Kathryn E. Schertz

Kathryn E. Schertz

Psychology Postdoc at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University

Publications

You can also find my articles on my Google Scholar profile.

* Indicates authors contributed equally

Patents

Schertz, K.E., Kardan, O., Berman, M.G., & Kompare, T.N. (2019). Routing in Navigation Applications based on Restorative Score. U.S. Patent Accepted No. 16/418,522. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Peer-reviewed Articles

Schertz, K.E.,* Meidenbauer, K.L.,* Freeman, T.R., Santiago, I.M., Janey, E.A., Gehrke, K., Samtani, A.L., Stier, A.J., & Berman, M.G. (2025). Identifying qualities and amenities associated with perceived cognitive restoration and improved affect in urban parks. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 104, 102624.

Trinh, E.N.,* Schertz, K.E.,* & Kross, E. (2025). Do you have a minute? The cognitive & emotional consequences of self-disclosure at work. Emotion. Advance online publication: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/emo0001539

Rim, N.,* Schertz, K.E.,* & Berman, M.G. (2025). The affective, cognitive, and social benefits of interacting with nature. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 35(3), 495-510.

Baldwin, C.R.,* Schertz, K.E., Orvell, A.,* Costello, C., Takahashi, S., Moser, J.S., Ayduk, O., & Kross, E. (2025). Managing emotions in everyday life: Why a toolbox of strategies matters. Emotion, 25(5), 1122-1136.

Rodriguez, M., Schertz, K.E., & Kross, E. (2025). How people think about being alone shapes their experience of loneliness. Nature Communications , 16(1), 1594.

Meidenbauer, K.L., Schertz, K.E., Janey, E.A., Stier, A.J., Samtani, A.L., Gehrke, K., Tucker, R., Hasan, M., & Berman, M.G. (2025) Evidence for environmental influences on impulsivity and aggression. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 103, 128594.

Meidenbauer, K.L., Schertz, K.E., Li, P., Sharma, A., Freeman, T.R., Janey, E.A., Stier, A.J., Samtani, A.L., Gehrke, K., & Berman, M.G. (2024). Variable and dynamic associations between hot weather, thermal comfort, and individuals’ emotional states during summertime. BMC Psychology, 12, 504.

Akcelik, G.N., Choe, K.W., Rosenberg, M.D., Schertz, K.E., Meidenbauer, K.L., Zhang, T., Rim, N. Tucker, R., Talen, E., & Berman, M.G. (2024). Quantifying urban environments: Aesthetic preference through the lens of prospect-refuge theory. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 97, 102344.

Cardenas-Iniguez, C., Schachner, J.N., Ip, K.I, Schertz, K.E., Gonzalez, M.R., Abad, S., Herting, M.M. (2024). Building towards an adolescent neural urbanome: Expanding environmental measures using linked external data (LED) in the ABCD Study. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 65, 101338.

Schertz, K.E., Kotabe, H.P., Meidenbauer, K.L., Layden, E.A., Zhen, J., Bowman, J.E., … & Berman, M.G. (2023). Nature’s path to thinking about others and the surrounding environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 89, 102046.

Schertz, K.E., Bowman, J.E., Kotabe, H.P., Layden, E.A., Zhen, J., Lakhtakia, T., Lyu, M., Paraschos, O., Van Hedger, S.C., Vohs, K.D., Berman, M.G. (2022). Environmental influences on affect and cognition: A study of natural and commercial semi-public spaces. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 83, 101852.

Stier, A.J., Schertz, K.E., Rim, N.W., Cardenas-Iniguez, C., Lahey, B.B., Bettencourt, L.M.A., & Berman, M.G. (2021). Evidence and Theory for Lower Rates of Depression in Larger U.S. Urban Areas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 118(31).

Schertz, K.E., Saxon, J., Cardenas-Iniguez, C., Bettencourt, L.M.A., Ding, Y., Hoffmann, H., & Berman, M.G. (2021). Neighborhood street activity and greenspace usage uniquely contribute to predicting crime. npj Urban Sustainability, 1 , 19.

Meidenbauer, K.L., Stenfors, C.U.D., Bratman, G.N., Gross, J.J., Schertz, K.E., Choe, K.W., & Berman, M.G. (2020). The affective benefits of nature exposure: What’s nature got to do with it? Journal of Environmental Psychology , 72, 101498.

Schertz, K.E., Kardan, O., & Berman, M.G. (2020). Visual features influence expressed thoughts in the absence of overt semantic content. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics . doi: 10.3758/s13414-020-02121-z

Layden, E.A., Li., H., Schertz, K.E., Berman, M.G., & London, S.E. (2020). Experience selectively alters functional connectivity within a neural network to predict learned behavior in juvenile songbirds. NeuroImage. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117218

Schertz, K.E. & Berman, M.G. (2019). Understanding nature and its cognitive benefits. Current Directions in Psychological Science . doi: 10.1177/0963721419854100

Stenfors, C.U.D., Van Hedger, S.C., Schertz, K.E., Meyer, F.A., Smith, K.E.L., Norman, G.J., … & Berman, M.G. (2019). Positive effects of nature on cognitive performance across multiple experiments: Test order but not affect modulates the cognitive effects. Frontiers in Psychology . doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01413

Meidenbauer, K.L., Stenfors, C.U.D., Young, J., Layden, E.A., Schertz, K.E., Kardan, O., Decety, J., Berman, M.G. (2019). The gradual development of the preference for natural environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.101328

Layden, E.A., Schertz, K.E., London, S.E., & Berman, M.G. (2019). Interhemispheric functional connectivity in the zebra finch brain, absent the corpus callosum in normal ontogeny. NeuroImage , 195 , 113-127. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.03.064.

Van Hedger, K., Keedy, S.K., Schertz, K.E., Berman, M.G., & de Wit, H. (2019). Effects of methamphetamine on neural responses to visual stimuli. Psychopharmocology, 1-8. doi: 10.1007/s00213-018-5156-5

Schertz, K.E., Sachdeva, S., Kardan, O., Kotabe, H.P., Wolf, K.L., & Berman, M.G. (2018). A thought in the park: The influence of naturalness and low-level visual features on expressed thoughts. Cognition, 174, 82-93. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2018.01.011

Book Chapters

Akcelik, G.N., Schertz, K.E., & Berman, M.G. (2022). The influence of low- and midlevel visual features on the perception of streetscape qualities. In B. Ionescu & W. Bainbridge, Human perceptions of visual information: Psychological and computational perspectives. Springer.

Schertz, K.E.,* Meidenbauer, K.L.,* & Berman, M.G. (2021). Understanding the affective benefits of interacting with nature. In E. Brymer, M. Rogerson, & J. Barton, Nature and Health: Physical activity in nature. Rutledge.

Trinh, E.N. & Schertz, K.E. (August 20, 2025). Should you share personal stuff at work? Invited submission for “Character and Context” blog for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

Schertz, K.E. (September 25, 2023). Thinking too much about yourself? Nature could help with that. Invited submission for “Character and Context” blog for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.