[ɪnˌvaɪrənˈmɛntəl əˈproʊʧ]
Definition: is the direction in social work, emphasizing the adaptive and reciprocal interaction of people with their environment. The emergence of an ecological approach in psychology is associated primarily with the names of K. Levin (socio and psychodynamics of group interaction) and J. Gibson (an ecological approach to visual perception). For this direction, the study of mental processes, states and human consciousness, in natural (not laboratory) conditions and according to its natural nature (without the intervention of a psychologist-researcher) is characteristic. It is this approach that gave impetus to the postulate of the "individual-environment" system as the initial basis for determining the subject of psychological research, and also for the introduction into the psychological dictionary of the concept of "habitat" as a set of environmental opportunities (conditions) that are in the complementarity relationship to vital needs the individual.
Environmental approach in a sentence:
- The central concept of the ecological approach (sometimes called the "life model") is the need for a good match between people and their environment.
- The environmental approach examines the adaptation of individuals to their surroundings throughout their lives, as well as their ability to shape or change this environment.
Synonyms and related words: ecology, environmental protection, human-nature interaction
