For this assignment, you will visit another webpage, do a brief activity (about 10 minutes),
and then return to Brightspace to write a short essay.
The short activity asks you to record your current mood, and to watch a brief video, it is
linked here. [https://carletonpsych.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_erkSl6XzWL8V9gp]
After that activity, please submit a brief essay (~250 words) here. You can find more
instructions about that essay by scrolling down in this window, but you should do the
activity before reading them.
Nature often makes people feel better. Additionally, people sometimes under-estimate how
much of a mood boost they experience when spending time in nature (or, perhaps virtual
nature in this activity). For the rest of Assignment 8, please write a short essay (about 250
words) about your experience today and how it fits with that research. For example, you
might consider:
Did the nature video make you feel better? Did you anticipate this mood boost
accurately? How much do your predictions about future moods guide your choices?
Do you think there is potential to incorporate more nature in your day-to-day life? What
can you do as an individual, and what kinds of systematic changes might help?
If the nature video did not make you feel any better, why do you think this is? Do you
think this online context matters? Are you not a nature person? Are there variations
that might work better for you? What about people who are different from you?
Most people find most examples of nature pleasant; why do you think this is so? How
can you reconcile this with elements of nature that are typically less pleasant (e.g.,
spiders, decay, etc.)?
Does spending time with nature make you more inclined to protect it? Do you worry
about nature given climate change and human population growth? Are there naturerelated experiences that might benefit both nature and your well-being?