Classroom Exercises and Demonstrations on Human ...

Classroom Exercises and Demonstrations on Human and Natural Environment Impact Paul A. Bell,1 Patricia A. Romano,2 Jacob A. Benfield,3 Britt L. Mace,4 Gretchen A. Nurse,5 and Thomas C. Greene6 1

Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. St. Edward’s University, Austin, Texas. 3 Pennsylvania State University—Abington, Abington, Pennsylvania. 4 Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah. 5 University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. 6 St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York. 2

Abstract We present class exercises and demonstrations concerning the psychological consequences of human interactions with the natural environment. Topics include aesthetic and affective evaluation of natural scenes, consequences of blocking a view of nature, how Motive for Sensory Pleasure may influence evaluation of the natural environment, weather and seasonality associations with mood and mobility, an encounter with the extremes of Mt. Everest, coping with natural and human-made disasters, human impact on biodiversity, impact of human noise on enjoyment of nature, sound logging/mapping on and near campus, effects of priming (e.g., a picture of dead plants) on beliefs about human impact, and self-awareness of consumption patterns and sustainable consumption. These exercises have been employed in numerous environmental psychology courses and are suitable for many types of classes dealing with humans and natural settings.

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here is a rich literature in psychology on how people interact with natural and built environments. Between us, we have been teaching about and contributing to this literature for a combined 100 years. In this special issue of

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Ecopsychology, we would like to share some of the class exercises and demonstrations on humans and the natural environment that we have found successful in engaging students in our courses. Some of these activities and many more are also presented in an e-book chapter (Bell et al., 2011). We believe that the psychological implications of humans interacting with the natural environment are many and that describing the impact of nature on people or the impact of people on nature gives an incomplete picture of the more important interaction between the two. Nevertheless, for convenience we first present some representative class exercises that emphasize the impact of the natural environment on people, followed by exercises that emphasize the impact of people on the environment.

Aesthetic and Affective Evaluation of the Natural Environment This demonstration is a slide show that encourages students to think about the components of a natural scene that make it appealing. It also demonstrates that what we believe about the components of a scene makes a difference in how we evaluate it. The instructor should begin the class with a set of scales for students to complete regarding each one of a set of slides. The scales are in a 9-point bipolar format and include unpleasant-pleasant, uncomfortable-comfortable, unattractive-attractive, unnatural-natural, ugly-beautiful, and dislike a lot–like a lot. The scales can be drawn on the board or used via i-clicker or similar technology. The slides can be set up in PowerPoint. Instructors can use their own favorite slides collected over time, including ones from Web sites such as that of the National Park Service, which can be obtained at http://www.nps.gov. Ask the class to number a piece of paper from 1 to x, with x being the number of slides. Next to the slide number they will record their judgments for each scale as the slide is shown.

DOI: 10.1089/ECO.2012.0013

EXERCISES ON NATURE AND HUMAN IMPACT

Start with a few generic slides such as a meadow, then a mountain, then a forest, and then a beach. Next, start to manipulate the slide content. For example, show a slide that is completely black and one where trees in the foreground frame a nice vista in the midground and background. Then add slides of a trail in a dense forest; an eroded clay bluff, explaining that it is a slag heap from a nearby mining operation (it is actually part of a park such as Colorado National Monument or Painted Desert); a photo of the Hale Mau Mau crater from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (complete with visible fumes and a bit of hot lava), explaining that it is part of an open-pit mining operation; a meadow with cattle in it; and a meadow with elk or deer in it. Next is a waterfall from Yosemite or Yellowstone, then a lake with waterfowl and another lake without waterfowl. Show a parking lot with buses, a trail with one person on it, a trail with many people on it, a trail with snowmobiles, a crowded city, and a crowded football stadium. Also include a natural jungle and a beautifully manicured botanical garden. A gorgeous sunset, a slide with an overcast sky, a vista that is open for many kilometers, and a vista with only a few meters visible make good additions. The instructor should then go back through the slides and ask how many in the class rated a particular slide at 7 or above and how many rated it at 3 or below. Next, get into a discussion as to why some scenes were liked or judged natural and why others were not. Describe the dual mandate for the National Park Service (preserving the natural environment and providing for the enjoyment of the visitor) and ask how many think a national park should emphasize preservation over enjoyment and how many think the park should emphasize enjoyment over preservation. Show the black slide and go over their ratings of it. Then explain that it is Carlsbad Caverns in the cave’s natural state, show a slide of it with its magnificent artificial lighting, and then ask how many would visit it if they could only experience it in its natural state. Going to the slide of the manicured botanical garden and the slide of the dense jungle, discuss which one is more beautiful and why. Ask whether there are principles that predict what scene will be beautiful and whether scenic beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Also show a slide looking over the rim of the Grand Canyon and indicate that in the 19th century one of the first European Americans to see that vista declared the canyon to be ‘‘an abomination in the sight of God, and it is the duty of man to fill it in’’ (a true story from park history). Then show the slide of the trail in the forest and state that in medieval Europe, people who had to traverse the forest would sometimes ask to be blindfolded so they would not have to see the evils that lived among the trees. Show the slide of Hale Mau Mau

