Cultural Environmental Factors Research Articles

Urban-greenery demands are affected by perceptions of ecosystem services and disservices, and socio-demographic and environmental-cultural factors

Public perceptions of ecosystem services and disservices of urban greenery are critical for urban greening policies. However, few studies have explored the association between perceptions and urban-greenery demands. Using questionnaires, we surveyed 467 Hong Kong residents on a range of 68 ecosystem services and 38 disservices. Principal component analysis extracted nine factors for services and six factors for disservices. Respondents most strongly agreed with statements about the role of urban greenery in temperature and air pollution regulation, recreation, and general well-being services. The top-rated disservices were harmful plants, tree failure, and environmental hygiene issues. The perceptions were shaped by several personal background variables (including socio-demographic and environmental-cultural factors). Correlation of two indicators of urban-greenery demands, namely desired minimum greening coverage in the built-up part of the city (City-greening) and willingness-to-pay (WTP) to improve neighbourhood greenery, i.e., greenery of one’s living areas (WTP-greening), with greenery perceptions and personal background, were investigated by regression models. The extent of agreement of some services and disservices were significant predictors of City-greening, while socio-demographic factors exerted more influence on WTP-greening. Education level was a robust predictor in all WTP-greening models, while income level did not predict the positive WTP amount. Living environment and residence type were also significant predictors in different models. The linkage of personal background with urban-greenery perceptions and the differential effects of various factors on urban-greenery demands provide policy implications to maximize public benefits and secure public support for urban greening.

An examination of ecological predictors of health literacy in black college students

ABSTRACTObjective: Health literacy is a determinant of health, but disparities in health literacy persist. This study examined the influence of ecological factors on college students’ health literacy. Participants: During January 2016 a nonrandom sample of black undergraduate students (n = 298) aged 18–24 were recruited from enrollment lists at two urban universities in the Southeastern United States. Methods: Information on health literacy as well as numerous intrapersonal, social, and cultural-environment factors was obtained using an electronic questionnaire and then statistically modeled. Results: Ecological factors accounted for 28.7% of the variance in health literacy. In particular, reappraisal (B = 0.323, p < .001), suppression (B = −0.289, p < .001), campus health education (B = 0.192, p < .05), campus tobacco culture (B = −0.174, p < .05), and perceived norms (B = −0.153, p < .05) directly predicted health literacy. Conclusions: Although intrapersonal factors influence health literacy, the sociocultural environment of college can also foster or hinder college students’ health literacy.

The Development of Informal and Formal Mathematical Thinking in Korean and U.S. Children

SONG, MYUNG-JA, and GINSBURG, HERBERT P. The Development of Informal and Formal Mathematical Thinking in Korean and U.S. Children. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1987, 58, 1286-1296. This study sought to establish, first, whether Korean children exhibit superior levels of performance in school mathematics to U.S. children; second, whether an early advantage in informal mathematical thinking contributes to the expected superiority; and, third, whether the superior achievement is qualitatively different from U.S. children's. A large number of Korean and U.S. children at age levels 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 were given the Test of Early Mathematical Ability (TEMA), which measures both informal and formal mathematical thinking. The results showed that at the ages of 7 and 8, Korean children do indeed exhibit superior performance in formal mathematics. Yet Korean preschool children's performance in informal mathematics is inferior to U.S. children's. Korean children do not begin with a head start in informal mathematical thinking. Various environmental factors, including a lack of intellectual stimulation from parents at home, might explain Korean preschool children's relatively poor performance in informal mathematical thinking. On entrance to school, Korean children soon overcome this initial disadvantage and excel in school arithmetic. Moreover, the results show that Korean children's performance is superior to that of U.S. children in both mechanical and conceptual areas. Korean children do not succeed only because they can learn in a rote fashion. We attribute Korean children's relative success and U.S. children's relative failure primarily to such environmental-cultural factors as classroom practices, teacher attitudes and skills, expectancies, and parental demands, values, and assistance.

Neural-tube defects in a prehistoric south-western Indian population.

Concern with the frequency and patterning of the occurrence of midline neural-tube defects among contemporary human populations is widespread. These defects are, however, quite old and occur in unusually high numbers of prehistoric skeletons. A common explanation offered for such high incidence has been inbreeding among small, reproductively isolated populations. In a sample of 54 skeletons from the prehistoric south-western Indian site of Tijeras Pueblo in New Mexico, failure of neural-tube closure occurs in 10% of sacra recovered. While a more homogeneous genetic background and inbreeding may account for a portion of this elevated prevalence, the cause appears to lie with cultural-environmental factors. It is suggested that the aetiology of these conditions has become more complex in recent human history.