Title: Environmental Psychology
1Environmental Psychology
2Introduction
- ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY studies the
relationship between environments and human
behavior as well as how they affect one another.
These environments include social settings, built
environments, learning environments and
informational environments. -
- Why are some spaces comfortable and others
threatening? How can we enhance our environments
to reduce stress, create more efficiency, and
minimize accidents? These are a few questions
that environmental psychologists work with AS
WELL AS DESIGNERS.
3Another definition of environmental psychology
- The study of human behaviour and well-being in
relation to the sociophysical environment
(Stokols Altman, 1987). -
- The branch of Psychology concerned with providing
a systematic account of the relationship between
a person and the environment (Russell
Snodgrass, 1987).
4- Humans react both consciously and unconsciously
to the area in which they live and work. Their
environment, whether it be natural or man made,
has a profound effect on - feelings,
- behaviors,
- general health issues, and
- productivity.
5GOAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
- The goal of the field is to solve problems
involving human-environmental interactions and to
create, manage, protect, and restore environments
that promote proper behavior. - Researchers diagnose problem situations and
recommend solutions.
6HOW DO ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGISTS WORK?
- A great majority of research in Environmental
Psychology is done in the field rather than in
the lab. - Environmental psychologists assess, analyze, and
advise on personal space and environments in
general. - They usually work in teams with other
professionals such as urban and city planners,
architects, economists, engineers, and designers,
etc.
7A Brief History
- Research in Environmental Psychology started in
1950 with a campaign to improve mental hospitals.
Architects in charge of building these hospitals
where more concerned with the structure rather
than human needs. - They turned to psychologists for information on
cognition and social and human behavior. - This collaboration between architects and
psychologists created a field called
Architectural Psychology.
8- Over the years, problems expanded beyond
architectural situations to parks and landscapes,
thus creating Environmental Psychology. - Researchers began discovering the mismatches
between humans and their environment. - Psychologists began trying to solve these
problems through improved design. A field that
had started with investigating color and chair
arrangements in mental hospitals moved to
tracking visitors in national parks and studying
the stresses associated with urban commuting
(traffic).
9Barkers Ecological Theory
- The first significant findings in environmental
psychology can be traced back to researcher Roger
Barker, who founded his research station in
Kansas in 1947, and ran it for several decades. - From detailed field observations he developed the
theory that social settings influence behavior.
10- In a store, people assume their roles as
customers in school and church, proper behavior
is somehow coded in the place.
- Barker spent his career expanding on what he
called ecological psychology, identifying these
behavior settings. The "behavior setting" remains
a valid principle which receives serious
attention.
11Architecture
- provides settings for certain activities (sports,
education, etc.) - It reminds people of what certain activities are,
(eating, studying, etc.) - It signifies power, status, or privacy ( wealth,
richness, residential) - It expresses and supports beliefs (mosques,
churches). - It communicates information (the time a building
was built, the climate, thickness of the walls,
etc.) - It helps establish individual or group identity
(Home vs. classroom, studios) - And it encodes value systems (Different types of
buildings in different cultures)
12- Designers are liable of designing spaces in
respect to their prospective users. It is their
responsibility to enable users where they are and
how they can reach or use the services provided. - Designers need to communicate some messages, in
order to be able to do this they need to
understand how people perceive their
surroundings.
13Areas of Study
- Wayfinding
- Effects of Noise
- Population Density
- Effects of High Density on Humans
- Effects of Density on Social Behavior
- Effects of Crowding
- Effects of Urban Life
- Environmental Solutions to Urban Problems
- Personal Space and Territorial Behavior
- Residential Environments
- Attachment to Place
- Preferences
- Satisfaction With the Home Environment
- Neighborhood and Community Environments
- Institutional Environments
- Classroom Settings
- Hospital Settings
- Museum Environments
- Prison Design and Behavior
14- When solving problems involving human-environment
interactions, it is essential to - have a model of human nature that predicts the
conditions under which humans will behave in a
decent and creative manner. - We can use theories in order make assumptions on
general human behaviour.
15One of the most important functions of a theory
is
- to provide generalizations that give order and
meaning to specific observations about
person-environment relations.
16Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
- Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in
psychology that Abraham Maslow proposed in 1943 (
A Theory of Human Motivation). - Maslow studied exemplary people such as Albert
Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frederick
Douglass rather than mentally ill or neurotic
people, writing that - "the study of crippled, stunted, immature, and
unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple
psychology and a cripple philosophy." - Maslow also studied the healthiest one percent of
the college student population.