and explain that rather than an open-pit mine, it is a volcanic feature in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and visitors pay a lot of money to get there to see it (including several hundreds of dollars to view it from a helicopter). Ask again whether natural beauty is in the eye of the beholder or whether it is inherent in our biological makeup. The above examples suggest that scenic beauty may well be in the eye of the beholder, that is, it is learned or at least heavily influenced by the experiences and values we bring to the scene. But another perspective holds that there are innate factors that influence the attractiveness of a scene. Ecological psychology (Gibson, 1979) posits that we inherently perceive affordances, or things that a scene provides, such as prospect and refuge, and scenes that afford things beneficial to us are high in preference. Illustrate this by showing the slide where the midground and background are framed by the foreground, which usually yields a high rating from observers. The framing implies prospect, or the ability to see at quite a distance and thus to detect dangers that may be lying out there, as well as refuge, or the idea that you have a vantage point where you can see out but others cannot see you as well. Scenes that offer both prospect and refuge are highly valued because of what they provide for our biological survival (e.g., Balling & Falk, 1982; Heerwagen & Orians, 1993). Next, return to the slides of a lake with and without waterfowl and of the pasture with cattle and with elk or deer, and ask the class to speculate on what might be preferred and why. If we are inherently attracted to scenes that suggest food, we should prefer the waterfowl, the elk or deer, and the cattle. But if this preference is really part of our evolutionary history, we should prefer the elk or deer over the cattle because the cattle developed out of human experiments with breeding—much too recent to become incorporated into our evolutionary perception. Empirical evidence suggests a combination of biology and learning here, as college student agriculture majors prefer the cattle scene and natural resource majors prefer the elk or deer slides (Nurse & Bell, 2007). Instructors will want to adapt the selection of scenes to points they like to illustrate in their course. We find this demonstration to be very useful at the beginning of a course to get students thinking about context and interactions; principles or effects that people often endorse may differ across contexts.

Change the Picture: Blocking a View of Nature This demonstration can be used as an introduction to why human-imposed obstructions could interfere with the impact of natural views on restorative experiences and their impact on mental health (e.g., Kaplan, 1995). The in-class exercise involves having

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students rate a natural environment scene for its restorative qualities. Take or find one high-quality colorful photo of a sky, water, land, or mountain scene that is completely unobstructed. Make a second copy of the photo but digitally overlay some form of visual obstruction such as telephone lines that interfere with the scene. The obstruction needs to be something that would occur in real life. If you do not have the capacity to alter the photo, find or take a picture of an obstructed scene that is a natural environment similar to the unobstructed photo. Develop a rating scale that students can use to evaluate the pictures. This scale can be as simple as pleasant, no opinion, unpleasant. First show students the unobstructed scene and have them rate it; then show them the obstructed view and have them rate it. Or show a series of unobstructed natural environment scenes and intersperse these two photos within the series. After students have rated the photos, start a discussion about the scenes and how the students rated them. Ask them what they felt when viewing the unobstructed photo and then the obstructed one. This exercise can also lead to a discussion of whether we should have ordinances or laws that prevent a neighbor from obstructing our view, or what we should do when a tree on our property makes our view more pleasing but blocks the scenic view beyond from our neighbor’s dwelling.

Personality and Impact of the Natural Environment: Motive for Sensory Pleasure The previous two exercises demonstrate that humans prefer certain features in natural scenes. While evolutionary research shows that most humans prefer very specific environmental features that afford survival such as non-turbulent water, flowering plants, and savannah-like trees (Falk & Balling, 2010; Heerwagen & Orians, 1993), other research shows that personality can often moderate this effect. One such personality trait is what Bob Eisenberger and colleagues (2010) call the Motive for Sensory Pleasure ( MSP), which describes individual drive to seek out pleasant auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory, and taste experiences and to similarly avoid unpleasant sensory experiences. Validation of this scale showed that higher MSP scores relate to greater enjoyment of natural scenes, music played with high versus low clarity, and written descriptions of nature scenes. High MSP individuals also made more sensory-based suggestions regarding museum space improvements and were more likely to choose natural over intellectual or culturally stimulating stimuli. Women tend to be higher than men in MSP, and this may account for why women tend to have more positive attitudes toward the natural environment (Nurse et al., 2010). There are several different ways


