This document contains all information, models, and graphs presented in the lectures of Environmental Psychology. the notes I made during the lectures are also included. If you want to pass the exam, make sure you know this information very well. Make it easier by buying this document :)
Environmental Psychology
Lecture 1: Introduction to the discipline and the course; and 2 Systems
of information processing
Learning goals today:
- Getting a sense of the subject matter of environmental psychology (EP)
- Knowing the history and characteristics of EP
- Being able to identify EP issues in societal debates
- Understand the 2 psychological systems of information processing
- Understand the variety of methods used in EP
From the recent news you absorbed, can you identify topics relevant to environmental
psychology?
Should we be submissive or dominate nature?
Oostvaarderplassen issue – animals suffer, nature reserve.
Does the municipality wants windmills? Windmills in sea? Many people dislike how they appear in
the landscape.
The wolf. We are by law obliged to protect them.
Rewilding Europe. Turn abandoned Europa places to places to restore wildlife.
Electrical cars. Recharging points.
Playing in nature. Do you care about nature if you are not exposed to nature in your younger age?
Landscape beauty. Where are the grand views..? We have forgotten about them the last decades.
What is Environmental Psychology?
Environmental psychology studies relationships between people and the environment from the
perspective of the individual mind.
Psychology is different from psychiatry
Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that aims to cure mental diseases.
Psychology is the scientific study of the working of the mind and behaviour.
Development of the Sciences
- Until the 17th century, philosophy was an all-inclusive endeavour Used to be no distinction
between philosophy and science.
- With the invention of the experimental method (Francis Bacon), the natural sciences and
philosophy fell apart.
Social sciences took off in the 18th century
- First branch was economy, started with Adam Smith (The wealth of nations).
- Sociology was coined in 1835 (Auguste Comte).
Psychology was founded in the late 19th century
- Founding fathers include James (USA), who wrote the “Principles of psychology”, and
- Wundt (Germany), who founded the first psychological laboratory.
Distinctive features of psychology
- Individual (human) being as the unit of analysis (in contrast to sociology and economy: groups-
communities-societies).
, Environmental Psychology
- Psychometrics as methods (i.e., a set of procedures that are designed to tap into individual
thought/emotion/behaviour).
- Distinctive set of theories.
Very short history of psychology
- Initial phase: explorative; “everything goes”.
- Behaviorism: as mind cannot be directly observed, only behavior should be addressed. Stimulus –
response. Conditioning Pavlov https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP5lCleK-PM
- Cognitive paradigm: turning back to mind, computer as metaphor. Stimulus – rule based processing
– response.
- Now: more attention to meaning and emotion. Stimulus – meaning/emotion – processing –
response.
History of Environmental Psychology
- Recognized as a sub-discipline since 1960s.
- Foundations laid by Brunswick and Lewin.
- First handbook appeared in 1973.
- Nowadays, two main journals:
- Journal of Environmental Psychology
- Environment & Behaviour
Emergence of Environmental Psychology was driven by practical questions
- Architecture: How to provide decent housing and facilities to the public?
- Landscape architecture and planning: How to achieve landscape quality?
- Sustainability: How to increase environmentally significant behavior?
Characteristics of Environmental Psychology
Environmental Psychology is oriented towards real world problems
Environmental Psychology is an interdisciplinary endeavor
- Probably because practical questions dealing with reality are leading, and reality
does not mind about disciplines.
- Dominated by psychologists.
- But geographers and architects have made important contributions.
- Focused on the level of the individual.
- But oftentimes taking group phenomena (e.g. social norms) into account.
Environmental Psychology employs a variety of methods
- Case study
- Correlation study
- Experiment
Human environment relationships studied in 2 directions
1. What the environment does with people (e.g. preferences, experiences, behaviours,
health, well-being).
2. What people do with the environment (e.g. environmentally significant behaviour,
conservation behaviour, support for policy and management, involvement in placemaking).
Relevance of Environmental Psychology
- Design
- Planning
- Nature policy and management
- Environmental policy
, Environmental Psychology
Summing up: Characteristics of Environmental Psychology
- Relatively young discipline
- Interdisciplinary in nature
- Focused on practical questions
- Studies human-environment interactions on the individual level
- Studies these relations in two directions
- Uses a variety of methods
Orientation of the course
Subject matter: selection of EP topics in
the world out there that are most relevant to
students of Wageningen University (green).
Theory: four basic theoretical
perspectives that address the inner world as
it relates to the outer world (blue).
Environmental Psychology: inner world
meets outer world: using theory to
understand and study human-environment
relationships (red).
Two systems of information processing
System 1 work: Automatically
- Orient to a deer in the woods
- Experience a landscape as beautiful
- Complete the phrase “Environmental Psych.....”
- Find the way from the Forum building to the bus stop
- Recognize a familiar face in a crowd
- Find the answer to 2 + 2 = ?
- Infer the mood of a person
- Drive a car on an empty road
- Count to 10
System 2 work: Effortful
- Not orienting to a deer in the woods
- Count the number of peaks in a landscape
- Find the man with glasses in a crowd
- Count the number of e’s on this slide
- Find the answer to 21 * 38 = ?
- Navigate through an unknown city
- Drive a car in a very busy city centre
- Call out your phone number
Two systems of information processing, evaluating and
decision making: dual process theory
- System 1: Implicit and automatic subconscious processing
- System 2: Explicit and effortful conscious processing
, Environmental Psychology
System 1 System 2
Unconscious reasoning Conscious reasoning
Implicit Explicit
Automatic Controlled
Low effort High effort
Large capacity Small capacity
Fast Slow
Non-verbal Linked to language
Parallel Serial
Experiential learning Formal learning
Advantages of system 1 Disadvantages of system 2
- Operates quickly - Allows reflection
- Does not require focused attention - Can weigh pros and cons
- Often suggests good responses - Can handle logic and formal reasoning
- Great for routine jobs - Can apply abstract models to new situations
- Can do a lot of things at the same time
Disadvantages of system 1 Disadvantages of system 2
- Cannot handle abstract or complex problems - Slow
- Works with simple templates - Requires lots of energy and attention
- Is prone to undetected biases and error - Resources easily depleted
- System 2 is lazy
How do system 1 and 2 relate?
- By default, system 1 is at work (saves system 2 resources)
- System 1 offers impressions and suggestions to system 2
- Usually, system 2 takes over these suggestions
- System 2 is activated only if needed
We identify with system 2
- “I see women and men as equal” (yes, but what about your system 1?)
- “I did X for reason Y” (or, did you create this narrative after your system 1 decided to do X?)
Relevance to this course
- Background explanation that helps to evaluate specific applied theories
- Some address system 1 - Some address system 2
- Methodological considerations How people explain their actions (reasons) does not necessarily
indicate the real antecedents (causes) – important to evaluate self-report methods
Preview of methods in Environmental Psychology
Environmental Psychology employs a variety of methods
- Case study: rich description of specific group of people in a specific context.
Advantage: comprehensiveness, and exploring new subjects.
Disadvantage: hard to generalize to general population.
- Correlational study: questionnaire amongst a large number of people.
Advantage: generalizability, relationships between phenomena.
Disadvantage: no cause-effect relationships.
- Experimental study: one variable is manipulated & effect on another variable is measured.
Advantage: confidence about cause and effect relationships.
Disadvantage: validity outside of the experimental setting is sometimes questionable.
Literature for this lecture: Gifford (2014) Environmental Psychology matters good paper to get an
overview of current EP research – elements of paper will be used in later lectures Take out of it for
now: What are Gifford’s arguments of why Environmental Psychology matters?
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