Environmental Psychology

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Environmental Psychology

• 2nd Lecture

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Introduction

• 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.

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Another 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).

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• 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.

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GOAL 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.

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HOW 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.

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A 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.

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• 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).

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Barkers 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.

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• 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.

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Architecture

• 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)

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• 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.

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Areas 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

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• 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.

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One of the most important functions of a theory
is

• to provide generalizations that give order and
  meaning to specific observations about
  person-environment relations.

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Maslows 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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Maslow'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.

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Growth needs
Deficiency needs
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Deficiency 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.

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Physiological 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.

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The 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.

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Safety 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.

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Safety needs include

• Personal security from crime
• Financial security
• Health and well-being
• Safety net against accidents/illness and the
  adverse impacts

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Love/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

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• 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.

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Esteem 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.

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• 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.

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Growth 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.

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Cognitive 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.

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Aesthetic 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.

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Self-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.

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Maslow 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.

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Other 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.

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Stimulation 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.

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Stimulation 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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Control 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.

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• In everyday social transactions, we attempt to
  achieve personal control through boundary
  regulation mechanisms, such as personal space and
  territoriality.

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Behavior-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.

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Integral 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.

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Environment-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?

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• 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.

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Some 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.

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Cognition

• 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.

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Environmental Cognition

• It is the awareness, impressions, information,
  images, and beliefs that people have about
  environments.

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Cognitive 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.