Becoming nature: effects of embodying a tree in immersive virtual reality on nature relatedness.

The potential of using immersive virtual reality (iVR) technologies to enhance nature relatedness by embodying non-human beings, such as plants or animals, is only sparsely researched. To contribute to this emerging research field we conducted an experimental study (N = 28) that compared the effects of the viewing condition (iVR or desktop) while embodying a tree on nature relatedness, perspective-taking and, as a control, on perceived immersion. A mixed-method approach employing quantitative and qualitative questions was used. Our results showed that irrespective of condition allocation, the more immersed participants felt in their experience, the greater they reported increased levels of nature relatedness (r = 0.42, p < .05). While our quantitative data did yield a difference in immersion levels between the viewing condition (iVR vs. video, t(26) = 2.05, p = .05, d = .50) that did not translate into a stronger experimental effect of the iVR condition on nature relatedness (FInteraction(1,26) < 1). Regarding perspective taking, no significant differences between both groups emerged in the number of users who self-reported having fully taken on the perspective of the tree, (χ2(1) = 2.33, p = .127). However, only participants from the iVR group described their experience from a first-person perspective, suggesting a higher level of identification with the tree. This matches the observation that only those participants also reported self-reflective processes of their own role as a human being towards nature. Our results support previous research suggesting that experiencing nature via immersive VR in itself does not seem to suffice for creating an effect on nature relatedness. However, we observed that a higher perceived level of immersion for participants experiencing the embodiment of a tree in the iVR condition provoked reflective processes on one's own role towards nature more strongly. We discuss the role of immersion and further factors to explain these differences and suggest steps for future research settings to help understand the beneficial potential of using immersive VR for nature relatedness.

Mindfulness as a path to fostering time affluence and well-being.

Given that time pressure is a widespread and straining phenomenon in modern societies, strategies to alleviate it are increasingly required. Employing a quasi-experimental longitudinal design with an active control group, the present study examined whether practicing mindfulness may attenuate time pressure and lead to more time affluence. Corroborating and extending findings on positive effects of mindfulness practice, the presented longitudinal study suggests that compared with a physically exercising control group, participation in a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program leads to increases in time affluence and subjective well-being. Further, a mediation analysis revealed that the effect of increased mindfulness on subjective well-being is partially mediated through this increase in time affluence. As the first longitudinal study suggesting a change of time affluence as a result of participation in an MBSR program, this work enriches the research on mindfulness and time affluence and provides important impetus for future research. Moreover, this research provides an explanation for the well-established effects of mindfulness practice on well-being: increased subjective time affluence plays a mediating role. The paper underlines the importance of considering time affluence as an element of well-being in mindfulness and general psychology research alike.

Healthy eating and sustainable nutrition through mindfulness? Mixed method results of a controlled intervention study.

Mindless eating is at the core of many ecological and social problems associated with modern nutritional behavior. Mindfulness training has been proven to be an efficient means for improving healthy nutrition. First, it enables reconnection with internal hunger and satiety cues, instead of external cues. Second, it supports making deliberate choices against unconscious eating patterns. It is less clear whether training in mindfulness can be similarly effective for sustainable nutritional habits, defined here as socially and ecologically responsible consumption behaviors over the whole consumption cycle. A controlled mixed method intervention study employed an adapted mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) to investigate such potential effects in a healthy, adult student population (n = 76/n = 11). Results from both qualitative and quantitative data indicate that the MBI exerts strong effects on mindful eating, whereas effects on sustainable nutritional behaviors are limited and only appear in the qualitative data as content concerning pre-behavioral stages of consumption, such as attitudes and intentions. First follow-up results suggest a slower process for changing nutritional behaviors toward more sustainable food choices. Based on the integrated mixed method results, we conclude that MBIs are an effective way to change unhealthy, mindless eating habits. To obtain stronger effects on sustainable nutritional behaviors, we suggest MBIs with a specific focus on sustainable nutritional behaviors and openly advertising the aim of the intervention in order to create a common intention in target groups who are looking for ways to put their altruistic intentions into practice, e.g. in sustainable consumption education programs.

Environment-Specific vs. General Knowledge and Their Role in Pro-environmental Behavior.