17- Maslow has a theory of motivation based on needs
that people have. He arranges them in order of
importance that is, he believes you must fulfill
the lower needs before achieving a higher one. If
you achieve something near the top first,
happiness will not last but if you climb up the
pyramid of needs, you will achieve great
satisfaction with life.
18- While Maslow's theory was regarded as an
improvement over previous theories of personality
and motivation, it had its detractors. For
example, some researchers found little evidence
for the ranking of needs that Maslow described,
or even for the existence of a definite hierarchy
at all.
19Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often depicted as
a pyramid consisting of five levels
- The four lower levels are Deficiency needs that
are grouped together as being associated with
Physiological needs, while the top level is
termed as Growth needs associated with
Psychological needs. - DEFICIENCY NEEDS PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS
- GROWTH NEEDS PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS
- Deficiency needs must be met first. Once these
are met, seeking to satisfy growth needs drives
personal growth. The higher needs in this
hierarchy only come into focus when the lower
needs in the pyramid are satisfied.
20Growth needs
Deficiency needs
21Deficiency needs
- The first four layers of the pyramid are what
Maslow called "deficiency needs" or "D-needs"
the individual does not feel anything if they are
met, but feels anxious if they are not met. - The deficiency needs are
- Physiological,
- Safety needs,
- Love/Belonging, and
- Esteem needs.
22Physiological needs
- These are the basic animal needs for such things
as air, water, food, warmth, sex, sleep and other
body needs. - When these are not satisfied we may feel
sickness, irritation, pain, discomfort, etc.
These feelings motivate us to alleviate them as
soon as possible to establish homeostasis. Once
they are alleviated, we may think about other
things. - For example if a person is hungry or thirsty or
his body is chemically unbalanced, all of his
energies turn toward remedying these
deficiencies, and other needs remain inactive.
23The physiological needs of the organism (those
enabling homeostasis) take first precedence.
- The physiological needs consist mainly of
- Eating
- Drinking
- Sleeping
- Excretion
- Sex
- Warmth
- If some needs are not fulfilled, a human's
physiological needs take the highest priority.
Physiological needs can control thoughts and
behaviors, and can cause people to feel sickness,
pain, and discomfort.
24Safety needs
- With his physical needs relatively satisfied, the
individual's safety needs take over and dominate
his behavior. - Safety needs are
- man's yearning for a predictable, orderly world
in which injustice and inconsistency are under
control, - the familiar frequent, and
- the unfamiliar rare.
- In the world of work, these safety needs manifest
themselves in such things as a preference for job
security, grievance procedures for protecting the
individual from unilateral authority, savings
accounts, insurance policies, and the like.
25Safety needs include
- Personal security from crime
- Financial security
- Health and well-being
- Safety net against accidents/illness and the
adverse impacts
26Love/Belonging/Social needs
- After physiological and safety needs are
fulfilled, the third layer of human needs is
social. This psychological aspect of Maslow's
hierarchy involves emotionally-based
relationships in general, such as - friendship
- sexual intimacy
- having a supportive and communicative family
27- Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and
acceptance, whether it comes from a large social
group (such as clubs, office culture, religious
groups, professional organizations, sports teams,
gangs) or small social connections (family
members, intimate partners, mentors, close
colleagues, confidants). - They need to love and be loved (sexually and
non-sexually) by others. In the absence of these
elements, many people become susceptible to
loneliness, social anxiety, and depression. - This need for belonging can sometimes overcome
the physiological and security needs, depending
on the strength of the peer pressure. e.g. an
anorexic ignores the need to eat and the security
of health for a feeling of belonging.
28Esteem needs
- All humans have a need to be respected, to have
self-esteem, self-respect, and to respect others.
People need to engage themselves to gain
recognition and have an activity or activities
that give the person a sense of contribution, to
feel accepted and self-valued, be it in a
profession or a hobby. Imbalances at this level
can result in low self-esteem, inferiority
complexes.
29- People with low self-esteem especially need
respect from others. They may seek fame or glory,
which again depends on others. - However, confidence, competence and achievement
only need one person and everyone else is
inconsequential to one's own success. - It may be noted, however, that many people with
low self-esteem will not be able to improve their
view of themselves simply by receiving fame,
respect, and glory externally, but must first
accept themselves internally. Psychological
imbalances such as depression can also prevent
one from obtaining self-esteem on both levels.
