The prediction of scenic beauty from landscape content and composition

Two studies were conducted to examine distance classes of vegetation (foreground, middleground and background) and scene composition (presence of vegetation in left, center or right section of the image) as predictors of perceived scenic beauty. In study one, 41 students rated 63 landscape scenes with regard to scenic beauty. The Scenic Beauty Estimation Method was used to derive interval scale beauty values (SBEs). For each landscape image, areal measures of vegetation in each distance class and for each vertical section were taken and used as predictors. Presence of haze, clouds and human impacts were also recorded. Among the most important contributors to scenic beauty were amount of center middleground vegetation, and center background vegetation. Left foreground vegetation and right foreground vegetation were found to have significant and opposing regression weight signs—negative for the left and positive for the right. Study two was conducted to determine whether these opposing regression weight signs for foreground vegetation were due to a perceptual right-left bias or to some specific content in the image itself. In the second study, the photographic slides used to present landscape scenes to subjects were reversed so that the content which was previously on the right was now left, and vice versa. Thirty-nine students rated the reversed slides with regard to their scenic beauty. The signs of the regression weights in study two shifted such that left foreground was now positively valued and right foreground was negatively valued. This finding suggests that viewers are sensitive to foreground content and its placement in the image, and not simply to one side of the field of vision.     

Territoriality,defensible space and residential burglary: An environmental analysis

Previous research on territoriality suggests that territorial intrusion is associated with particular territorial demarcations. In the present study the use of territorial displays involving symbolic barriers, actual barriers, detectability, traces and social climate is related to the territorial intrusion of residential burglary. The five classes of territorial displays were assessed for a total of 306 burglarized houses on burglarized blocks, non-burglarized houses on burglarized blocks, and non-burglarized houses on non-burglarized blocks. After the data were reduced through factor analysis, multiple regression analysis revealed that burglarized houses differed from non-burglarized houses on non-burglarized blocks on four of the five classes of territorial displays. In general, burglarized houses had salient public territorial qualities: cues of openness and unoccupied appearance. In contrast, the non-burglarized houses had salient secondary or primary territorial qualities: territorial markers communicating privacy and individuality. In addition, non-burglarized houses had greater visual contact with neighboring houses.     

Employee reactivity and adaptation to observation on the job

In the course of studying police dispatchers, five observers recorded the reactions of the employees (N = 37) to their presence throughout the work shift on three separate occasions. Four major research questions were considered: (a) extent of reaction, (b) relationship between interactions with the observer and changes in employees' work activities, (c) independence of verbal and nonverbal behavioral reactions, and (d) adaptation. On average, subjects or other employees initiated 10 interactions per hour with observers. These interactions were classified as subject-initiated (a) verbal, content related to research procedures; (b) verbal, non-research-related in content; (c) nonverbal only or (d) other employee-initiated verbal comment. Interaction with the observer was not related to the amount of work the subject did. Subjects' nonverbal and verbal responses were unrelated to each other as well as to the verbal responses of other employees. A priori expectations concerning adaptation to observation were tested with a 3 × 3 (segment by day) repeated-measures factorial design. Significant adaptation (P < 0·01) occurred within and between days in subjects' comments about research procedures and all comments from other employees. However, other behaviors showed with no evidence of adaptation or actual increases. The implications of these findings for measuring reactivity and deciding when adaptation has occurred are discussed.     

Classifying hazardous events

Classification is an information management technique that helps achieve the goals of scientific and applied research by simplifying and ordering complex and varied observations. This paper is intended as a guide to the use and application of classifications of hazardous events. Proposed classifications are reviewed and evaluated in terms of their purposes, methods, supportive evidence and the scientific and applied goals of classification. The review is structured according to the metaphor of the natural life history of a hazard that distinguishes three stages of human-environment interaction: (a) hazard causes, (b) physical and psychosocial characteristics of hazards, and (c) individual and aggregate responses to hazards. The life history perspective has the advantage of being multidimensional and transactional. The structure highlights the relationship between proposed classifications, identifies needed areas of conceptual and empirical development, and provides a general guideline for the selection and use of classifications for hazard management.     

Methodological convergence as an issue within environmental cognition research

Two perspectives in the analysis of pointing and mapping tasks as the measure of representations of the large-scale environment are examined. These two perspectives are: (1) an individual difference approach; and (2) a cognitive representational approach. Convergence between methods assessing the same geographical/spatial knowledge is necessary as evidence for the existence of unified cognitive-spatial representations of the environment.Three sets of analyses interrelate performance on pointing and mapping tasks. In the first analysis, a confirmatory factor analytic model is applied to short tests of pointing and mapping accuracy to determine whether one or two factors are needed to account for covariation between the tests. In the second analysis, covariation among errors in pointing and mapping of specific locations is partitioned into general and specific method factors using the Schmid-Leiman procedure. In the third analysis, pointing errors for identical locations within the mapping and pointing tasks are directly compared on the basis of directional errors.The three analyses indicate that: (1) tests of pointing and mapping measure highly related abilities; (2) the targets used in pointing and mapping tasks are of differential importance in identifying general and specific method factors; and (3) there is little or no direct correspondence between directional errors made in pointing tasks and those occurring in mapping tasks for the same locations.When results of the three analyses are examined in relationship to criteria for convergence of pointing and mapping tasks, little evidence is found to suggest that directional errors in these tasks arise from a unified mental representation of the geographical environment. However, substantial predictable individual differences are apparent for both tasks.     