to help show students the importance of being high versus low in MSP. The original measure of MSP contains 15 items measured on a 7-point scale that represent a single dimension. A shortened, 5-item version of the original MSP is highly correlated with the original and has comparable internal reliability. High, middle, and low MSP groups comparable to those suggested for the original scale would be MSP scores of > 25 (high), 24–16 (middle), or < 15 (low) on the 5-item version. Web sites for these two versions are listed in the Web Site Resources section of this article. Scenic evaluation, as described in the previous exercises, was used extensively in the validation of the MSP measure. The integration of MSP into such exercises (or a new exercise in a subsequent class period) simply involves having students take the scale beforehand and then comparing the scenic evaluations of high versus low scorers. Comparing those who score on the full scale below 45 (average of 3 or lower on each item) with those who score above 75 (average of 5 or higher on each item) usually gives a large enough contrast to make the point salient. Students can also selfidentify until the instructor determines the highest- and lowestscoring individuals in the course and then has them report their scene ratings. The contrast between high, middle, and low MSP-scoring individuals can be made in several other ways beyond basic scene evaluation. For example, students can write about their favorite place on campus or elsewhere for 2–3 minutes and then compare the writings between different-scoring groups. Differences between description length, level of detail, type of descriptors used (sensory vs. factual, adjective vs. noun), and even location type are often noticeable among those in the three groups. Short walks through a particularly natural or sensory-rich environment followed by a brief mood measure (e.g., PANAS—see Web Site Resources) can also show differences between high and low MSP students; the high MSP students tend to have higher positive and lower negative affect than their low MSP peers. In-class discussions centered on how MSP (or any other relevant personality trait) could impact person-environment interaction are also valuable. Depending on the course focus and student interests, numerous topics are available. Questions such as, ‘‘How could this measure be used by museums, national parks, or other tourist destinations?’’ or ‘‘What role do you think MSP plays in the effectiveness of wilderness therapy or other outdoor programs?’’ can often get students talking about a host of practical uses (or misuses) of the scale. Other topics could include ‘‘Should we be teaching children to be higher in MSP?’’, ‘‘What role could MSP play in the


onset/treatment of mental illness (e.g., neuroticism is associated with sensitivity to several environmental features and several mental illnesses)?’’, and ‘‘Should we tailor our design/therapy/ teaching practices to accommodate different levels of MSP?’’ In short, any question or situation that would potentially be affected by an individual being more or less inclined to enjoy sensory stimulation is fair game.

Weather, Mood, Fatigue, and Physical Mobility Exercise As part of our course material on weather and climate, we find it useful to employ a simple demonstration of how weather affects our lives and our outlook. This exercise encourages students to consider the connection between their own physiological states and the weather conditions typical of different months of the year. The instructor creates a template that is divided into 13 rows and 4 columns. Across the first row, give the first column the label ‘‘Months,’’ second column the label ‘‘Mood,’’ third ‘‘Fatigue,’’ and fourth ‘‘Physical Mobility.’’ Under ‘‘Months’’ place the name of each month of the year starting with January and ending with December. After creating the template, add three symbols that will be used as a key to the side: + (higher), - (lower), / (unsure). On a screen or board, show this template and symbols to the students. Hand out a prepared template to each student or ask the students to construct an exact replica of the sample. Once students have a copy of the template and symbols, explain that the purpose is to think about how their own mood, level of fatigue, and physical mobility are affected throughout the year. Mood relates to positive or negative mood states, and fatigue relates to the degree of tiredness or lack of energy a person feels. Physical mobility relates to the ease with which a person can move his or her body to perform functions such as walking or writing. Tell students not to put their names on the template. Ask students to reflect back on how they feel during the year. Ask them to place a + , - , or / sign that relates to their own mood, fatigue level, and physical mobility for each month. For example, a positive mood would warrant a + , a high level of fatigue would also warrant a + , and lower physical mobility a minus ( - ) sign. After all students have completed their templates, start a discussion about any discoveries they noted about their mood, level of fatigue, and physical mobility throughout the year. Ask them what factors they believe might be responsible for how they feel during the year. Link this discussion to a lecture on weather and concepts such as temperature effects on physical mobility and seasonal affective disorder (Westrin & Lam, 2007). There are several options for using

the completed templates in class discussion. One is to begin the discussion immediately after students complete them. Another is to collect the templates and create a chart that depicts the aggregate data. In a later class, show the chart and initiate a discussion about what the data imply and how they link to class concepts.

Mount Everest: Affinity for an Extreme Natural Environment Following the class discussion on weather and temperature, it is fun to transition to the topics of cold, altitude, and disasters by showing a NOVA special on Mt. Everest, titled Everest: The Death Zone. This production has stunning scenery and provides a great overview of psychometric laboratory and field research on the physiological and cognitive effects of cold and altitude. This NOVA special follows a team as they prepare and then ascend Mt. Everest and then return to the laboratory for further testing. The film serves as a great segue from extreme weather environments to the effects of natural disasters on an individual level. The Web site for ordering it is in our Web Site Resources section.