30Growth needs
- Though the deficiency needs may be seen as
"basic", and can be met and neutralized
self-actualization and transcendence are "being"
or "growth needs" (also termed "B-needs"), i.e.
they are enduring motivations or drivers of
behavior.
31Cognitive needs
- Maslow believed that humans have the need to
increase their intelligence and thereby chase
knowledge. - Cognitive needs is the expression of the natural
human need to learn, explore, discover and create
to get a better understanding of the world around
them.
32Aesthetic needs
- Based on Maslow's beliefs, humans need beautiful
imagery or something new and aesthetically
pleasing to continue up towards
Self-Actualization. - Humans need to refresh themselves in the presence
and beauty of nature while carefully absorbing
and observing their surroundings to extract the
beauty that the world has to offer.
33Self-actualization
- Self-actualization a concept Maslow attributed
to Kurt Goldstein, one of his mentors is the
instinctual need of humans to make the most of
their abilities and to strive to be the best they
can.
34Maslow writes the following of self-actualizing
people
- They embrace the facts and realities of the world
(including themselves) rather than denying or
avoiding them. - They are spontaneous in their ideas and actions.
- They are creative.
- They are interested in solving problems this
often includes the problems of others. Solving
these problems is often a key focus in their
lives. - They feel a closeness to other people, and
generally appreciate life. - They have a system of morality that is fully
internalized and independent of external
authority. - They have discernment and are able to view all
things in an objective manner.
35Other Theories and Approaches
- Stimulation Theories conceptualize the
environment as a source of sensory information.
The stimulation includes - Simple stimuli such as light, color, sound,
noise, heat and cold, and, - Complex stimuli such as buildings, streets,
outdoor settings, and other people.
36Stimulation varies in amount and meaning.
- Amount of stimulation includes dimensions such as
intensity, duration, frequency, and number of
sources. - Meaning of stimulation refers to each persons
integration and interpretation of the stimulus
information.
37Stimulation based theories
- Adaptation-level Theory Individuals adapt to
certain levels of stimulation in certain
contexts, no particular amount of stimulation is
good for everyone. - Arousel Theories These are based on the
assumption that the form and content of a broad
range of our behavior and experience are related
to how physiologically aroused we are.
38- Overload Theory concentrates on the effects of
too much stimulation (noise, heat, cold,
crowding). - Restricted Environmental Stimulation Too little
stimulation causes problems in some
circumstances, and has positive effects in others
such as easy cognitive tasks.
39- Barabasz, Antartika'da görevli ABD'li askerlerle
yaptigi çalismada, uyaranin sinirli oldugu,
yalitilmis ortamlarda yasayanlarin daha kolay
hipnotize edilebildiklerini, telkine daha açik
olduklarini, kolay yönlendirilebildiklerini
göstermistir.5 Harrison, duyusal yoksunlukla,
otistik düsünce gelisimi arasinda iliski olup
olmadigini arastirdigi çalismasinda, 36 denegi,
belirli ölçüde duyusal olarak yalitmis ve bu
deneklerde ego gücünün zayifladigini, otistik
düsünce bozuklugu belirtilerinin gelistigini
gözlemistir.6 Soutter, durus, yürüyüs, davranis
ve iletisim bozuklugu gösteren, anne ve babasi
disindakileri kol mesafesinden yakina
yaklastirmayan 10 yasindaki bir çocukla ilgili
vaka analizinde, bu tablonun ilk çocuklarini
kaybettikleri için, söz konusu çocuklarini evden
disari çikarmayan, infeksiyon korkusuyla kimseyle
görüstürmeyen anne, babanin tutumlari nedeniyle
gelistigini vurgulamistir. Bu vaka, 8 yil süren
tedaviden sonra yasina uygun insan iliskileri
kurabilir hale gelmistir.7 Ruhbilim alaninda
yapilan arastirmalar, insanlarin ruh sagliklarini
koruyabilmeleri için uyarana ihtiyaçlari oldugunu
gösteriyor. Psikolog Zubek, 1969 ve 1972'de
Kanada'da insanlar üzerinde yaptigi deneylerde,
gönüllü denekleri, fiziksel olarak rahat ama ses,
isik vb. uyaranlarin sinirlandigi izole
ortamlarda saatlerce tutmustur. Dayanma süreleri
farkli olmakla birlikte, deneklerin çogunda
sikinti, huzursuzluk, kötülük görecegi korkulari,
sanrilar (hezeyanlar), isitsel-görsel varsanilar
(halüsinasyonlar) ortaya çikmistir.8 Bir baska
deyisle kisi, uyarandan yoksun birakildiginda, iç
dünyasina ait uyaranlari (hayaller, rüyalar,
bilinçdisi süreçler vb.) dis uyaranlardan yani
gerçeklikten ayirt edememekte ve gerçeklik
duygusunu yitirebilmektedir. Her insan, kendinden
haberdar olan, onu fark eden, etkilesebilecegi
diger insan veya insanlara ihtiyaç duyar. Çünkü
ancak onlarin bakislari, sesleri, dokunmalari ile
benlik sinirlari çizilir. Uzun süre insansiz
kalmak ben ile ben olmayan arasindaki siniri
bulaniklastirir, benlik parçalanmasina yol
açabilir. Bu parçalanmanin nasil bir ruhsal aci
verdiginin en çarpici kaniti, tecrit
hücrelerindeki bazi mahkumlarin, iskencecilerinin
bedenlerine verecegi acilari, hücrelerindeki,
insansiz, uyaransiz kalmaya tercih etmeleridir.
