Zoos and Aquariums in the Public Mind

This book summarizes a range of psychological research into how zoos and aquariums operate in the minds of visitors and the broader public. Bringing together core findings from emerging international research, the book provides data-based summaries that situate the content in the larger context of how cultural institutions shape public understanding. The focus of this book is to bring into a single resource, the major strains of research that have explored how zoos and aquariums are situated in public consciousness, to ground the discourses around what zoos and aquariums do in the empirical data and evidence, and to find opportunities to summarize well-established fact to support future research expanding on the known. Among the topics discussed:

• History of zoo and aquarium development
• The role of zoos and aquariums in environmental literacy
• Empathy development at zoos
• Applying behavior change theories to the zoo visitor's experience
• Social radiation of ideas from cultural institutions

Professional practitioners, zoo industry professionals, and business leaders will find this book an invaluable guide to the psychological literature surrounding the zoo industry.

Auteur

John Fraser, PhD AIA, President & CEO, NewKnowledge; President, Society for Environmental, Population, and Conservation Psychology; Editor, Curator: The Museum Journal; Series Editor, Psychology and Our Planet

Joe E. Heimlich, Ph.D., Director of Research, COSI's Center for Research and Evaluation; Academy Professor Emeritus, Ohio State University

Martin Storksdieck, Director, Center for Research on Lifelong STEM Learning, Professor, College of Education, Oregon State University

Contenu

Foreword.- 1. Established facts about how zoos and aquariums work in mental process.- 2. Trust and favorability.- 3. What is the STEM learning ecology and where do zoos and aquariums fit in it? Insights from a National Study of the Public's Engagement with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.- 4. Basics of behavior change.- 5. Family talk at Live Animal Exhibits: From Biological to Ecological to Conservation Talk.- 6. Critical environmental literacy and the role of zoos and aquariums: A Radical Proposition.- 7. Can we nudge them? Conservation talk under different interpretive conditions.- 8. Social radiation of ideas from cultural institutions.- 9. Visitor behavior, choice, conservation conversations and meaning-making: Tracking visitor groups with GoPro Cameras.- 10. Visitor agendas and preconceptions about learning.- 11. Empathy development at zoos.- 12. Contributions to biodiversity awareness: An update on achieving Aichi target 1.