Natural and Human-Made Disasters Although we like to think of the human-nature bond and of ecopsychology propositions that interactions with nature are beneficial, natural disasters present a good counterbalancing opportunity to question whether there are limits to the psychological benefits of encounters with nature. Disasters certainly can bring a community together and provide a chance to demonstrate heroic efforts, and recovering from them can boost skills and help implement steps that may reduce the destructive impact of the next similar event. Juxtaposing destructive and beneficial aspects of disasters can generate interesting class discussions. It is useful to begin the discussion of disasters with an overview of the differences between natural and technological (human-caused) events, focusing on a few disasters that have happened in the local region. This provides an overview of several important factors included on a research assignment. Students should choose a specific disaster they would like to learn more about and focus their research on several relevant variables described in the class lecture. These factors include the magnitude, event duration, low point, acute stress, and the long-term psychological effects of the disaster (Bell et al., 2001). Make sure both natural and human-caused disasters are chosen, as this distinction will serve as a main point in the class discussion. Next, break students into groups based on the type of disaster they investigated (hurricane, flood, earthquake, tsunami, nuclear meltdown, terrorist attack, etc.), and have them compare their findings,



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looking for similarities and differences. The 2011 tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster in Japan provide a chance to see how a combined natural and technological disaster illustrates outcomes specific to each type, as does Hurricane Katrina and the breach of the New Orleans levees. Alternatively, the class can be divided into groups with the instructor providing the specific disasters to be researched (see Underwood, 2002, for compelling disasters). In this assignment, groups should then divide the tasks and focus their efforts on how the disaster impacted individuals, the community, the region, and society. If the group approach is taken, additional research can be completed to examine whether warnings were provided in advance of the disaster, whether a crisis or levee effect was present, and how residents may have adapted to the risk of a commonplace type of disaster in the area (Bell et al., 2001, 2011). Once the disaster research has been completed, students will want to discuss what they have found with the rest of the class. Discussion will focus on the individual disasters that have been researched, how the media played a positive or negative role, and how we can learn from mistakes made during past events. After examining the different types of natural and technological disasters, students often realize there are several major differences between the short- and long-term effects on individuals, communities, and societies. A positive spin to take following this discussion is to have the class brainstorm ways to prevent or prepare for future disasters and include information from the US federal government Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) program (see Web Site Resources) and other relevant sources on how to improve disaster research and response (e.g., Cooper & Block, 2006; Ritchie et al., 2006; Stallings, 2002). It can be interesting to conclude with a discussion of whether going through a natural disaster is compatible with the notion that interactions with nature have psychological benefits.

Human Impact on the Natural Environment—Biodiversity Humans have a tremendous impact on the natural environment. The scale of the impact varies according to several dimensions, such as immediate-delayed, short-term versus long-term, small-scale versus large-scale, land-based versus ocean-based versus atmospheric, plantbased versus animal-based, and so on. It is easy to get students to think of examples and then categorize the examples along these and similar dimensions. The instructor can add examples such as extinction of large fauna (wooly mammoth, moa, etc.), an expanding urban environment encroaching on farmland (which was once a forest or prairie),


damming a river for water storage or flood control, mining, or changing the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. Many times these human activities change the concentration of flora and fauna species and thereby impact the biodiversity of the area. To bring this impact closer to home, the instructor can show slides of well-manicured lawn or forested areas of campus and slides of ‘‘wild’’ areas of campus that are not manicured, such as an area along a drainage ditch or a dirt road to a remote building. Then ask which areas are more aesthetically pleasing and why, and subsequently introduce the following exercise, which gives a quantitative example of human impact. Students in groups of three will need a 1.5-foot (1.4-meter) piece of string and a notebook and pen or a laptop computer. In groups of three, have students move through four pre-identified areas: (1) Two open lawn areas; (2) Two areas with less of a flora monoculture. One of these should be a ‘‘rain garden’’ or other intentional area of native species, but any weedy area in a ‘‘back’’ area of campus will work as well, such as along a ditch. The instructions are for the student groups to go to each of the four areas and inscribe a 3-foot (2.8-meter) circle with the string and then write down every species of plant or animal found within the circle. It is not necessary to identify the finding by species name; ‘‘greenish/ yellow plant with broad leaves’’ or ‘‘small black ant’’ will do. The goal is to see how many different species can be found in the circle. The groups should create a chart that lists each area and the description of each plant and each animal within it. At the end of the data collection, the students reassemble and compare their findings. Most likely, the ‘‘weediest’’ areas have the most species, and the mowed and fertilized lawn areas have the least. The discussion can include the aesthetics of the areas, definitions of ‘‘weed’’ versus ‘‘nonweed’’ or ‘‘weed’’ versus ‘‘flower,’’ and the impact of the untended versus manicured areas on student recruitment, student retention, and alumni loyalty.

