Human Exceptionalist Thinking about Climate Change
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Intuitive Thinking
1.2. Human Exceptionalism and Climate Change Understanding
1.3. The Current Research
2. Study 1
2.1. Method
2.1.1. Participants
2.1.2. Measures
2.1.3. Design and Procedure
2.2. Results
2.2.1. Do Patterns of Property Attribution Reveal Human Exceptionalist Reasoning?
2.2.2. Does Agreement with Explicit Statements Demonstrate Human Exceptionalist Reasoning?
2.3. Discussion
3. Study 2
3.1. Introduction
3.1.1. Consequences of Human Exceptionalist Thinking
3.1.2. Reducing Human Exceptionalist Thinking
3.1.3. Current Study
3.2. Method
3.2.1. Participants
3.2.2. Measures
“Concept Maps are ways of visually displaying your mental representation of an idea or set of ideas. You create concept maps around a topic. In this example, the topic is photosynthesis. The first step is to identify key concepts that come to mind when you think of the topic. In your map, the map is started for you with the central topic of global climate change. Continue your map by making links from the central concept to the related concepts. Think about what the concept causes, or what factors create it. Arrows represent causal relationships. If two ideas are not causal, but are related in some other way, just use a straight line to connect these ideas. You can also put a minus symbol next to a line if the concepts are negatively related to each other, so if one goes up as the other goes down.The concept map that you will be completing today will be on the topic of causes and effects of global climate change. Here are a few concepts to get you started with your map: greenhouse effect, fossil fuels, sea level rise, melting glaciers.”
3.2.3. Design
3.2.4. Procedure
3.3. Results
3.3.1. Scoring
3.3.2. Does Exceptionalist Thinking Predict Perceptions of a Recent Environmental Disaster?
3.3.3. Does Exceptionalist Thinking Predict Mitigating Attitudes and Behaviors?
3.3.4. Does Increasing the Salience of the Relationship between Humans and Climate Change Reduce Exceptionalist Thinking?
3.4. Discussion
4. General Discussion
4.1. University Undergraduate Students Exhibit Human Exceptionalist Thinking about Climate Change
4.2. Human Exceptionalist Thinking about Global Climate Change Predicts Beliefs about Extreme Weather Events, Mitigating Attitudes, and Mitigating Behaviors
4.3. Increasing the Salience of the Relationship between Humans and Climate Change Can Decrease Human Exceptionalist Thinking
4.4. Limitations and Future Directions
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Wolf, J.; Moser, S.C. Individual understandings, perceptions, and engagement with climate change: Insights from in-depth studies across the world. Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Clim. Chang. 2011, 2, 547–569. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hamilton, L.C.; Hartter, J.; Lemcke-Stampone, M.; Moore, D.W.; Safford, T.G. Tracking Public Beliefs about Anthropogenic Climate Change. PLoS ONE 2015, 10, e0138208. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Swim, J.K.; Markowitz, E.M.; Bloodhart, B. Psychology and climate change: Beliefs, impacts, and human contributions. In The Oxford Handbook of Environmental and Conservation Psychology; Clayton, S.D., Ed.; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2012; pp. 645–669. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Fleming, W.; Hayes, A.L.; Crosman, K.M.; Bostrom, A. Indiscriminate, Irrelevant, and Sometimes Wrong: Causal Misconceptions about Climate Change. Risk Anal. 2021, 41, 157–178. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Carey, S. Conceptual Change in Childhood; MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, USA, 1985. [Google Scholar]
- Gopnik, A.; Wellman, H.M. The theory theory. In Mapping the Mind: Domain Specificity in Cognition and Culture; Hirschfeld, L.A., Gelman, S.A., Eds.; Cambridge University Press: New York, NY, USA, 1994; pp. 257–293. [Google Scholar]
- Vosniadou, S.; Brewer, W.F. Mental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change in childhood. Cogn. Psychol. 1992, 24, 535–585. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wellman, H.M.; Gelman, S.A. Cognitive development: Foundational theories of core domains. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1992, 43, 337–375. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Shtulman, A. Scienceblind: Why our Intuitive Theories about the World Are So Often Wrong; Basic Books: New York, NY, USA, 2017. [Google Scholar]
