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SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS AND PERCEPTION
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CUES FOR THE PERCEPTION OF THE SIZE OF SPACES IN LANDSCAPES
COETERIER, Frederick; The Winand Staring Centre. The Netherlands.
The perception of the size of spaces is not to be confused with the perception of distance. Both are called space perception. Several measures for space-perception are based on the perception of distance. Now, another measure is proposed. A number of attributes is identified that determine the perception of the size of spaces in landscapes, as viewed from slides, e.g. the height and complexity of the walls, the presence of loose elements, brightness. In the classical psycho-physical theory of perception these attributes were called illusions. However, the perception of the size of spaces and of depth or distance are two different mental activities, each with its own cues. The perception of the size of spaces is the result of an integration of information on these cues. And space perception is an integration of the perception of distance and the perception of size.
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CHRONOTOPOS OF PROVINCIAL
GABIDULINA, Svetlana E.; Moscow Linguistic University, Moscow, Russia.
An empirical research is presented that deals with psychological study of so-called "chronotopos". The term "chronotopos" was introduced by Russian philologist M. Bakhtin and stands for the emotional experience of a person which occupies a certain position in Space and Time. The aim of this study was to compare the chronotopos of a provincial with that of an inhabitant of a capital. The first series was carried out in Yelets, a small provincial town in the South of Russia. Two groups of subjects - the inhabitants of Yelets (86) and the culturology experts (30) - were the participants in the first series. The Architectural Semantic Differential Technique and the Questionnary obtained by the author in cooperation with M. Kaulen were used. The results were compared with the ones developed for the Moscow population to find differences in cognitive and emotional assesments.
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THE PERCEPTION OF SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS BY ARCHITECTURAL EXPERTS AND NON-EXPERTS.
ADAMOPOULOS, John; Grand Valley State University, Allendale, USA.
The problem of the conceptual structure of human-made environments, while much debated (e.g., Ward and Russell, 1981), remains a psychological domain rich in data but lacking in theoretical development. Recently, Adamopoulos (1990) proposed a rule-theoretic approach to environmental classification. For example, by assuming that the conceptual representation of social environments and situations reflects underlying rules of social action, three dimensions of situational classification can be theoretically derived: (a) interaction
availability; (b) functional multiplicity; and (c) behavioral allotropy. Cross-cultural data have been shown to support this perspective. The present paper presents a further development of this approach by examining semantic and behavioral differential judgments of constructed environments (in which social interactions take place) by U.S. professional architects and non-expert college students. A categorization methodology (e.g., Tversky & Hemenway, 1983) was employed to obtain additional information about the environments from the same samples. Three-mode factor analysis was used to analyze the judgment data. Overall, while conceptual dimensions were fairly similar between the two groups, differences in perspective also emerged. Specifically, particular environmental factors appeared to have somewhat different meanings for experts and non-experts. Results are interpreted in terms of the dimensions mentioned earlier.
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PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DETERMINISM OF A CITY.
FERRARO, A.; Italian Association of Ontopsychology, Rome, Italy.
Starting from an observation of the biophysical environment, from tbe concreteness of nature as revealed in a particular place, the city of Trieste, comparing the physiological environment with the social reality of the city, macroscopically one sees diversity, incongruence and a divergence of value.
Psychological analysis reveals psychic stasis, the expectation of something undefined, of a past, but a past that influences the present, it is a dynamic that lets the same actions be repeated from father to son without creativity. In my opinion, this all centres on one basic figure, on a psychic irnage now operating, on which is grafted a memory trace handed down from generation to generation. Knowing the history of the city and using the semantic field, the image of the beloved Empress Maria Teresa of Hapsburg clearly appears.
This image may be so active because it is one aspect, which can assume to be given form according to the potentiality of the city, of the archetype of the great mother understood in the perspective of the ontopsychological school, or rather it is one of the images preferentially used by the monitor of deflection. From what I have been able to ascertain the more precise, more structured and structuring the image is, the more the place that has to subjugate an individual, a city, a country or a planet without distinction is potentially a nucleus of pure energy.
Consequently, while historical interprehtion indicates the present situation as the socio-historical consequence of political desires, the ontopsychological reality reveals the cause and effect of today's reality in the psychic determinism exercised by an image that is perpetuated and handed down through intentional psychic vectorialities and is acting in the collective unconscious of the city itself.
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DEPENDANCE-INDEPENDANCE A L'EGARD DU CHAMP ET PERCEPTION DU VIDE DANS UN ESPACE PUBLIC
AGOSTINI, Caroline B.; Le Pecq, France.
Objectif.
Certaons facteurs de personnalitè médiatisent la relation de l'Homme avec son environnement. Cette étude teste l'influence de la dépendance-indépendance à l'égard du champ (DIC) sur la sensation de gêbe éprouvée face au vide.
Resultats.
On constate des différences interindividuelles sur le confort ressenti face au vide en fonction du degré de DIC: le dépendants du champ éprouvent plus de gêne que les indépendants.
