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Summary Lecture Notes Environmental Psychology
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Lecture notes of the course Environmental Psychology Lecture 1 until Lecture 10
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Lecture notes Environmental Psychology GEO-36306Lecture 1 – Introduction to environmental psychology: history, topics,
methods and approaches
Environmental psychology studies the relationships between people and the environment from the
perspective of the individual mind.
Difference between psychiatry and psychology
- 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.
With the invention of the experimental method (Francis Bacon), the natural sciences and
philosophy fell apart They still need each other, so not an absolute division, there is
interaction between them.
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 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
1. Individual (human) being as the unit of analysis (in contrast to sociology and economy:
groups-communities-societies).
2. Psychometrics as methods (i.e., a set of procedures that are designed to tap into individual
thought / emotion / behaviour).
3. Distinctive set of theories.
Short history of psychology
o Initial phase: explorative; everything goes
o Behaviourism: as mind cannot be directly observed, only behaviour should be addressed
(Conditioning Pavlov)
oStimulus – Response
o Cognitive paradigm: turning back to mind, computer as metaphor
oStimulus – Rule based processing – Response
o Now: more attention to meaning and emotion
oStimulus – Meaning / Emotion – Processing – Response
History of Environmental Psychology
Recognized as sub-discipline since 1960s Psychiatric institutes wanted to know if the
environment could do something for the recovery of patients.
Foundation laid by Brunswick and Lewin
First handbook appeared in 1973
Nowadays two main journals:
, o Journal of Environmental Psychology
o 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 behaviour?
CHARACTERISTICS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Environmental Psychology is oriented towards real world problems
Environmental Psychology is an interdisciplinary endeavour:
- 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
2) What people do with the environment
Relevance of Environmental psychology
Design
Planning
Nature policy and management
Environmental policy
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
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 numbers of e’s on this page
Find the answer to 21 * 38 = ?
Navigate through an unknown city
Drive a car in a very busy city centre
Two systems of information processing, evaluating and decision making: dual process theory
1) System 1: implicit and automatic subconscious processing
2) System 2: explicit and effortful conscious processing
System 1 System 2
Unconscious reasoning Conscious reasoning
Implicit Explicit
Automatic Controlled
Low effort High effort
Large capacity Small capacity
Fast Slow
Nonverbal Linked to language
Parallel Serial
Experiential learning Formal learning
Everyday decisions Complex decisions
Error prone Reliable
Advantages of system 1
Operated quickly
Does not require focused attention
Often suggests good responses
Great for routine jobs
Can do a lot of things at the same time
Disadvantages of system 1
Cannot handle abstract or complex problems
Works with simple templates
Is prone to undetected biases and error
Advantages of system 2
Allows reflection
Can weight pros and cons
Can handle logic and formal reasoning
Can apply abstract models to new situations
Disadvantages of system 2
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