Developing Videos to Facilitate Teaching and Learning of Environmental Psychology

This project represents an opportunity to leverage technological resources to enhance teaching and learning of environmental psychology (EP) online. We are developing a dynamic video series that will introduce concepts and methods critical to the study of EP. Guided by an initial question for this project, the video series is aptly titled “What is Environmental Psychology?” It is one professor’s modest take on this multidisciplinary field. The project has received support from the APS Fund for Teaching and Public Understanding of Psychological Science.

Three episodes are available for public consumption via a customized series YouTube channel: What is Environmental Psychology? The video series can be integrated into EP, general psychology, and environmental science courses.

Territoriality and Privacy Study

The purpose of this research is to replicate elements of a classic study on territoriality and privacy published by Julian Edney and Michael Buda in 1976. In their research, Edney and Buda administered a questionnaire to psychology students in an effort to determine if participants would distinguish between settings that offer privacy, territory, both privacy and territory, or neither privacy and territory. Another aim of their study was to determine whether participants would sacrifice privacy for territory (or vice versa) in selecting settings for specific activities (e.g., eating, sex, studying, creative writing). The original study was conducted with students enrolled in an environmental psychology class. For the current study, notable changes to the method include the following: (1) we used an online survey platform for data collection, (2) we expanded on the original study questionnaire to collect sociodemographic information and to account for technological advances, and (3) we recruited a mixed-gender sample of 140 introductory psychology students.

Presentations:

Downing, M. J., Jr., & Alvarez, J. W. (2023, August). Undergraduate psychology students’ preferences for territory and privacy. Poster presentation at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC.

Attitudes about Sleep Journal Assignment

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a sleep journal assignment used in an undergraduate health psychology course and designed to increase student awareness of sleep patterns and behavior. Data for Phase I were collected in 2019 and presented at the 2020 virtual convention of the American Psychological Association. Data collection for Phase II was completed in 2025.