Human Noise Impact on the Natural Environment The National Park Service has a Natural Sounds Program that is concerned with researching sounds in parks, including natural sounds and noise created by humans (aircraft overflights, road vehicles, snowmobiles, human voices). Their Web site is listed in the Resources section, and it has numerous sound clips from parks. Sounds are important for the survival of many animal species, such as in reproduction (elk bugling, birds calling, crickets chirping),


detecting prey or avoiding predators (bats echolocating insects, frogs singing in chorus so that no one individual stands out to predators, a fox listening for rustling in the groundcover), or establishing territory (dogs barking, geese honking when nesting). In our first exercise above, describing aesthetic evaluation of scenes, it is often interesting to see the positive impact that adding natural sounds such as animal calls, water falling over rocks, or a breeze blowing through leaves can have on judgments of scenic beauty. Unwanted sounds, however, are considered noise; and noise generally has a negative impact on scenic evaluation. We previously noted that the Park Service has dual mandates— to protect the natural environment and to provide for the enjoyment of the visitor—and these mandates are often in conflict with each other. Helicopter and fixed-wing tours over the Grand Canyon or Hawaii Volcanoes National Park are very scenic and popular, but hikers on the ground resent the noise (Bell et al., 2009–2010). Other types of noise in parks can come from snowmobiles, watercraft, automobiles, motorcycles, trucks (some parks are adjacent to major highways), and people talking on a trail or playing loud music at a campground. We like to stimulate class discussion by using slides and sound clips from the National Park Service Web site to show examples of the above scenes and sounds. We note that in each of these cases one person’s enjoyment and mode of communing with nature is another’s irritant (Benfield et al., 2010a, 2010b). This predicament provides for interesting class discussion of how to manage such conflicts. For example, is it practical to allow intrusive sounds in some places but not others, or at some times and not others? As the discussion progresses, the instructor can bring up other points to consider. For example, sounds from another group visiting the park are more likely to be considered noise than are sounds from one’s own group. Many adolescents and younger adults like to visit a park while listening to music on an MP3 player or similar device. Moreover, the sound level of the upper and lower falls at Yellowstone is louder than any conversation or mechanical noise, yet tourists still flock to those sites; and visitors to historic battlefield parks (e.g., Fort McHenry, where a battle inspired the words to the US national anthem) expect to hear cannon-fire demonstrations that are louder than the Yellowstone falls. The likely conflicting opinions in the class about how to deal with these noises should illustrate the ongoing dilemma the Park Service faces in fulfilling its dual mandates and the similar struggles any community (including the campus) would experience in trying to regulate noise. For a related field exercise, have students use a sound level meter to compare sounds across campus. Are the more natural areas qui-

eter? Are there areas where noise is encouraged? Are there areas where students go to get away from noise yet where it is common for them to listen to MP3 players or similar devices?

Sound Logging/Isobel Mapping—Using a Decibel Meter Instructors can extend the above exercise by using sound logging to orient students to the auditory world and the psychology of sound and noise perception. Take the class outside and find an area on campus that is bustling. Have the students find a spot away from others and listen to the sounds around them. They should write down the sound source and the time the sound started and ceased. After 10 minutes of sound logging in the busy area of campus, they complete the same task in a less-used, quieter area. Have students break into small groups and compare their sound logs, and then discuss whether any conflicts could arise by sounds bleeding from one area into another. Alternatively, using sound level meters (decibel meters), instructors can have groups of students complete isobel mapping to show how sound propagates. Begin at a central location close to a loud noise source, such as a main street on or near campus. Take decibel measurements at this location, and then start moving in one direction about 100 yards (91 meters) at a time. Stop again and take decibel measurements. Walk another 100 yards in the same direction and again take decibel measurements. Continue completing the decibel measurements at least five times in each direction away from the central location. Once all the data are recorded, have students complete an isobel map by sketching the location on paper and drawing lines around the central location representing the various decibel levels (think of a topographic map that depicts elevation). The end result is a visual representation of the loudness of a given location. An example of an isobel map of Stanley Park in Vancouver, BC, can be found on a Web site in our Resources section. The exercise can be expanded further by soliciting ideas for noise abatement for areas of the map, such as adding sound barriers (walls, tall vegetation) or limiting particular activities.