- Gelman, S.A.; Legare, C.H. Concepts and folk theories. Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2011, 40, 379–398. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Vosniadou, S. Mental models in conceptual development. In Model-Based Reasoning; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 2002; pp. 353–368. [Google Scholar]
- Coley, J.D.; Tanner, K. Relations between intuitive biological thinking and biological misconceptions in biology majors and nonmajors. CBE—Life Sci. Educ. 2015, 14, ar8. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Carey, S. The Origin of Concepts; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2009. [Google Scholar]
- Kelemen, D. Teleological minds: How natural intuitions about agency and purpose influence learning about evolution. In Evolution Challenges: Integrating Research and Practice in Teaching and Learning about Evolution; Rosengren, K.S., Brem, S., Evans, M.E., Sinatra, G., Eds.; Oxford University Press: Cambridge, UK, 2012; pp. 66–92. [Google Scholar]
- Gelman, S.A.; Rhodes, M. Two-thousand years of stasis. In Evolution Challenges: Integrating Research and Practice in Teaching and Learning about Evolution; Rosengren, K.S., Brem, S., Evans, M.E., Sinatra, G., Eds.; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2012; pp. 200–207. [Google Scholar]
- Smith, J.P.; Disessa, A.A.; Roschelle, J. Misconceptions reconceived: A constructivist analysis of knowledge in transition. J. Learn. Sci. 1994, 3, 115–163. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Lorenzoni, I.; Pidgeon, N.F. Public views on climate change: European and USA perspectives. Clim. Chang. 2006, 77, 73–95. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Robelia, B.; Murphy, T. What do people know about key environmental issues? A Review of environmental knowledge surveys. Environ. Educ. Res. 2012, 18, 299–321. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ranney, M.A.; Clark, D. Climate Change Conceptual Change: Scientific Information Can Transform Attitudes. Top. Cogn. Sci. 2016, 8, 49–75. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Capstick, S.; Whitmarsh, L.; Poortinga, W.; Pidgeon, N.; Upham, P. International trends in public perceptions of climate change over the past quarter century. Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Clim. Chang. 2015, 6, 35–61. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Etkin, D.; Ho, E. Climate change: Perceptions and discourses of risk. J. Risk Res. 2007, 10, 623–641. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Leiserowitz, A. American risk perceptions: Is climate change dangerous? Risk Anal. Int. J. 2005, 25, 1433–1442. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Gifford, R. The dragons of inaction: Psychological barriers that limit climate change mitigation and adaptation. Am. Psychol. 2011, 66, 290. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Lorenzoni, I.; Nicholson-Cole, S.; Whitmarsh, L. Barriers perceived to engaging with climate change among the UK public and their policy implications. Glob. Environ. Change 2007, 173–174, 445–459. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ballew, M.T.; Leiserowitz, A.; Roser-Renouf, C.; Rosenthal, S.A.; Kotcher, J.E.; Marlon, J.R.; Lyon, E.; Goldberg, M.H.; Maibach, E.W. Climate Change in the American Mind: Data, Tools, and Trends. Environ. Sci. Policy Sustain. Dev. 2019, 61, 4–18. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- McCaffrey, M.S.; Buhr, S.M. Clarifying Climate Confusion: Addressing Systemic Holes, Cognitive Gaps, and Misconceptions through Climate Literacy. Phys. Geogr. 2008, 29, 512–528. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Klapp, J. Bouvier-Brown, Climate literacy among undergraduate students who study science in Los Angeles. Int. J. Sustain. High. Educ. 2021, 22, 1707–1727. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Daskolia, M.; Flogaitis, E.; Papageorgiou, E. Kindergarten teachers’ conceptual framework on the ozone layer depletion. Exploring the associative meanings of a global environmental issue. J. Sci. Educ. Technol. 2006, 15, 168–178. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ikonomidis, S.; Papanastasiou, D.; Melas, D.; Avgoloupis, S. The anthropogenic ‘greenhouse effect’: Greek prospective primary teachers’ ideas about causes, consequences, and cures. J. Sci. Educ. Technol. 2012, 21, 768–779. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Bedford, D. Does climate literacy matter? A case study of US students’ level of concern about anthropogenic global warming. J. Geogr. 2016, 115, 187–197. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Stevenson, K.T.; Nils Peterson, M.; Bondell, H.D. Developing a model of climate change behavior among adolescents. Clim. Chang. 2018, 151, 589–603. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Weber, E.U.; Stern, P.C. Public understanding of climate change in the United States. Am. Psychol. 2011, 66, 315. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- van Vugt, M.; Griskevicius, V.; Schultz, P.W. Naturally Green: Harnessing Stone Age Psychological Biases to Foster Environmental Behavior. Soc. Issues Policy Rev. 2014, 8, 1–32. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Betz, N. Anthropic Thinking about Global Climate Change. Ph.D. Thesis, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA, 2019. [Google Scholar]
- McCright, A.M.; Dunlap, R.E. Cool dudes: The denial of climate change among conservative white males in the United States. Glob. Environ. Chang. 2011, 21, 1163–1172. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- McCright, A.M. Political orientation moderates Americans’ beliefs and concern about climate change. Clim. Chang. 2011, 104, 243–253. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Weber, E.U. What shapes perceptions of climate change? Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Clim. Chang. 2010, 1, 332–342. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hatfield, J.; Job, R.S. Optimism bias about environmental degradation: The role of the range of impact of precautions. J. Environ. Psychol. 2001, 21, 17–30. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sörqvist, P.; Langeborg, L. Why People Harm the Environment Although They Try to Treat It Well: An Evolutionary-Cognitive Perspective on Climate Compensation. Front. Psychol. 2019, 10, 348. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- He, H.A.; Greenberg, S. Motivating Sustainable Energy Consumption in the Home; Technical Report; University of Calgary: Calgary, CA, USA, 2008. [Google Scholar]
- Price, J.C.; Leviston, Z. Predicting pro-environmental agricultural practices: The social, psychological and contextual influences on land management. J. Rural. Stud. 2014, 34, 65–78. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- McCloskey, M.; Caramazza, A.; Green, B. Curvilinear motion in the absence of external forces: Naive beliefs about the motion of objects. Science 1980, 210, 1139–1141. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Kubricht, J.R.; Holyoak, K.J.; Lu, H. Intuitive physics: Current research and controversies. Trends Cogn. Sci. 2017, 21, 749–759. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Talanquer, V. Commonsense chemistry: A model for understanding students’ alternative conceptions. J. Chem. Educ. 2006, 83, 811. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Talanquer, V. Explanations and teleology in chemistry education. Int. J. Sci. Educ. 2007, 29, 853–870. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kelemen, D.; Rottman, J.; Seston, R. Professional physical scientists display tenacious teleological tendencies: Purpose-based reasoning as a cognitive default. J. Exp. Psychol. Gen. 2013, 142, 1074. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Coley, J.D.; Muratore, T.M. Trees, fish and other fictions. In Evolution Challenges: Integrating Research and Practice in Teaching and Learning about Evolution; Rosengren, K.S., Brem, S., Evans, M.E., Sinatra, G., Eds.; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2012; pp. 22–46. [Google Scholar]
- Shtulman, A. Qualitative differences between naïve and scientific theories of evolution. Cogn. Psychol. 2006, 52, 170–194. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Coley, J.D. The human animal: Developmental changes in judgments of taxonomic and psychological similarity among humans and other animals. Cogn. Brain Behav. 2007, 11, 733. [Google Scholar]
- Bang, M.; Medin, D.L.; Atran, S. Cultural mosaics and mental models of nature. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2007, 104, 13868–13874. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Pickering, A. Against Human Exceptionalism; Talk Presented at Workshop on “What Does It Mean to Be Human?”; University of Exeter: Exeter, UK, January 2008; Available online: http://hdl.handle.net/10036/18873 (accessed on 2 June 2022).