Environmental knowledge has been established as a behavior-distal, but necessary antecedent of pro-environmental behavior. The magnitude of its effect is difficult to estimate due to methodological deficits and variability of measures proposed in the literature. This paper addresses these methodological issues with an updated, comprehensive and objective test of environmental knowledge spanning a broad variety of current environment related topics. In a multivariate study (n = 214), latent data modeling was employed to explore the internal factor structure of environmental knowledge, its relationship with general knowledge and explanatory power on pro-environmental behavior. We tested competing factor models and uncovered a general factor of environmental knowledge. The main novel finding of the study concerns its relationship with general knowledge. Employing an established test of general knowledge to measure crystallized intelligence revealed a near perfect relationship between environmental and general knowledge. This general knowledge (including the environmental domain) accounted for 7% of the variance in environmentally significant behavior. Age, additionally to acquired education, emerged as a common predictor for both general knowledge and environmentally significant behavior. We discuss the consequences of the strong relation between general and environmental knowledge and provide a possible explanation for the positive age-environmental conservation relationship reported in the literature.

Mindfulness and sustainability: correlation or causation?

Mindfulness-based approaches have been suggested as a potential remedy for an increasingly unsustainable consumption level in early industrialized countries. This article reviews twelve current empiric papers (2005ø2013) on five different potential pathways in which mindfulness is thought to unfold its effects on sustainable behaviors. Unfortunately, robust empiric evidence on the instrumentality of mindfulness-based interventions to promote sustainable lifestyles is still rare. Most of the available data originates from cross-sectional studies evidencing a small, positive relationship between some facets of dispositional mindfulness and diverse consumption behaviors. Null-effects of one prospective study blunt claims on the effectiveness of mindfulness practice to directly change consumption patterns though. Nevertheless, indirect effects including promotion of subjective well-being and decline of materialistic values are encouraging enough to justify future research on the topic. Specific recommendations for such future research are given.

Comportamiento Proambiental: actitudes y valores en una muestra poblacional colombiana / Pro-Environmental Behavior: Attitudes and Values ​​in a Colombian Population Sample

Las ciencias sociales y, en particular, la psicología ambiental, tienen elementos clave para la comprensión y modificación de comportamientos que ayuden a la protección medioambiental. Este estudio evaluó la relación entre las actitudes ambientales, las diferentes orientaciones de valores y el comportamiento proambiental, aportando evidencia al modelo Jerárquico para los comportamientos ecológicos (Stern, 2000). Con instrumentos construidos y adaptados al contexto colombiano y con una muestra de estudiantes universitarios, se encontró mediante análisis lineales, que las actitudes ambientales y los valores biosféricos resultan predictores de la conducta ambiental y que estas variables se estructuran, aún de manera marginal, como lo señala el modelo jerárquico. Se discuten las diferentes relaciones observadas y los desafíos metodológicos y teóricos que se derivan de uno de los estudios pioneros en el área en contextos latinoamericanos

The social sciences and, in particular, environmental psychology, have key elements for the understanding and modification of behaviors that help environmental protection. This study evaluated the relationship between environmental attitudes, different value orientations and pro-environmental behavior, providing evidence to the hierarchical model for ecological behaviors (Stern, 2000). With instruments constructed and adapted to the Colombian context and with a sample of university students, it was found through linear analyzes, that environmental attitudes and biospheric values are predictors of environmental behavior and that these variables are structured, even marginally, as indicates the hierarchical model. The different relationships observed and the methodological and theoretical challenges that derive from one of the pioneering studies in the area in Latin American contexts are discussed

Mindfully Green and Healthy: An Indirect Path from Mindfulness to Ecological Behavior.

This paper examines the nature of the link between mindfulness and ecological behavior. Based on the notion that mindfulness incorporates heightened awareness of bodily sensations, we suggest an indirect path from mindfulness to ecological behavior that is mediated through individual health behavior, such as improved nutrition and increased exercise. This indirect path is corroborated with two online studies (n = 147/n = 239) where mindfulness, personal health behavior and ecological behavior were assessed. We conclude that increased mindful awareness of momentary experience indeed favors more healthy lifestyles, which in turn relate to increased ecological behavior beyond personal health benefits. The findings support an agreeableness of personal and planetary health behavior and open up a path for environmental educational interventions based on mindfulness practices and personal health gains.

Valores y cuidado de la energía: implicancias para la educación ambiental en Argentina y Colombia / Value and care for power: implications for environmental education in Argentina and Colombia

Resumen La educación ambiental reconoce entre sus metas la promoción de factores individuales como las motivaciones y conocimientos para incentivar el cuidado del ambiente. El objetivo de este trabajo fue identificar los valores personales que guían una conducta pro-ambiental en dos países latinoamericanos. Mediante el uso de encuestas se evaluaron los valores biosféricos, altruistas, egoístas y hedonistas y las conductas de ahorro energético en Argentina (Estudio 1) y Colombia (Estudio 2). Los resultados apoyaron empíricamente la distinción teórica entre las cuatro orientaciones de valor. Fundamentalmente, indicaron que los valores biosféricos tienen un papel relevante en la explicación del comportamiento pro-ambiental en ambos países. Se discuten las implicancias de estos resultados para la educación ambiental formal e informal.