Cognitive Priming and the Natural Environment How we think about the natural environment has a lot to do with how we treat it. The fields of cognitive and social psychology have long examined the effect of priming—making a certain concept or object more salient using repetition or unconscious exposure—in the context of memory, perception, and attitudes. Recently, similar priming effects have been shown in the



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environmental literature related to individual perception of the environment. For example, Young et al. (2012) showed that threat salience was based upon the environment that participants were primed toward. When primed for natural environments and wilderness locations, participants gave significantly more attention to organic threats consistent with biophobia and evolutionarily facilitated fears (snakes, spiders, etc.). However, when primed toward urban environments and city locations, more attentional resources were devoted to modern threats such as guns and knives. Similar priming effects have been shown in the context of attitudes toward the environment and beliefs on global warming. Gue´guen (2012) showed that the presence of dead, leafless plants (compared to living, foliage-covered plants) in a room caused students to endorse higher levels of belief in global warming; the presence of those plants did not affect beliefs on politics, economics, or Social Security. Similar research shows that individuals primed with heat-related words (e.g., hot, boil) or who were responding on hotter-than-average days were more likely to endorse global warming beliefs ( Joireman et al., 2010). Based on this research, the following activity ideas can be used to demonstrate the power of priming or to facilitate student research on priming and environmental memory, perception, or attitudes. For the sake of brevity and flexibility, the basic steps of any priming demonstration are given along with some different ways of priming and possible outcomes worth exploring. (1) Priming can be accomplished in a number of ways, but for classroom exercises writing primes or related-word primes are most effective. Writing primes work by having students ‘‘Write about a time .’’ and then varying the end of the instructions so that half write about a time ‘‘when you were enjoying a warm summer day [or a walk downtown]’’ and the other half write about a time ‘‘when you were enjoying a cold winter day [or a walk in the forest].’’ In short, whatever is written about activates cognitive processes related to similar ideas such as warmth, sunshine, urban living, or the outdoors. Related-word primes are accomplished by having students view a sequential list of words presented via PowerPoint under the guise that they will be tested on their memory of the words afterward (to ensure attention and active processing of the words). By presenting students with words emphasizing something relevant (hot, humid, boiling, etc.) or something neutral (stairs, chairs, carpet, etc.), one can activate different


thought processes between the two groups in much the same way writing about different events does. Other forms of priming such as a word search task where students circle words hidden within a jumble of letters (a variant on the related-word prime) or the infusion of relevant imagery into the lecture [similar to Gue´guen’s (2012) dead plant prime] could also be used. In all cases, the important thing with priming is that students are actively thinking about prime-relevant stimuli to activate the desired line of thinking. (2) Once primed, the rest of the demonstration involves simply providing the different conditions with some measure of interest (i.e., the dependent variable) and then comparing scores. That measure could be an attitude or beliefs scale such as the one used by Gue´guen (2012) or a behavioral outcome such as willingness to donate money or volunteer time to a group advocating reduced global warming. It could also be ratings of different environments as nonthreatening or the stated preference for one ‘‘green’’ product over another. One aspect of priming that makes it so valuable for research is its adaptability to multiple situations and contexts; instructors wishing to demonstrate this effect should feel similarly empowered to adapt it to suit their own needs, interests, and goals. The priming effect presents a useful opportunity to discuss the interaction between the impact of humans on the environment and its impact on us. For example, the altered environment could prime us to think about our impact on it, which in turn could motivate us to restore the setting so that it has a more desirable impact on us. The Internet provides amazing resources for both priming and measuring environmental attitudes. We list several such Web sites in our Resources section, such as for the word search prime discussed above, conservation attitudes and orientations measures, and the four-item scale of Global Warming Belief used by Gue´guen (2012) and Joireman et al. (2010).

Human Impact and Sustainable Consumption One important relationship with the natural environment involves human interaction with natural resources during the consumption process. Despite most consumers’ disconnect in this regard, many products that we consume require natural resources to design, develop, and distribute into the marketplace. Sustainable consumption refers to using natural resources in a way that does not deplete them or cause lasting damage (e.g., mining minerals in a way that does not damage the water supply and that restores habitat for affected species). The ability to relate the product you purchase


