In Our Nature

to Connect:
Can we use a Strong
Connection with Nature
to Increase our Ability
to Self-Connect?
Gina Peebles
Grand Canyon University
PSY-452 Experimental Psychology
May 10, 2017
 The Scientific Method
• When you are conducting any experiment
it is important to follow the scientific
method
• Pose a question that can be tested
• Gather information through research
• Form a hypothesis
• Test the hypothesis through experimentation
• Analyze the data
• Form a conclusion
• (Webster’s, 1996)
Question & Research
o Question: Does one’s ability to self-connect
improve, if one’s time spent connecting with
nature increases?

o Research
o A Randomized Controlled Trial for Families With
Preschool Children – Promoting Healthy Eating and
Active Playtime by Connecting to Nature (Sobko,
Tse, & Kaplan, 2016).
o Happiness is in our Nature: Exploring Nature
Relatedness as a Contributor to Subjective Well-
Being (Nisbet, Zelenski, & Murphy, 2011)
o Nature and Health (Hartig, Mitchell, DeVries, &
Frumkin, 2014).
o Powered by Nature (Beute, 2016).
o The NR-6: A New Brief Measure of Nature
Relatedness (Nisbet & Zelinski, 2013
Hypothesis
o If one's time spent in nature decreases,
then so too does one's ability to self-
connect.
Study designs
o Pre-test/Post-test form
o Survey
o Self-evaluation
o Likert rating scale (Gurung, 2014)

o Random/Non-random
o 80 people
o Matched pairs
Random Selection

o 80 people randomly selected

o 40 men, 40 women

o Between the ages of 20 – 70

o Pre-test is Likert scale self-

assessment & Ways of Coping
Questionnaire (WCQ)
Non-random Selection
o Matched pairs design

o Each person chosen must have previously

spent less than one deliberate hour per
week in nature.

o Select 20 men and 20 women

o The other 40 will be the control

Methodology
o Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ)
o Confrontive Coping
o Distancing
o Self-Controlling
o Seeking Social Support
o Accepting Responsibility
o Escape Avoidance
o Planful Problem solving
o Positive Reappraisal

o Materials & Instruments

o https://www.surveycircle.com/en/
o Computer access
o A place for each subject to individually connect with nature
Experiment
o Subject increases their time spent in nature
by two hours per week for 3 weeks

o Two options
o Four 30 minute walks

o Eight 15 minute walks

Afterwards
o Post-test survey and self-
evaluation
o Data analysis &
demographics
o Age grouping
o Pets
o Family status
Summary
One thing is certain; the only way to improve a
connection is to work at it. It is possible that
asking the pre-test questions of my subjects in
the control might cause them to think about
how little time they spend in nature; they could
increase their exposure on their own, which
could skew the scores on their post-test.
Therefore, it is best to hope for a dramatic and
significant increase in the WCQ scores with my
experiment group in the post-test. This will help
to prove my hypothesis.
References
Beute, F. (2014). Powered by nature: the psychological benefits of natural views and daylight.
Retrieved from http://thedaylightsite.com/powered-by-nature/
Gurung, R. A. (2014). Health psychology: A cultural approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage
Learning.
Hartig, T., Mitchell, R., De Vries, S., & Frumkin, H. (2014). Nature and health. Annual Review of
Public Health, 35, 207-228. Retrieved from
http://annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032013-182443
Merriam-Webster. (1996). Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English
Language. Avenel, New Jersey: Random House Value Publishing Inc.
Myers, A., & Hansen, C. (2012). Experimental psychology [Adobe Digital Editions version] (7th ed.).
Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Nisbet, E., & Zelenski, J. (2013). The NR-6: A new brief measure of nature relatedness. Frontiers In
Psychology, Vol 4 (2013), doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00813/full. Retrieved from
https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&
db=edsdoj&AN=edsdoj.865763932fef481ab864f35f11d36805&site=eds-live&scope=site
Nisbet, E., Zelenski, J., & Murphy, S. (2011). Happiness is in our Nature: Exploring Nature Relatedness
as a Contributor to Subjective Well-Being. Journal Of Happiness Studies, 12(2), 303-322.
doi:10.1007/s10902-010-9197-7. Retrieved from
https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&
db=a9h&AN=58132561&site=eds-live&scope=site
Sobko, T., Tse, M., & Kaplan, M. (2016). A randomized controlled trial for families with preschool
children - promoting healthy eating and active playtime by connecting to nature. BMC
Public Health, 16(1), 1-11. doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3111-0. Retrieved from
https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&
db=a9h&AN=116153310&site=eds-live&scope=site