PSY2001 S2 W6 Environmental Psychology Flashcards
(24 cards)
What is environmental psychology?
“The discipline that studies the interplay between individuals and the built and natural environment”
How does the environment interact with people’s behaviour?
Enviornamental > the influence of the environment on human experiences, behaviour and well-being > People’s behaviour
People’s behaviour > The influence of indidividual on the environment e.g. understanding and promoting sustainable behaviour > Environment
What is an example of how the build environment can shape behaviour?
Boutellier et al. 2008
Studied the effect of office layout (cell offices vs multi-space layout) on communication (frequency of face-to-face communication, average duration)
Multi-space had more nb of events but shorter duration of events and had more time without communication per hour
What does the effect of the environment depend on ?
the nature of the task.
Seddigh et al. 2014
Office type: cell/indidivudal, shared-room small open-plan, medium-sized open-plan, large open-plan, flex office.
Type of task: to what extent do you have indidividual tasks that require concentration?
Dependent variable: distraction, cognitive stress.
Results: diagram on paper
What is the field theory?
Lewin 1940
idea that the effect of the environment depends on the nature of the person.
Behaviour is determined by the interaction between a person and their environment.
Lewin’s Equation: 𝐵 = 𝑓(𝑃, 𝐸) - where 𝐵 is behaviour, 𝑃 is person, and 𝐸 is the environment
Using topology to map the life space - represents their currrent situation or behaviour
What did Mckechnie 1974 study?
environmental response inventory
Includes need for privacy
Gifford 1980 - found negative correlation between need for privacy and evaluation fo a café and city hall
What did Roskams et al. 2019 study?
Characteristics of the task: complexity, interactivity
Characteritics of the person: Big Five sub-scale, weinstein’s nosie sensitivity scale
Outcome: acoustic comfort, distrubance by speech, difficulties inc concentration, perceived stress, work engagement, office productivity
results: “Participants with higher noise sensitivity tended to rate the acoustical quality of the office more negatively, were more disturbed by speech, had greater difficulties in concentration, were more stressed, and had lower self-rated productivity …. Thus, it can be concluded that the **appropriateness of open-plan office for effective work performance is largely moderated by an individual’s noise sensitivity.”
What makes an environment restorative?
Perceived resotrativeness scale: fascination, being away, coherence, compatibility
What noises/places change mood?
Jiang et al. 2021
traffic sounds change negatively mood for urban parks, street and office plaza.
Mechanical sounds only change negatively urban street and urban park.
Nature sound increased mood in urban park .
No sound negatively change mood in urban street.
What was Mayer et al. 2009 study?
After reflecting on a loose end in your life that needs tying participant take a 10 minute walk and 5 minute sit in either nature or a city. Positive and negative affect schedule used to measure affect.
Results: affect/mood was enhanced in nature positively and negatively more than in urban city. The ability to reflect on loose end was better in nature.
What did Soga and Gaston 2024 study?
Does spending time in (natural) restorative environments lead people to engage in more pro-biodiversity and pro-environmental behaviour?
Systematic review including 52 effect sizes from 12 case studies.
Direct experiences with nature were positively correlated (r+ = 0.20) with actions undertaken with the intention of reducing environmental harms and promoting the protection of the natural environment
What environment are restorative?
Environments that are fascinating, novel, provide escape, and support desired activities are restorative.
What is the stress recovery theory?
Ulrich 1983, 1991
Features in natural environments (immediately) evoke positive affect, without conscious recognition. This serves to lower arousal and reduce stress.
What is the attention restoration theory?
Kaplan & Kaplan 1989
Most environments ‘fight’ for our attention and so are depleting: Termed ‘directed attentional fatigue’.
However, natural environments: Provide fascination, A sense of connectedness, A sense of being away from daily hassles, Are compatible with inclinations.
As a result, natural environments restore attention
Contact with nature helps people regulate emotions?
Bratman et al (2024)
Frequency of contact with nature
Use of distraction
Rumination
Use of reappraisal
Emotional ill-being and well-being
What is perceptual fluency account?
Joye et al. 2016
Natural environments are processed more fluently than urban settings, due to their fractal patterns, which mean that they contain more redundant information than urban scenes
Why are environments restorative?
Stress Recovery Theory
Attention Restoration Theory
Perceptual Fluency Account
WHat does the environment shape?
The environment shapes how we think, feel, and behave and, as a result, a range of important outcomes like health, well-being, and productivity
What mediated the effect of exposure to natural vs urban environments on outcomes?
Mayer et al. 2009
Changes in how connected participants felt to nature (not attentional capacity)
What is the frequency of contact with nature ?
Bratman et al. 2024
About how often do you usually visit or pass through outdoor natural areas for any reason?
What is use of distraction?
Bratman et al. 2024
o To feel less upset during upsetting situations, I divert my attention away from what is happening
What is rumination?
Bratman et al. 2024
“I think ‘Why do I have problems other people don’t have?’”
What is emotional ill-being and well-being
Bratman et al. 2024
o Measures of positive and negative affect, life satisfaction, purpose in life, and perceived stress
What is use of reappraisal?
Bratman et al. 2024
When something upsetting happens, to feel less upset, I think about the possible benefits of the situation”
