People vary in the way in which they perceive, process and react to environmental stimuli, and 20-30% of the general population is highly sensitive to environmental factors. Highly sensitive people are more likely to suffer negative consequences in response to adverse environments and, conversely, to benefit more from positive environments than less sensitive individuals. Environmental sensitivity has evolutionary, genetic and temperament/personality underpinnings, and the phenotypic expression of sensitivity is sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) which is measured by the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS, Aron & Aron 1997). The HSPS measures overall sensitivity and sensitivity on three subscales: aesthetic sensitivity, ease of excitation and low sensory threshold. There is a dearth of research investigating the possible impact that neurosensitivity has in the education context. To address this gap in literature, the following research question was posed: What impact does environmental sensitivity have on student learning in tertiary education? To answer this question a two-stage mixed methods research project was undertaken.

Author: Kaaryn Cater

Published in: Ireland International Conference on Education (IICE-2022)

• Date of Conference: 18-20 October 2022
• DOI: 10.20533/IICE.2022.10.0011
• ISBN: 978-1-913572-47-1
• Conference Location: Virtual (Dún Laoghaire, Ireland)