CLIMATE CHANGE AND COGNITION: TOWARDS A PEDAGOGY.

• Author: DeVincenzo, Joshua L.

INTRODUCTION

For many, the understanding of the self in relation to the climate is an enigma. Much as climate change as a concept succumbs to ambiguous oversimplification--often the result of socially embedded analogies in its presentation--approaches to investigating climate change comprehension and risk aversion often fall victim to a similar object bias (a tendency to treat processes as objects), or mistreatment of a complex process as a single entity. (1) Such object bias runs the risk of oversimplifying the complex cognitive processes responsible for encoding the meaning of climate change from analytical, conceptual, and experiential sources. In addition, "[t] his object bias can become a mental block, preventing people from adopting appropriate mental models to analyze climate change." (2,i) An understanding of climate change as a process requires a comprehensive appraisal and identification of relevant cognitive dimensions of climate change and conditions necessary for human learning.

In this context, cognitive dimensions, a term adapted from computational cognitive modeling, refers to different psychological and social features that relate to the information structures or mental models that control how or whether a cognitive strategy can be adopted. (3) Although climate change is a process, the process is nonlinear and independent of personal time or circumstance. These characteristics impede active cognitive engagement and mental modeling, rendering climate change less a process than a complexity. (4) Unless analyses of existing and new behavioral scientific evidence from domains such as cognition, climate literacy, and education occur, there is little evidence that future instruction will be any more successful in improving public understanding or eliciting behavioral change than will those implemented presently. (5)

This paper, grounded in applied behavioral science and education assessment, presents early stage investigations into the cognitive dimensions of climate change pedagogics and how they may be applied to the cognitive alignment between individuals and complex systems. The early stage investigation, as well as the structure of the paper as signified in the proceeding sections, incorporates academic literature on climate in public discourse; climate change and morality; effective response to climate change; associated mental models and heuristics; and the role of the self. This analysis inevitably calls upon the integration of social cognitive neuroscience, applied learning science, and climate sciences, among others, to posit a heterogeneous discipline of climate change cognition. A more attuned understanding of the cognitive dimensions of encoding the process of climate change may assist in the refinement of methods of instruction, policy decisions, and community involvement, as well as to reframe climate change to help global citizens better respond to shifts in their environments over a duration of time. To provide a practical use case, this paper analyzes identified cognitive dimensions alongside adult learning theory and education assessment within an online course designed for Nurse Practitioners on themes of climate change. The results from the learner interactions within this specific course provide a better understanding of the nuanced cognitive parts that elicit attention and improved understanding of climate change. Early results further support a focus on the cognitive dimension of self-referential processing as a method of user-centered design leading to measurable learning improvements on relatively complex subject matters.

In the absence of cognitively directed methods of instruction, the current landscape of incomplete working knowledge, uncertain interactions, object bias, and dependencies on historical observations of climate that vastly underestimate the gradually changing environment will persist and become procedurally more serpentine in mental modeling, resulting in the continued misconstruction of climate change understanding. The wider the distance between the self and the phenomena becomes, the more preexisting mental models of climate change will solidify, increasing the difficulty of constructing new mental models. (6) A critical analysis of psychological and sociological factors that enable or inhibit people from processing much of the phenomenon of climate change is essential. Such analysis is currently not well understood and therefore minimally represented in present methods of instruction and communication. It is the intention of this paper to further the discussion of cognition and climate change and to promote the continued experimentation of learning interventions in practice settings by highlighting the intricate relationship between public discourse, behavioral science, and education.

It is important to note that the investigation of the cognitive dimensions examined in this paper is at the individual level, primarily in the context of the United States. However, such investigation holds promise for insights relevant for a broader understanding of how society engages or disengages with climate change throughout the world. Internationally, a similar investigation into cognitive dimensions applied contextually can assist in surfacing specific insights to a localized pedagogy of climate change as well as provide a basis for cross-cultural comparative studies regarding the understanding of the self and community in relation to climate change worldwide. Through a review of relevant literature, as well as early lessons from application, ideas to improve formal and informal learning experiences focused on cognitive process begins a pertinent discussion of empowering individuals to make meaning of this timely phenomenon with the intention to improve understanding and elicit behavior modification in favor of the environmental actions immediately required for the future well-being of all. The development of a pedagogy of climate change is critical as collectively a new consciousness of climate is required for the betterment of the planet. However, such change in behavior and perception becomes near impossible in the absence of opportunities to learn how and why such change is imperative.

CLIMATE CHANGE IN U.S. PUBLIC DISCOURSE AND LEVELS OF CONCERN FOR CLIMATE RELATED HARM

As part of the American Preparedness Project report, 65% of Americans expressed worry that climate change will influence their community's exposure to disasters. (7) NCDP concluded that the impact of climate change on disasters must be better integrated into communications and preparedness programs, acknowledging that a comprehensive understanding of the concerns of individuals and families is critical to emergency planning efforts. (8) The report suggests a need for a pedagogy of climate change as well as an effective method for instruction. However, in the presence of a diversity of mental models of climate change in the United States and limited understanding of the essential cognitive dimensions of encoding change in climate over time, such methods of instruction have yet to come to fruition.

There are several discrepancies in the public opinion on the degree of urgency in which to prepare for the risks of climate change. Discrepancies tie to a multitude of factors including dynamics of in-group or out-group, impersonal versus personal interaction, and perceived thresholds of distance and time. The solution is not merely to provide more information but to evaluate how to implement different delivery methods aligned with public learning needs and capacities. To understand public learning needs and capacity, it is pragmatic first to analyze the stimuli in which the public engages with climate change. Due to the variance in which an individual may experience and conceptualize climate change, public discourse data provides an insightful baseline of levels of engagement as well as the frequency and the source of touchpoints between the public and climate related information. Most Americans, in fact, are indirectly informed about climate change, often by media outlets, informal conversations, or video footage of events in remote regions. (9) Prior to generating a method of instruction, understanding the climate learner profile is invaluable. Therefore, it is important to generate a realistic understanding of these touchpoints in the United States and how they shape public opinion and learning needs. A detailed appraisal of the experiential processing of information may direct improved communication strategies. (10)

Precepts of information tend to be processed as relative rather than absolute intensity, extent, and frequency. (11) Such is the case with the conceptualization of climate change as perceived as relative to the self, opposed to an observation based on known intensity, extent, and frequency. A glimpse into this phenomenon provides astounding guidance into the degrees of concern that people apply to the potential harms caused by climate change. By understanding the perceived harm associated with climate change, a corresponding understanding of the priorities people hold is...