CREATIVE EVENTS
Prompts&Visual Aids
The importance of using visual aids to encourage people to engage in sustainable behaviors
What would social scientists ask?
Social sciences contribute a lot of insight into how to implement and encourage behavior changes and how to instigate changes
Below are some brief explanations of what social scientists may focus on with regards to implementing environmental prompts and the questions they may ask within their discipline; we based these from what we've learned about the different disciplines in class.
Psychology
A psychologist may the question "Which prompts are people more likely to respond to based on subconscious factors?" or "Which prompts play to the individual?" A psychologist studies the “individual” and as result would look how a prompts can garner the most effective response from a single person coming in direct contact with the prompt. Psychologists may recommend or use prompts that play on the brains ability to pick up subliminal messages and emotions, such as happiness when seeing a tree. One may feel more inclined to recycle in bins with trees on them; a behavior change may be stimulated because of an emotional connection. Psychological prompts may also call out the individual directly such as the famous “I want YOU for U.S. Army” clearly calling on that person reading the prompt to enlist in the military. For us, it would be “I want YOU to recycle! Do your duty, save your planet!”
Sociology
Sociologists may seek to discover which prompts are best suited to different environments, cultures and age groups. They'll focus more on groups rather than individuals; prompts designed by a sociologists probably will be geared towards specific groups of people. They might, perhaps, target groups by using humor, being serious, citing religious icons or shared historical events, or by playing into local heroes. For example, a current University of Michigan hero is Spike Albrecht; he played a great game of basketball in the 2013 NCAA championship game between Louisville and Michigan. A prompt that uses this local hero could feature something like, “Spike Albrecht recycles, he is a true Michigan man! Go Blue! Be Green!” Thus this prompt is specific to a group of people who recognize that person. Students from OSU would neither recognize nor feel inclined to act because Spike does something, he is not part of their culture. Sociologists at OSU would pick a local hero at OSU if they wanted to make a similar prompt.
Communication
A communication researcher design prompts that will reach the largest audience. They don’t want to target specific groups, they would rather get a message out to the largest group of people possible. These prompts would be in places such as bus stops, subways, bathrooms and even on internet advertisements, where a large amount of people will pass by and see them. These prompts wouldn’t be as specific as a sociologist or a psychologists', but would be geared towards reaching a majority with universal themes that most people relate to. A common love for nature preserving the planet are messages everyone can get on board with without singling out individuals or factions.
Education
Education researchers will look at how prompts can give people the most information about the issue. They want to teach people about their message through prompts and visual aids. For example, they'll think about how to teach people about climate change as they walk by a prompt on the street. Therefore, prompts need to be concise and be clear that climate change is happening because of "a" "b" or "c." They must also be able to provide information on how the individual who sees a prompt can help remedy the issue. People don’t have time to stop and read an essay on a sign; there should be links or addresses where they can get more information on the issue and how to help. In turn, these people will hopefully spread what they have learned among their peers and forwarding the education.