- Shannon, L. Animals and the Renaissance Anatomies of Human Exceptionalism. In Animal Encounters; Rossini, M.S., Tyler, T., Eds.; Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands, 2009; pp. 135–157. [Google Scholar]
- Gee, H. The Accidental Species: Misunderstandings of Human Evolution; University of Chicago Press: Chicago, IL, USA, 2013. [Google Scholar]
- Poling, D.A.; Evans, E.M. Are dinosaurs the rule or the exception? Developing concepts of death and extinction. Cogn. Dev. 2004, 19, 363–383. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ferrari, M.; Chi, M.T. The nature of naive explanations of natural selection. Int. J. Sci. Educ. 1998, 20, 1231–1256. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Srinivasan, K.; Kasturirangan, R. Political ecology, development, and human exceptionalism. Geoforum 2016, 75, 125–128. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Kopnina, H.; Washington, H.; Gray, J.; Taylor, B. The ‘future of conservation’ debate: Defending ecocentrism and the Nature Needs Half movement. Biol. Conserv. 2018, 217, 140–148. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- IPCC. Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. In Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Masson-Delmotte, V., Zhai, P., Pirani, A., Connors, S.L., Péan, C., Berger, S., Caud, N., Chen, Y., Goldfarb, L., Gomis, M.I., et al., Eds.; Cambridge University Press: New York, NY, USA, 2021. [Google Scholar]
- Maibach, E.W.; Kreslake, J.M.; Roser-Renouf, C.; Rosenthal, S.; Feinberg, G.; Leiserowitz, A.A. Do Americans understand that global warming is harmful to human health? Evidence from a national survey. Ann. Glob. Health 2015, 81, 396–409. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Read, D.; Bostrom, A.; Morgan, M.G.; Fischhoff, B.; Smuts, T. What do people know about global climate change? 2. Survey studies of educated laypeople. Risk Anal. 1994, 14, 971–982. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Spence, A.; Poortinga, W.; Pidgeon, N. The psychological distance of climate change. Risk Anal. Int. J. 2012, 32, 957–972. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Morrison, A.R. Speciesism: A perversion of biology, not a principle. Am. Biol. Teach. 1992, 54, 134–136. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gray, J.A. In defence of speciesism. Behav. Brain Sci. 1990, 13, 22–23. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Coley, J.D.; Arenson, M.; Xu, Y.; Tanner, K.D. Intuitive biological thought: Developmental changes and effects of biology education in late adolescence. Cogn. Psychol. 2017, 92, 1–21. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Xu, Y.; Coley, J. Intuitive Biological Thinking in Chinese 8th Graders. J. Exp. Child Psychol. 2020; in press. [Google Scholar]
- Arenson, M.; Coley, J.D. Anthropocentric by default? Attribution of familiar and novel properties to living things. Cogn. Sci. 2018, 42, 253–285. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Qualtrics, Provo Utah. Qualtrics, Provo, UT, USA. Available online: https://www.qualtrics.com (accessed on 2 June 2022).
- Betz, N.; Leffers, J.S.; Thor, E.E.D.; Fux, M.; de Nesnera, K.; Tanner, K.D.; Coley, J.D. Cognitive construal-consistent instructor language in the undergraduate biology classroom. CBE—Life Sci. Educ. 2019, 18, ar63. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Byrne, J.; Grace, M.; Hanley, P. Children’s anthropomorphic and anthropocentric ideas about micro-organisms: Educational research. J. Biol. 2009, 44, 37–43. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Capstick, S.B.; Pidgeon, N.F. Public perception of cold weather events as evidence for and against climate change. Clim. Chang. 2014, 122, 695–708. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Akerlof, K.; Maibach, E.W.; Fitzgerald, D.; Cedeno, A.Y.; Neuman, A. Do people “personally experience” global warming, and if so how, and does it matter? Glob. Environ. Chang. 2013, 23, 81–91. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Leiserowitz, A. Climate change risk perception and policy preferences: The role of affect, imagery, and values. Clim. Chang. 2006, 77, 45–72. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Hulme, M.; O’neill, S.J.; Dessai, S. Is weather event attribution necessary for adaptation funding? Science 2011, 334, 764–765. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Spence, A.; Poortinga, W.; Butler, C.; Pidgeon, N.F. Perceptions of climate change and willingness to save energy related to flood experience. Nat. Clim. Chang. 2011, 1, 46–49. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- McClenachan, L.; Scyphers, S.; Grabowski, J.H. Views from the dock: Warming waters, adaptation, and the future of Maine’s lobster fishery. Ambio 2020, 49, 144–155. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Assessing the U.S. Climate in 2018. Available online: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/national-climate-201812 (accessed on 1 March 2019).
- Nickel, R. Record-breaking Hurricane Michael batters Florida Panhandle. 2018. Available online: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-michael/record-breaking-hurricane-michael-batters-florida-panhandle-idUSKCN1MK0OO (accessed on 15 December 2018).