on the shelf to the natural resource that made it available as well as the final resting place of the remnants you do not use are thought to be key factors in creating a conscientious consumer. Therefore, awareness of the whole process of consumption, from where something comes from to where it is going, develops a sense of consumer citizenship which is ultimately related to ecological citizenship. According to Tolba (2001), industrialized economies represent only 23% of the world’s population but consume more than 77% of its resources and produce around 80% of all pollution. Although these numbers can be heard in many different contexts ranging from ecological footprints to football fields needed to support one human at current consumption rates (it takes about 25 football field–sized areas of production), it has been difficult for typical consumers to understand the effect their behavior is having on the environment. Of course, this is a huge undertaking that researchers are just beginning to understand by investigating topics such as energy use, shopping behavior, and food choices. One particular factor in consumption that has been highly marginalized by society is what happens after the purchase, or postuse. We can highlight the effect a purchase has on the natural world by monitoring the waste or ‘‘end game’’ for consumed products. Classroom application, Part I To make students aware of what sustainable consumption means specifically related to waste, it is useful to begin a class with students filling out a general scale of mindful consumption (e.g., Sheth et al., 2011). Results from the survey should help students gain insight into where exactly they are in their ability to recognize their consumption habits. A general overview of sustainable consumption can be included in the introduction of the activity. Sustainable consumption has been defined by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP, 2001) as follows: Sustainable production and consumption is the use of goods and services that respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life, while minimizing the use of natural resources, toxic materials and emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle, so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations. The relevance of this topic to the students’ lives is then directed at their recent purchases by asking students to write down their purchases and consumption (everything) from the past 24 hours—this includes food they have consumed in the past 24 hours that may have

been purchased previously. At first, do not be very specific about what to include in order for them to write down basic information. The gradual awareness of what products leave behind is something that takes time to tease out. After a basic understanding of what sustainable consumption means, present the basic facts related to waste from consumption. Packaging, plastic utensils, disposal of unconsumed components of the product, wastewater from washing the product or the plates and utensils, products for cleaning the table and mopping the floor, and so on should be included. Have students share their lists with the class. Note that food has been identified as one of the key areas of waste production. For example, over one-third of food production is wasted during consumption, equaling over 1.2 billion metric tons of food wasted annually (Gustavsson et al., 2011). Next, pass a 5-pound (2.3-kilogram) bag of potatoes around the classroom as an example of the average weight and volume of waste that each person generates per day (Environmental Protection Agency, 2010). Classroom application, Part II The next demonstration helps students become conscious of how their individual waste production does in fact ‘‘go somewhere.’’ In fact, most of their packaging waste gets sent to landfills without being recycled. The most important point of this activity is to reflect on the amount of natural resources that were utilized to create something that ends up in a landfill. The instructor asks students to record the amount of actual food waste they create over the next 24 hours, including the packaging. Students should document waste in two separate containers—one for the actual food and one for packaging, napkins, utensils, and so on—then students should weigh and photograph the residual waste. In the next class confront the students with images that allow them to connect their consumptive waste with their natural environment. For example, one of the best examples of waste from packaging is the soda bottle ocean island (sample Web site in the Resources section). This image is often shocking to students and makes them think about their consumer waste. Discussion can turn to whether landfills are the problem, or are they symbols of wasteful consumption, and/or do landfills prime (see previous exercise) other images? Ancillary activities on this same topic can extend into recycling, composting, and even waste management of their collected trash at local facilities. The conversation can also be linked to landscape preferences and how waste management might influence the environment.



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Concluding Comments We have found these exercises and demonstrations to be engaging for students and to receive favorable comments in course evaluations. We have found them useful in engaging students and in conveying the complexities of our interactions with the natural and built environment. We continually modify these exercises as we receive student feedback and as new examples arise in today’s world. We include them here because we have found them to open students’ eyes and minds about the reciprocal impacts we have with our natural environment, and we hope they do the same for your students. We invite your feedback and comments as you try them in your own classes.

Web Site Resources Everest: the Death Zone, climbing Mt. Everest video: http:// www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=1402996 Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT): http://www .citizencorps.gov/cert Conservation Attitudes and Orientations Measures: http:// www.conpsychmeasures.com/CONPSYCHMeasures/index.html Global Warming Belief Scale: http://www.personal.psu.edu/ jab908/pics/GlobalWarmingBeliefs.pdf Isobel Map of Stanley Park in Vancouver, BC: http://www.sfu.ca/ sonic-studio/handbook/Isobel.html Motive for Sensory Pleasure (MSP) Scale, original version: http:// www.psychology.uh.edu/faculty/Eisenberger/files/motive-forsensory.pdf Motive for Sensory Pleasure (MSP) Scale, 5-item version: http:// www.personal.psu.edu/jab908/pics/MotiveSensoryPleasure.pdf National Park Service Natural Sounds Program: http://www .nature.nps.gov/naturalsounds PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Scale): http://www.gse.uci .edu/childcare/pdf/instrumental_docs/PANAS%20ID.pdf Soda Bottle Ocean Island Example: http://imprint.printmag.com/ environmental/soda-bottle-island Word Search Prime: http://www.armoredpenguin.com/wordsearch REFERENCES Balling, J. D., & Falk, J. H. (1982). Development of visual preference for natural environments. Environment and Behavior, 14, 5–28. Bell, P. A., Greene, T. C., Fisher, J. D., & Baum, A. (2001). Environmental psychology (5th ed.). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt.