Attitudes to nuclear energy: Beliefs,values and false consensus

Attitudinal differences regarding the use of nuclear energy were investigated. Results obtained in a random sample drawn from the population of four communities in The Netherlands within 30 miles of a nuclear power plant showed a strong relationship between subjects' attitudes towards nuclear energy and their perceptions of the possible consequences of nuclear energy. ‘Pro’- and ‘con’-subjects showed marked differences in the importance attached to the different possible consequences and their endorsement of the salience of more general social issues. Results provide support for the view that individuals perceive a false consensus with respect to the relative prevalence of similar attitudes among other people. Finally, subjects' perceptions of others with similar or opposing attitudes towards the issue of nuclear energy showed marked differences in evaluation especially for the extreme attitude groups.     

Community opinion concerning airport noise-abatement alternatives

In the present study we examined (1) community opinion of airport noise-abating alternatives and (2) the influence of perceived control on attitudes concerning noise-abatement policies and annoyance toward aircraft noise. We proposed that residents who perceive themselves as having little control over aircraft noise exposure would express higher levels of annoyance than residents who believe they have some degree of control. Furthermore, residents with low levels of perceived control would be less favorable toward proposed noise-abatement alternatives. Survey results collected from 239 households within the 65 CNEL contour of a community airport in Southern California support these hypotheses. Findings indicate strong public support for noise abatement and strong opposition to land-use alternatives. In addition, residents' perceptions of control in the airport planning and management process are significantly related to their annoyance with noise and their opinions about noise management policies.     

Educational issues, school settings, and environmental psychology

This paper reviews selected research on classroom and school environments, using a framework that views schools from three perspectives—as places for learning, as places for socialization and as places for psychological development. Studies are included that deal with the impact of noise and classroom design on learning; the relationship between seating position, achievement and status; spatial cognition; the classroom environment and sex role stereotyping; privacy; and density. The need for classrooms to enhance children's feelings of competence, security and self-esteem is also stressed. The goal of the paper is to point out ways in which environmental psychologists can contribute to the improvement of the educational system and to the quality of life in schools.     

Privacy-seeking behavior in an elementary classroom

This study observed privacy-seeking behavior in an elementary classroom, investigated individual differences in privacy seeking, and compared preferences for private spaces varying in degree of enclosure. Four privacy booths were placed in a fourth-grade classroom. A ticket system was used to assess booth use. Information on personality and background variables was obtained with self-report, peer, teacher, and parent questionnaires. After an initial period of enthusiasm, overall booth use declined sharply. However, analysis revealed substantial individual variation in booth use that remained consistent throughout the study. For boys, booth use was significantly correlated with teachers' ratings of sociability, aggressiveness, and distractibility. For girls, a significant positive relationship was found between privacy seeking at home and in school. Self-reported desire for privacy was uncorrelated with actual privacy-seeking behavior in the classroom. No significant differences in the use of the various booths were found, although self-reported preferences clearly favored the booth that allowed visual access to the rest of the classroom when desired.     

Perceptions of the security and attractiveness of urban parking lots

This study concerns design features of urban parking lots which can increase the perception of such areas as both safe and attractive. College students evaluated the attractiveness and perceived security associated with 180 scenes of parking lots adjacent to commercial and multi-family residential structures in Atlanta and Athens, Georgia, U.S.A. High intergroup correlations (r > 0·90) indicated the reliability of evaluations of both perceived features. Regressions of physical features on perceived security ratings and attractiveness ratings yielded highly predictive models (R² = 0·76 and 0·80, respectively). For both sets of ratings a Maintenance and Design factor accounted for the most variance. Although attractiveness ratings were higher as the total amount of vegetation increased in a scene, security was in general rated higher only when vegetation was well maintained and appeared to be installed as part of a landscape design. Attractiveness was generally higher for multi-family residential scenes than for commercial scenes. Perceived security was higher for frontal views of structures, especially when entrances were proximate to the viewer. Research implications are discussed in terms of the impact of natural features in urban areas for increasing attractiveness and reducing fear of crime.     

Diverging meanings of development among architects and three other professional groups

Previous research has shown that designers' and architects' evaluations of visual stimuli, and of urban and rural environments are not necessarily shared by non-designers and non-architects. Such conclusions may be biased by instrumentation and methodological problems, namely, previous instruments often require verbal responses about stimuli. Hence, non-designers and non-architects may be less capable in expressing themselves, but perceive the same things as the professionals. Another problem stems from professionals who have a narrow range of traits being compared with a general population that has a broader range of traits and therefore has greater within-group variance. This study presents an instrument and a methodology for dealing with these problems in addition to examining the perceptual orientations of architects in comparison to three other professions. Results indicate that architects varied from the other professional groups in their quantitative judgments of the habitats studied but not from all groups in their qualitative judgments. Hence, architects may be a distinct professional culture for some design variables only.     

Effects of labelled meaning on the affective quality of housing scenes

A series of studies examined the effects of labelled meaning on affective response to housing scenes. Students at Ohio State University assessed their feelings towards imagined housing (public or private) and cities (Memphis, Houston and San Francisco). Expected differences in the affective quality were found. Responses to color photographs of specific housing scenes labelled as either private condominiums or public housing were obtained. Differences in scene-affect as a function of labelled meaning were found. Responses to housing scenes labelled as located in either Memphis, Houston or San Francisco revealed no differences in scene-affect as a function of label meaning. This latter finding was confirmed in a non-repeated measure examination. Differences in the fittingness, potency or relevance of the information provided may account for the pattern of findings.     

Water immersion and flotation: From stress experiment to stress treatment

Evolving from the water immersion sensory deprivation techniques of the 1960s, tank flotation has recently become a popular recreational activity, with commercial manufacturers and facilities available in most major American cities. This paper reviews research using two versions of the technique, and evaluates the responses of 27 customers using one such commercial facility. These customers indicate relaxation and pleasant mood, findings that are compatible with popular treatments and other reports but differ widely from earlier stereotypes about the experience.