- Wuebbles, D.J.; Kunkel, K.; Wehner, M.; Zobel, Z. Severe weather in United States under a changing climate. Eos Trans. Am. Geophys. Union 2014, 95, 149–150. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Coley, J.D.; Betz, N.; Helmuth, B.; Ellenbogen, K.; Scyphers, S.B.; Adams, D. Beliefs about Human-Nature Relationships and Implications for Investment and Stewardship Surrounding Land-Water System Conservation. Land 2021, 10, 1293. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Mayer, F.S.; Frantz, C.M.; Bruehlman-Senecal, E.; Dolliver, K. Why is nature beneficial? The role of connectedness to nature. Environ. Behav. 2009, 41, 607–643. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zylstra, M.J.; Knight, A.T.; Esler, K.J.; Le Grange, L.L.L. Connectedness as a Core Conservation Concern: An Interdisciplinary Review of Theory and a Call for Practice. Springer Sci. Rev. 2014, 2, 119–143. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Schultz, P.W.; Shriver, C.; Tabanico, J.J.; Khazian, A.M. Implicit Connections with Nature. J. Environ. Psychol. 2004, 24, 31–42. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Mayer, F.S.; Frantz, C.M. The connectedness to nature scale: A measure of individuals’ feeling in community with nature. J. Environ. Psychol. 2004, 24, 503–515. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Nisbet, E.K.; Zelenski, J.M.; Murphy, S.A. The nature relatedness scale: Linking individuals’ connection with nature to environmental concern and behavior. Environ. Behav. 2009, 41, 715–740. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Cheng, J.C.H.; Monroe, M.C. Connection to nature: Children’s affective attitude toward nature. Environ. Behav. 2012, 44, 31–49. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Hoot, R.E.; Friedman, H. Connectedness and environmental behavior: Sense of interconnectedness and pro-environmental behavior. Transpers. Stud. 2010, 30, 89–100. [Google Scholar]
- Clayton, S.; Luebke, J.; Saunders, C.; Matiasek, J.; Grajal, A. Connecting to nature at the zoo: Implications for responding to climate change. Environ. Educ. Res. 2014, 20, 460–475. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Klaniecki, K.; Leventon, J.; Abson, D.J. Human–nature connectedness as a ‘treatment’ for pro-environmental behavior: Making the case for spatial considerations. Sustain. Sci. 2018, 13, 1375–1388. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Landon, A.C.; Woosnam, K.M.; Keith, S.J.; Tarrant, M.A.; Rubin, D.M.; Ling, S.T. Understanding and modifying beliefs about climate change through educational travel. J. Sustain. Tour. 2019, 27, 292–307. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Liberman, N.; Trope, Y.; Stephan, E. Psychological Distance. In Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles, 2nd ed.; Kruglanski, A.W., Higgins, E.T., Eds.; The Guilford Press: New York, NY, USA, 2007; pp. 353–381. [Google Scholar]
- McDonald, R.I.; Chai, H.Y.; Newell, B.R. Personal experience and the ‘psychological distance’of climate change: An integrative review. J. Environ. Psychol. 2015, 44, 109–118. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ahn, S.J.; Bostick, J.; Ogle, E.; Nowak, K.L.; McGillicuddy, K.T.; Bailenson, J.N. Experiencing nature: Embodying animals in immersive virtual environments increases inclusion of nature in self and involvement with nature. J. Comput.-Mediat. Commun. 2016, 21, 399–419. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Bø, S.; Wolff, K. I can see clearly now: Episodic future thinking and imaginability in perceptions of climate-related risk events. Front. Psychol. 2020, 11, 218. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Breves, P.; Schramm, H. Bridging psychological distance: The impact of immersive media on distant and proximal environmental issues. Comput. Hum. Behav. 2021, 115, 106606. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Loy, L.S.; Spence, A. Reducing, and bridging, the psychological distance of climate change. J. Environ. Psychol. 2020, 67, 101388. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Özesmi, U.; Özesmi, S.L. Ecological models based on people’s knowledge: A multi-step fuzzy cognitive mapping approach. Ecol. Model. 2004, 176, 43–64. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Ausubel, D.P.; Novak, J.D.; Hanesian, H. Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 1968. [Google Scholar]
- Novak, J.D.; Musonda, D. A twelve-year longitudinal study of science concept learning. Am. Educ. Res. J. 1991, 28, 117–153. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Novak, J.D.; Cañas, A.J. The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them; Technical Report; Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition: Pensacola, FL, USA, 2008. [Google Scholar]
- Iuli, R.J.; Helldén, G. Using concept maps as a research tool in science education research. In Proceedings of the First International Conference on Concept Mapping, Pamplona, Spain, 14–17 September 2004. [Google Scholar]