Bell, P. A., Greene, T. C., Mace, B. L., Romano, P. A., Benfield, J. A., & Nurse, G. A. (2011). Teaching environmental psychology: demonstrations and exercises. In R. L. Miller, E. Balcetis, D. Daniel, B. Saville, & W. D. Woody (Eds.), Promoting student engagement, Volume 2: Activities & demonstrations for psychology courses. Syracuse, NY: Society for the Teaching of Psychology. Retrieved June 20, 2012 from the STP Web site: http://teachpsych.org/ebooks/pse2011/vol2/index.php Bell, P. A., Mace, B. L., & Benfield, J. A. (2009–2010). Aircraft overflights at national parks: Conflict and its potential resolution. Park Science, 26, 65–67. Available online at http://www.nature.nps.gov/ParkScience/index.cfm?ArticleID = 349 Benfield, J. A., Bell, P. A., Troup, L. J., & Soderstrom, N. C. (2010a). Aesthetic and affective effects of vocal and traffic noise on natural landscape assessment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 103–111. Benfield, J. A., Bell, P. A., Troup, L. J., & Soderstrom, N. C. (2010b). Does anthropogenic noise in national parks impair memory? Environment and Behavior, 42, 693–706. Cooper, C., & Block, R. (2006). Disaster. Hurricane Katrina and the failure of Homeland Security. New York, NY: Times Books, Henry Holt. Eisenberger, R., Sucharski, I. L., Yalowitz, S., Kent, R. J., Loomis, R. J., Jones, J. R.,.McLaughlin, J. P. (2010). The motive for sensory pleasure: Enjoyment of nature and its representation in painting, music, and literature. Journal of Personality, 78, 599–638. Environmental Protection Agency. (2010). Retrieved June 20, from http://www .epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/msw99.htm Falk, J. H., & Balling, J. D. (2010). Evolutionary influence on human landscape preference. Environment and Behavior, 42, 479–493. Gibson, J. J. (1979). An ecological approach to visual perception. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Gue´guen, N. (2012). Dead indoor plants strengthen belief in global warming. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 32, 173–177. Gustavsson, J., Cederberg, C., Sonesson, U., van Otterdijk, R., & Meybeck, A. (2011). Global food losses and food waste. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved December 22, 2011, from http://www.fao.org/ fileadmin/user_upload/ags/publications/GFL_web.pdf Heerwagen, J. H., & Orians, G. H. (1993). Humans, habitats, and aesthetics. In S. R. Kellert & E. O. Wilson (Eds.), The biophilia hypothesis (pp. 138–172). Washington, DC: Island Press. Joireman, J., Barnes Truelove, H., & Duell, B. (2010). Effect of outdoor temperature, heat primes and anchoring on belief in global warming. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 358–367. Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15, 169–182. Nurse, G. A., & Bell, P. A. (2007, April). Effect of presence of wild and domestic animals on landscape assessment. Presented at the meeting of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Denver, CO. Nurse, G. A., Benfield, J., & Bell, P.A. (2010). Women engaging the natural world: Motivation for sensory pleasure may account for gender differences. Ecopsychology, 2, 171–178. Ritchie, E. C., Watson, P. J., & Friedman, M. J. (Eds.). (2006). Interventions following mass violence and disasters. New York, NY: Guilford.


Sheth, J., Sethia, N., & Srinivas, S. (2011). Mindful consumption: A consumer centric approach to sustainability. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 39, 21–39. Stallings, R. A. (Ed.). (2002). Methods of disaster research. Philadelphia, PA: International Research Committee on Disasters, Xlibris Press. Tolba, M. (Ed.). (2001). Our fragile world, Encyclopaedia of Life Support Systems (ELOSS) 1, Paris: UNESCO. Underwood, L. (Ed.). (2002). The greatest disaster stories ever told: Seventeen harrowing tales. Guilford, CN: Lyons. UNEP. (2001). Consumption opportunities: Strategies for change. Paris: United Nations Environment Programme. Retrieved June 20, 2012, from http:// www.unep.fr/scp/publications/details.asp?id = 3000 Westrin, A., & Lam, R. W. (2007). Seasonal affective disorder: A clinical update. Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, 19, 239–246. Young, S. G., Brown, C. M., & Ambady, N. (2012). Priming a natural or manmade environment directs attention to context-congruent threatening stimuli. Cognition and Emotion. In press. doi:10.1080/02699931.2011. 625399.


Address correspondence to: Paul A. Bell Department of Psychology Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523-1876 E-mail: [email protected] Jacob A. Benfield Division of Social Sciences Pennsylvania State University—Abington Abington, PA, 19001 E-mail: [email protected] Received: January 20, 2012 Accepted: May 23, 2012


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