, a 7-year-old today has the executive function of a 5-year-old in 1940.” One reason is that “on a playground, leaders tend to be the physically strongest. But in nature, leaders are the smartest because they are the ones making up the games.” “If you really want to get into Harvard, go outside,” he intones.

Quite a bold claim.  Whenever someone makes grand research-based claims about the brain, I always wonder WWDWS?  Or, What Would Dan Willingham Say?  I emailed Dan, the UVA professor and American Educator’s Ask the Cognitive Scientist columnist. 

“It’s hard to even guess what data he thinks supports this,” he said.  “I’d like to know more about what Louv has in mind, and not judge based on what someone reported he said, but this sounds unlikely.”