-Les indépendants évitent moins le contact avec le vide que les dépendants et
-sont moins sujets aux manifestations physiologiques provoquées par le vide.
-Les dépendants ressentent plus fortment le besoin d'être protégés face au vide.
Conclusions.
Le facteur de dépendance-indépendance à l'égard du champ a une influence sur le sentiment de confort et la gêne ressentis et observés face au vide.
TS ENV 2
ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDES
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THE EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED SITUATIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDES, INTENTIONS AND BEHAVIORS.
GOTO, S. G.; RADHAKRISHNAN, P.; MESSENGER, M. and MOBERG, P. J.; University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois, USA.
Fishbein & Ajzen's (1975) Theory of Reasoned Action served as the framework for studying behavioral intentions, attitudes, and normative pressures to perform five environmentally related behaviors.
Specifically, the behaviors involved various aspects of handling hazardous and controlled wastes in a sample of 642 United States Army soldiers. Despite the strong Army culture in which the "chain of command" is highly emphasized, behavioral intentions across behaviors were primarily attitudinally driven. Furthermore, this attitudebehavioral intention link was mediated by various levels of situational constraints (high, med, low). Behaviors associated with high situational constraint reflected a stronger attitude-intention relation than those behaviors under more volitional control. These findings are discussed as related to ego-involvement, and the broader environmental literature.
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ADOLESCENT WATER CONSERVATION BEHAVIOUR
MURPHY, Margot; School of Psychology, Ballarat University College, Ballarat, Australia.
There is a growing body of psychological research directed towards measuring, explaining, and modifying behaviours related to resource conservation. The research reported here aims to clarify the theoretical basis for a specific domain of conservation behaviour. Two distinct theoretical constructs were tested as explanatory devices for differences in water conservation behaviour in a cross-sectional sample of adolescents (educational levels 7-14). A main effect was found for gender and for the social psychological construct locus of control, but not for the developmental construct identity achievement or chronological age. This research affirms the importance of locus of control as a theoretical component of behaviour. The implications of the findings for the theory of resource use behaviour are considered, particularly the possibility that the influence of age on water conservation behaviour is articulated by locus of control.
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SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF ECOLOGICAL ISSUES
HAYES, Nicky; Huddersfield University, Huddersfield, England, U.K.
It is generally agreed that widepread social changes in ecological attitudes and behaviour have become necessary for global survival. In order to effect these changes, it is useful to identify existing beliefs held about ecological issues by members of the public. An open-ended questionnaire was therefore used to solicit participants beliefs about mainstream ecological issues. In the baseline study, the views of 241 adults who had no experience of higher education, and who had been out of the educational system for several years, were collected. These were taken as indicative of beliefs likely to arise from mass media and consumer information. The outcomes revealed a high level of variability in the quality of information possessed by respondents, and several consistent areas of error or misinformation.
Comparisons with other groups suggested that both occupational area and educational experience result in a greater degree of homogeneity in the responses of such groups, and different patterns of error. A follow-up study of a selection of the original respondents at the end of a return-to-study course was also undertaken. The outcomes are interpreted in terms of the emergence of social representations of ecological issues in groups with long-term, clearly defined membership.
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EXPLORING HOUSEHOLD CONSERVATION BEHAVIOR AND ITS DETERMINANTS
LEE, Yung-Jaan; National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan.
MARANS, Robert W.; University of Michigan, Michigan, USA.
In many parts of the world, resource conservation has become an increasingly important activity reflecting a growing recognition among the public of the consequences of excessive resource utilization and the increasing costs of environmental management. While there are data from household surveys which document conservation behavior and its environmental and psychological determinants, little is known about conservation practices of households in less developed countries.
This paper examines conservation behavior among households in Taiwan, a newly industrialized country. A model suggesting the determinants of conservation behavior is presented and is tested using 1993 data from questionnaires administered to 881 households in Taipei.
In addition to the data on household conservation practices, data covering conservation practices at work, attitudes, and motivations are included in a LISREL (Linear Structural Relationships) analysis to estimate the parameters of the model. Theoretical implications of the findings and policy and planning strategies for conserving resources are discussed in the last part of this paper.
TS ENV 3
APPLIED ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
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ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY: PAST ACCOMLISHMENTS AND FUTURE CHALLENGES.
STOKOLS, Daniel; University of California, Irvine, U.S.A.
This paper will review theoretical, methodological, and policy contributions of environmental psychology over the past two decades, and consider future directions of the field as we look toward the 21st Century. The first half of the paper will examine five trends reflected in the research literature of environmental psychology between 1970-1993, namely: (1) the shift from simple applications of traditional psychological concepts and methods to analyses of person-environment relations (during the 1970s), toward the development of novel concepts and methods emphasizing the molar environmental contexts of human behavior; (2) the movement from situationist and interactional analyses of people-environment relations toward more organismic and transactional theories; (3) the shift from separate research paradigms as described by Craik (1977) toward the integration of these areas and the development of broader, more interdisciplinary approaches to the study of people-environment transactions; (4) the broadening international scope of environmental psychology; and (5) the increasing application of environmental psychological theories and methods to urban planning and public policy. The second portion of the paper will examine emerging directions for theory development and applied research. Specifically, research directions pertaining to the environmental psychological dimensions of social conflict/cohesion, effective urban planning, and community health promotion will be discussed.
