Environmental Psychology elective at Leiden University (2020-2021)
Lecture 4: Spatial planning and design
Environmental perception
Compared to traditional perception research:
- Perceiver is in the scene
- Perceiver is purposive, has a plan
- Stimuli are complex (Berleyne’s three classes of stimulus properties):
- Psychophysical: intensity of stimulation, brightness of colors, volume of sound
- Ecological: indicative of positive or negative environmental conditions for people
- Collative stimulus properties
Collative stimulus properties
Properties based on comparisons between elements in the stimulus field:
- Order=e.g.:symmetry
- Complexity
- Diversity =organized complexity
Properties based on comparisons between succession of stimuli:
Kaplan, R. & Kaplan, S.,1989. The experience of nature. A psychological perspective
BASIC NEEDS
Understanding Exploration
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Immediate Coherence Diversity
Inferred, Legibility Mystery
Predicted
Coherence: A coherent scene is orderly: it hangs together
Diversity: The number of different elements in a scene: its richness
Legibility: A well-structured space with distinctive elements, so that it is easy both to find one’s way within the scene and to find one’s way back to the starting point
Mystery: The promise of further information if one could walk deeper into the scene
Territoriality
Pattern of behavior and attitudes based on perceived, attempted or actual control of a definable physical space, involving occupation, defense, personalization, and marking
Types of terriroriality:
- Primary (home, or spaces within home (e.g. bedroom)
- Secondary (office, lobby, stairway, elevator)
- Public (park, sidewalk, beach, parking place)
Effects of terriroriality/ownership
- Infringement (invasion, violation, contamination) and defense (preventative reaction)
- Warding off crime (defensible space), creating social order, improve maintenance (e.g. ‘adoption’ of neighbourhood park, playground, highway)
Applications in design and management for public territory
Neighbourhoods: increased ownership --> improved safety, reduced noise and air pollution, made surveillance easier
Hospitals: increased personalization --> increased wellbeing, faster recovery
Kaplan, R. & Austin, M. E., 2004. Out in the country: sprawl and the quest for nature nearby
- People like to live near nature
- On an aggregate level this causes urban sprawl and the destruction of nature
- So for people moved to live “out in the country”, what were the main reasons?
Research questions:
- Which kind of nature is specifically liked?
- How important is nature for community satisfaction?
- Is there a way to solve the dilemma, make solutions more environmentally sustainable
Conclusion of research:
Devlin, A. S., Andrade, C. C., & Carvalho, D., 2016. Qualities of inpatient hospital rooms: Patients’ perspectives
Ulrich’s theory of supportive design in healthcare
- Design can promote well-being when three essential needs are addressed:
- Sense of control over surroundings (e.g., single rooms, adjustable bed, control over TV)
- Access to social support (e.g., bedside phone, privacy, seating for visitors, or overnight accommodations)
- Access to positive distractions (e.g., natural view, plants, music, TV)
Evans, G. W., Lepore, S. J., & Schroeder, A.,1996. The role of interior design elements in human responses to crowding.
- High density leads to psychological distress
- High density leads to social withdrawal
- High density in home disturbs supportive relationships
- Few studies on interior design and crowding
- Floor-plan likely to influence social interaction patterns within home
Space syntax:architectural theory on elements and relationships in design
Depth: the number of spaces one must pass through to go from one place to the next
Conclusion of study:
- Distress due to high density can be prevented by increased architectural depth
- Ease of controlling social interaction reduces social withdrawal
- Paradox: people have better, more supportive relationships when environment facilitates being alone
Evans, G. W., & Kim, P., 2007. Childhood poverty and health. Cumulative risk exposure and stress dysregulation
Childhood poverty leads to increased morbidity, decreased life span
Multiple risks:
- Housing quality
- Physical context
- Noise
- Inside density (people/room ratio)
- Social context
- Family turmoil
- Child’s separation from parents
- Exposure to violence
Findings in study:
- Cortisol level higher by longer poverty duration; not mediated by multiple risk (possibly due to delay in effect)
- Longer poverty period related to less adequate stress regulation as shown by blood pressure changes during Math task; mediated by multiple risk
- Children are more at risk to stressors when they are younger
Conclusion:
- “Elevated cumulative risk exposure during early childhood compromises the ability of the body to handle environmental demands efficiently”
- Stress dysregulation potentially explains association between childhood social class (NOT adult social class) and morbidity/mortality
Staats, H., & Groot, P. (2019). Seat choice in a crowded cafe: Effects of eye contact, distance, and anchoring.
Where people want to sit in a café relates to the spatial position of other nearby people
Intimacy and privacy levels may determine seat choice
Keeping distance: two factors:
- Intimacy
- Approach and avoidance tendencies in an interpersonal setting
- Hypothesis 1a: minimal eye-contact
- Hypothesis 1b: maximal distance
- Privacy
- Control over social input
- Hypothesis 1c: maximal privacy
Secondary measures:
- Emotional response to available seats
- Two components: “pleasure” and “arousal”
- Social cognitions
- Three components: “sad-lonely”, “voluntary contact”, and “obliged contact”
Results of study: What seating preference did participants indicate?
- Participants indicated preference for a low eye-contact seat (Scenario 1) and for a seat that was ‘anchored’ to a wall and thus more private (Scenario 3). Unexpectedly, the size of the table (Scenario 2) did not influence seating preference.
Conclusion:
- Most of the lone café visitors will prefer a less intimate, more private kind of seat, in accordance with theory
- However, a minority of people actually prefers a more intimate, less private kind of seat, which they find both pleasurable and arousing
