The Amazon Forest in the Understanding of Children and Adolescents of Northern and Central-Western Brazil Maria-Ine ˆs G. Higuchi, Daniele C. Rosa, and Sylvia S. Forsberg Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazo ˆnia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Abstract This study aims to address a psychological dimension of human behavioral contributions to climate change focusing on the Amazon forest, as its conservation or deforestation determines the degree of severity of this global problem. By using a type of Piagetian clinical interview along with a maquette representing the Amazon forest, we asked 278 participants (140 girls and 138 boys aged between 6 and 19 years; mean age = 14) living in urban and rural settings in dif- ferent Brazilian regions about the main features of the forest. We wanted to find out how they understand and value the human re- lationship with the forest. The results show that the subjects’ ex- planations are different at certain moments, but overall they reveal some regularities, according to which they were grouped into four types of understanding about the forest. Their understanding varies regarding the depth of environmental concepts, ranging from simple assertions to complex justifications referring to the forest ecosystem. A significant correspondence was found between the level of un- derstanding about the forest and the age and location of the subjects. In all the localities their understanding becomes more sophisticated as they grow up, but those who live near the forest showed a less systematic understanding than those who live away from that en- vironment. Poor quality of education and living in environmental contexts that make it difficult to have meaningful experiences with and in nature are factors that provide some explanation for the aforementioned results. Introduction S tudies aimed to explain and identify psychosocial aspects associated with environmental behaviors, either sustain- able or not, are numerous (Corraliza & Berenguer, 2000; Corral-Verdugo, 2002, 2003; Corral-Verdugo et al., 2009; Garcı ´a-Mira et al., 2007; Groot & Steg, 2008; Heath & Gifford, 2006; Steg & Vlek, 2009; Stern, 2000). The great majority of these studies, however, refer to the behavior of persons toward urban consumption, in the use of natural resources like energy and water and the pro- duction of solid and liquid wastes. Few studies have looked deeply into the relationship between human beings and the natural world (Kahn et al., 2009; Kellert & Wilson, 1993; Reed, 1996), and even fewer when dealing with forests, having cognitive aspects as a central point. The Amazon forest in particular stands out in the scenario of cli- mate change because of its global ecological importance and the threat of its devastation through human actions (Carvalho, 1999; Costa, 1997; Escada & Alves, 2001; Fearnside, 2005; Higuchi et al., 2012; Ministe ´rio do Meio Ambiente, 2011). On account of the emergence of climate change and the role of forests in that event, human behavior has become a central issue (American Psychological Association Task Force on the Interface Between Psychology and Global Climate Change, 2010; Higuchi et al., 2009; IPCC, 2007); thus developmental psychology has an important place in such an account. In the relationship between people’s behavior and environment, it is possible to identify different cognitive aspects which constitute a specific behavior, for instance, moral sensitivities and commitments toward natural resources (Howe et al., 1996; Kahn & Lourenc ¸o, 2002). These aspects, although analyzed separately, are not dissociated from others (emotional, cultural, contextual, and physical) that are 188 ECOPSYCHOLOGY SEPTEMBER 2013 DOI: 10.1089/eco.2013.0015