Abstract One of the objectives which underlies environmental education is the promotion of individual factors as motivations and knowledge to encourage environmental protection. The objective of this study was to determine the personal values which drive a pro-environmental behavior in two Latin American countries. By means of surveys, biospheric, altruistic, egoistic and hedonic values - as well as power saving behaviors - were evaluated in: Argentina (Study 1) and Colombia (Study 2). Results empirically supported the theoretical distinction between the four value orientations. Fundamentally, indicated that biospheric values play an important role in explaining pro-environmental behavior in both countries. We discuss implications of these results for formal and informal environmental education.

Turning simple span into complex span: Time for decay or interference from distractors?

We investigated the effects of the duration and type of to-be-articulated distractors during encoding of a verbal list into short-term memory (STM). Distractors and to-be-remembered items alternated during list presentation, as in the complex-span task that underlies much of working-memory research. According to an interference model of STM, known as serial order in a box (SOB; Farrell & Lewandowsky, 2002), additional repeated articulations of the same word between list items should cause minimal further disruption of encoding into STM even though the retention interval for early list items is increased. SOB also predicts that the articulation of several different distractor items should lead to much enhanced disruption if the distractor interval is increased. Those predictions were qualitatively confirmed in 4 experiments that found that it is the type of distractors, not their total duration, that determines the success of encoding a list into STM. The results pose a challenge to temporal models of complex-span performance, such as the time-based resource sharing model (Barrouillet, Bernardin, & Camos, 2004). The results add to a growing body of evidence that memory for the short term is not exclusively governed by purely temporal processes.

Temporal isolation does not facilitate forward serial recall--or does it?

In numerous recent studies in short-term memory, it has been established that forward serial recall is unaffected by the temporal isolation of to-be-remembered items. These findings contradict the temporal distinctiveness view of memory, which expects items that are temporally isolated from their neighbors to be more distinct and hence remembered better. To date, isolation effects have only been found with tests that do not constrain output order, such as free recall. This article reports two experiments that, for the first time, report a temporal isolation effect with forward serial recall, using a running memory task in which the end of the list is unpredictable. The results suggest that people are able to encode and use temporal information in situations in which positional information is of little value. We conclude that the overall pattern of findings concerning temporal isolation supports models of short-term memory that postulate multidimensional representations of items.

Two meanings of "if"? Individual differences in the interpretation of conditionals.

This work investigates the nature of two distinct response patterns in a probabilistic truth table evaluation task, in which people estimate the probability of a conditional on the basis of frequencies of the truth table cases. The conditional-probability pattern reflects an interpretation of conditionals as expressing a conditional probability. The conjunctive pattern suggests that some people treat conditionals as conjunctions, in line with a prediction of the mental-model theory. Experiments 1 and 2 rule out two alternative explanations of the conjunctive pattern. It does not arise from people believing that at least one case matching the conjunction of antecedent and consequent must exist for a conditional to be true, and it does not arise from people adding the converse to the given conditional. Experiment 3 establishes that people's response patterns in the probabilistic truth table task are very consistent across different conditionals, and that the two response patterns generalize to conditionals with negated antecedents and consequents. Individual differences in rating the probability of a conditional were loosely correlated with corresponding response patterns in a classical truth table evaluation task, but there was little association with people's evaluation of deductive inferences from conditionals as premises. A theoretical framework is proposed that integrates elements from the conditional-probability view with the theory of mental models.

Reasoning with conditionals: does every counterexample count? It's frequency that counts.

A series of experiments investigated what determines people's degree of belief in conditionals and their readiness to draw inferences from them. Information on the frequency of exceptions to conditional rules was contrasted with information about the number of different disabling conditions causing these exceptions. Experiments 1 and 2, using conditionals with arbitrary contents, revealed a strong effect of frequency information and no effect of disabling information. Experiment 3 established that, in the absence of frequency information, the disabling condition information used in Experiments 1 and 2 affected belief in the conditionals and inference acceptance, as has been found in many previous studies (Byrne, 1989; DeNeys, Schaeken, & d'Ydewalle, 2003b). Experiment 4 extended the results of Experiments 1 and 2 to everyday conditionals. The results show that belief in a conditional, and the confidence in inferences subsequently drawn from it, both depend on the subjective conditional probability of the consequent given the antecedent. This probability is estimated from the relative frequency of exceptions regardless of what causes them.