40- Stress is another important concept. When
environmental stimulation exceeds an individuals
adaptive resources, behavioral and health effects
occur. - Stressors include air pollution, hospitals,
offices, extreme temperatures, traffic, noise,
etc. - Acute stressors negative, intense, short
impacts, - Ambient stressors negative, chronic, global
conditions remaining in the background, - Daily hassles negative, nonurgent.
41Control Theories
- How much control we have over environmental
stimulation is very important. We have more
control at home, and less control outdoors such
as in traffic jams. - Personal Control accounts for the effects of
being able or unable to influence stimulation. - Psychological reactance is a result of lack of
control. - Learned helplessness is the conviction that
nothing can change or overcome an unpleasant or
painful situation.
42- In everyday social transactions, we attempt to
achieve personal control through boundary
regulation mechanisms, such as personal space and
territoriality.
43Behavior-Setting Theory
- This is a concept based on Barkers ecological
psychology. It tends to explain
person-environment relations in terms of the
settings, social features, such as rules,
customs, and typical activities, and its physical
features. - Consistent, prescribed patterns of behavior
called programs are found in many places. When
you enter a certain space you are likely to see
reccurrent activities, regularly carried out by
persons holding specific roles. For example,
every football game has two teams who run, pass
the ball and score, and a referee. Uniformity of
actions of certain roles is important.
44Integral Theories
- A theory that searchs for a model that captures
the full complexity of everyday
person-environment relations. - Interactionism People environment are seperate
entities but are in continous interaction. - Transactionism Person env. are inclusive, one
defines the other. - Organismic Dynamic interplay of social and
individual factors. Person is affected by social
env. And the society. - The Operant Approach Its goal is to modify the
behavior of individuals whose behavior is
contributing to some environmental problem.
Problematic behaviors are identified, appropriate
positive reinforcements are delivered when
individuals engage in beneficial behavior. For
example recycling, littering, energy waste.
45Environment-centered Approaches
- These approaches focus on the state or quality of
the environment without ignoring people. The
approach may contrast instrumental versus
spiritual views of the environment. - Should the environment be used to support human
goals such as productivity, or is it a context in
which human values are cultivated?
46- We receive information from the environment all
through our lives, this affects our behaviors
physically and psychologically as the brain and
the body give reactions to the stimuli from the
environment. These processes are concerned with
perception, cognition, and cognitive maps.
47Some related concepts
- Perception The gathering of information through
our senses such as seeing, hearing, touching,
etc. in order to understand the environment. It
is how we make sense of the stimuli around us.
The visual field is the area where objects are
visually perceived, and it is limited with our
ability to perceive the visual characteristics of
the environment. We perceive motion, brightness,
color and form. - The environment is filled with various objects
that we scan and glance at. This process takes
only a few seconds. Only a very small amount of
written items can be read in a glance. So,
information should be grouped and limited.
48Cognition
- It is the processing of the information acquired
by perception through storing, organizing and
recalling. - Spatial cognition is the way we acquire, store,
and recall information about location, distances,
and arrangements in the physical environment.
49Environmental Cognition
- It is the awareness, impressions, information,
images, and beliefs that people have about
environments.
50Cognitive Maps
- The representation people have of the surrounding
environment is called an image or cognitive map. - A cognitive map is the mental construct of the
environment seen from multiple viewpoints. It
integrates parts into a whole. - The way we construct cognitive maps change
individually.