- Holgersson, I.; Löfgren, L. A long-term study of students’ explanations of transformations of matter. Can. J. Sci. Math. Technol. Educ. 2004, 4, 77–96. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ratinen, I.; Viiri, J.; Lehesvuori, S. Primary school student teachers’ understanding of climate change: Comparing the results given by concept maps and communication analysis. Res. Sci. Educ. 2013, 43, 1801–1823. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zak, K.M.; Munson, B.H. An exploratory study of elementary preservice teachers’ understanding of ecology using concept maps. J. Environ. Educ. 2008, 39, 32–46. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- de Sousa, L.O.; Hay, E.A.; Liebenberg, D. Teachers’ understanding of the interconnectedness of soil and climate change when developing a systems thinking concept map for teaching and learning. Int. Res. Geogr. Environ. Educ. 2019, 28, 324–342. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hawk, P.P. Using graphic organizers to increase achievement in middle school life science. Sci. Educ. 1986, 70, 81–87. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Correia, P.R.M.; Aguiar, J.; Moon, B. Using concept maps with errors to identify misconceptions: The role of instructional design to create large-scale on-line solutions. In Pedagogy for Conceptual Thinking and Meaning Equivalence: Emerging Research and Opportunities; IGI Global: Hershey, PA, USA, 2020; pp. 117–134. [Google Scholar]
- Drymon, J.M.; Scyphers, S.B. Attitudes and perceptions influence recreational anglers support for share conservation and fisheries sustainability. Mar. Policy 2017, 81, 153–159. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Lynn, P. Distinguishing Dimensions of Pro-Environmental Behaviour (No. 2014-19); ISER Working Paper Series; University of Essex, Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER): Colchester, UK, 2014. [Google Scholar]
- Järnefelt, E.; Canfield, C.F.; Kelemen, D. The divided mind of a disbeliever: Intuitive beliefs about nature as purposefully created among different groups of non-religious adults. Cognition 2015, 140, 72–88. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- MacKinnon, D.P.; Krull, J.L.; Lockwood, C.M. Equivalence of the mediation, confounding and suppression effect. Prev. Sci. 2000, 1, 173–181. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Baron, R.M.; Kenny, D.A. The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 1986, 51, 1173. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Brügger, A.; Dessai, S.; Devine-Wright, P.; Morton, T.A.; Pidgeon, N.F. Psychological responses to the proximity of climate change. Nat. Clim. Chang. 2015, 5, 1031–1037. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- MacKinnon, D.P.; Lockwood, C.M.; Williams, J. Confidence limits for the indirect effect: Distribution of the product and resampling methods. Multivar. Behav. Res. 2004, 39, 99–128. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Preacher, K.J.; Hayes, A.F. SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behav. Res. Methods Instrum. Comput. 2004, 36, 717–731. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Gallucci, M. jAMM: Jamovi Advanced Mediation Models. [Jamovi Module]. 2020. Available online: https://jamovi-amm.github.io (accessed on 15 June 2022).
- Dearing, E.; Hamilton, L.C. Contemporary advances and classic advice for analyzing mediating and moderating variables. Monogr. Soc. Res. Child Dev. 2006, 71, 88–104. [Google Scholar]
- Gifford, R.; Scannell, L.; Kormos, C.; Smolova, L.; Biel, A.; Boncu, S.; Corral, V.; Güntherf, H.; Hanyu, K.; Kaiser, F.G.; et al. Temporal pessimism and spatial optimism in environmental assessments: An 18-nation study. J. Environ. Psychol. 2009, 29, 1–12. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Costa-Font, J.; Mossialos, E.; Rudisill, C. Optimism and the perceptions of new risks. J. Risk Res. 2009, 12, 27–41. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Feinberg, M.; Willer, R. Apocalypse soon? Dire messages reduce belief in global warming by contradicting just-world beliefs. Psychol. Sci. 2011, 22, 34–38. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Gifford, R.; Lacroix, K.; Chen, A. Understanding responses to climate change: Psychological barriers to mitigation and a new theory of behavioral choice. In Psychology and Climate Change; Academic Press: Cambridge, MA, USA, 2018; pp. 161–183. [Google Scholar]
- Heberlein, T.A. Navigating Environmental Attitudes; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2012. [Google Scholar]
- Weber, E.U. Experience-based and description-based perceptions of long-term risk: Why global warming does not scare us (yet). Clim. Chang. 2006, 77, 103–120. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Evans, L.; Milfont, T.L.; Lawrence, J. Considering local adaptation increases willingness to mitigate. Glob. Environ. Chang. 2002, 25, 69–75. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hulme, M. Attributing weather extremes to ‘climate change’ A review. Prog. Phys. Geogr. 2014, 38, 499–511. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Cañas, A.J.; Coffey, J.W.; Carnot, M.J.; Feltovich, P.; Hoffman, R.R.; Feltovich, J.; Novak, J.D. A Summary of Literature Pertaining to the Use of Concept Mapping Techniques and Technologies for Education and Performance Support; Technical Report; Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition: Pensacola, FL, USA, 2003; Available online: https://re-dock.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Coffey-Hoffman-Novak-A-Summary-of-Literature-Pertaining-to-the-Use-of-Concept-Mapping-Techniques-and-Technologies-for-Education-and-Performance-Support.pdf (accessed on 2 June 2022).
