Topic 4 - How Psychology Can Help Save the Planet

an interdisciplinary, scientific field that examines human interaction with the physical environment, broadly defined to include both natural and built settings and elements

a perspective that focuses more on the mental health aspects of the reciprocal relationship between human and nonhuman nature

expanded practice of psychotherapy that moves from offices and hospitals into gardens and wilderness settings, with the goal of helping people nurture a sense of connection to their natural surroundings; also involves taking clients’ anxiety about ecological problems seriously

scientific study of the reciprocal relationships between humans and the rest of nature, with a particular focus on how to encourage conservation of the natural world

rigorous research is accompanied by active application toward solving real problems

combined expertise from many social science disciplines to address the interplay between humans and their varied environments

a collection of psychological insights relevant to, and perhaps crucial for, creating a more sustainable world

explanations about how things work,

the discovery of knowledge via systematic data collection

to identify a result as real, or unlikely to be due to chance, when really there is no systematic pattern

to overlook a phenomenon when it actually exists

encourages avoiding potential risks to human and overall ecological health, even if scientific proof of harm has not yet been fully established

the factors under study

specifically defined in terms of how it is represented and measured

theoretical variable

whether a study’s conclusions should be considered applicable to populations other than the one studied

predictions about the expected relationships among variables

observation of public behaviours as they naturally unfold

additional exploratory methods that allow researchers to move beyond inference to hear participants’ feelings, beliefs, and attitudes about a topic

The most highly controlled method of hypothesis testing in which the goal is to isolate a cause and effect relationship.

will impact the dependent variables (DVs), to be manipulated

impacted by the independent variables (IVs), to be measured; reserved for experimental designs

nothing else about the experience would vary between the two sets of participants

different versions of the IV