- Passmore, G.G. Constructing concept maps facilitates learning in radiologic technologies education. Radiol. Sci. Educ. 1995, 2, 50–59. [Google Scholar]
- Passmore, G.G.; Owen, M.A.; Prabakaran, K. Empirical evidence of the effectiveness of concept mapping as a learning intervention for nuclear medicine technology students in a distance learning radiation protection and biology course. J. Nucl. Med. Technol. 2011, 39, 284–289. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Henrich, J.; Heine, S.J.; Norenzayan, A. The weirdest people in the world? Behav. Brain Sci. 2010, 33, 61–83. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Herrmann, P.; Waxman, S.R.; Medin, D.L. Anthropocentrism is not the first step in children’s reasoning about the natural world. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2010, 107, 9979–9984. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Salmón, E. Kincentric ecology: Indigenous perceptions of the human-nature relationship. Eco-Log. Appl. 2000, 10, 1327–1332. [Google Scholar]
- Unsworth, S.J.; Levin, W.; Bang, M.; Washinawatok, K.; Waxman, S.R.; Medin, D.L. Cultural differences in children’s ecological reasoning and psychological closeness to nature: Evidence from Menominee and European American children. J. Cogn. Cult. 2012, 12, 17–29. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Medin, D.; Waxman, S.; Woodring, J.; Washinawatok, K. Human-centeredness is not a universal feature of young children’s reasoning: Culture and experience matter when reasoning about biological entities. Cogn. Dev. 2010, 25, 197–207. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Ross, N.; Medin, D.; Coley, J.D.; Atran, S. Cultural and experiential differences in the development of folkbiological induction. Cogn. Dev. 2003, 18, 25–47. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Coley, J.D. Where the wild things are: Informal experience and ecological reasoning. Child Dev. 2012, 83, 992–1006. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Betz, N.; Coley, J.D. Development of Conceptual Flexibility in Intuitive Biology: Effects of Environment and Experience. Front. Psychol. 2020, 11, 537672. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Explicit Exceptionalism | Implicit Exceptionalism | |
---|---|---|
Linking hurricane damage to climate change | −0.331 *** | −0.004 |
Feeling close to hurricane victims | −0.261 ** | −0.202 * |
Being personally impacted by hurricanes Florence or Michael | −0.112 | −0.053 |
Climate change concern | −0.101 | −0.028 |
Mitigating attitudes | −0.290 ** | −0.094 |
Mitigating behaviors | −0.236 * | −0.071 |
Outcome Variables | ||
---|---|---|
Predictor | Mitigating Attitudes | Mitigating Behaviors |
Linking hurricane damage to climate change | 0.349 *** | 0.324 *** |
Feeling close to hurricane victims | 0.040 | 0.095 |
Being personally impacted by hurricanes Florence or Michael | −0.012 | −0.036 |
Climate change concern | 0.314 *** | 0.169 |
Implicit exceptionalism | 0.120 | 0.103 |
Explicit exceptionalism | −0.155 | −0.109 |
Total R2 | 0.348 *** | 0.222 *** |
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. |
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Betz, N.; Coley, J.D. Human Exceptionalist Thinking about Climate Change. Sustainability 2022, 14, 9519. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159519
Betz N, Coley JD. Human Exceptionalist Thinking about Climate Change. Sustainability. 2022; 14(15):9519. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159519
Chicago/Turabian StyleBetz, Nicole, and John D. Coley. 2022. "Human Exceptionalist Thinking about Climate Change" Sustainability 14, no. 15: 9519. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159519