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COLOUR PREFERENCES, MEANINGS, AND LOCALIZATION IN SPACE
KOVACEV, Asja Nina; University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Man creates his world with colours. Therefore they have achieved many symbolic meanings in different cultures. The aim of the present study consisting of two experiments was:
- to ascertain colour preferences of Slovenes and the symbolic meanings of colours and
- to establish the possible connection between the colour and the space symbolism.
1. The subjects were given a paper band with nine|, coloured (i. e. red, blue, yellow, violet, green, orange, brown, white, and black) squares on it. They ranked the colours according to their pleasantness and put down all the words they could associate with them by meaning. Colour preferences were found out by calculating the average rank of colours. Their meanings were established by categorizing their associations. The results were compared with the results of other researches of colour preferences and meanings in different cultures.
2. The subjects were given a list of colours and a list of opposite poles of different space positions (above-below, left-right, ahead behind, near-far). They connected each colour with either space attribute. The results were discussed according to the climate and symbolic meanings of colours.
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THE USE OF COLOURS IN FURNISHING APPARTMENTS AND
ITS PERSONALITY CORRELATES
KOVACEV, Asja Nina; University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Man as a cultural being uses colours to form and transform his environment. One of the most important places for the realization of his creative potential is his home. Therefore the purpose of the present study was to ascertain the subjects' possible use of colours in unfurnished and undecorated appartments and its personality correlates the subjects chose the most appropriate colour(s) for the floor, walls, ceiling, and furniture of seven rooms (anteroom/corridor, sitting-room, dining-room, kitchen, bath-room with water-closet, small room/study, and nursery). After that they listed all the colours they used in the experiment and wrote down all the words they could associate with each colour by meaning. In the end they answered to Cattell's 16 PF Questionnaire. Chi2-test of independence of the use of colours of rooms was calculated for the six room planes and for each piece of furniture appearing in more than one room. Correlations with personality factors were calculated for the colours of a certain plane or a piece of furniture for all rooms together and for each room separately. The results were interpreted in accordance with the preliminary hypotheses concerning the contextual and personality determinants of the use of different colours.
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THE INFLUENCE OF MUSIC ON CONSUMERS' REACTION TO WAITING IN SERVICE ENVIRONMENTS.
DUBE, Laurette and MORIN, Sylvie; Université de Montréal, Canada.
CHÉBAT, Jean-Charles; Université du Québec a Montréal, Canada.
An experiment was designed to investigate the effect of music tempo and preference on consumers' response to waiting time (predictions derived from Zackay 1989) and their impact on post-consumption judgments (predictions derived from Mehrebian 1974). 291 subjects (132 males and 159 females) were assigned to a 3 Tempo (slow-medium-fast) X 3 Preterence (unpleasant-neutralpleasant) full factorial design with a control, no-music condition. Musical extracts had been selected on the basis of a pre-test with a similar subject population. Experimental manipulations were made by modifying the musical background of a banking transaction involving a waiting period. In all cases, subjects overestimated waiting time. Tempo and preference interacted in influencing duration estimates of waiting time: across all levels of tempo, valenced background musics induced longer duration than neutral ones. For neutral music, intermediate tempo induced longer estimates than slow and fast tempo combined. Pleasant music induced more positive evaluations in terms of overall service quality, employee's attitude, satisfaction and word-of-mouth. Fast-tempo music induced more positive judgments of employee'attitude but tempo did not affect other evaluative judgments. Implications of the findings on service design and management are discussed.
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HUMAN ERROR, HUMAN RECOVERY AND INDUSTRIAL SAFETY: A MODEL-BASED APPROACH TO INCIDENT-ANALYSIS
VAN DER SCHAAF, Tjerk W.; Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands.
A model is presented to understand human error in the contect of complex technical and organisational systems, such as chemical process industry, steel plants and energy production facilities. Initially based on Rasmussen's SRK behavioural model, it has been extended with categories for technical failure (e.g. design, construction) as well as safety-related organisational factors (e.g. norms and procedures, task division).
Three tools based on this model (incident description, root cause classification, interpretation of causal factors into specific countermeasures) are introduced and illustrated with their applications in different industrial settings.
Finally a preliminary model of human recovery is discussed since this new concept may provide safety managers with a powerful alternative approach to the traditional one of human error prevention.
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MOVING FROM A STRESSFUL TO A HEALTHY HOSPITAL ENVIRONMENT
TOPF, Margaret; University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado, USA.
Research results on potential ambient stressors for adult and infant hospital patients will be highlighted including noise, light, and temperature. It will be argued that these stressors are largely uncontrollable by patient coping and that stress theory therefore needs to be supplemented to handle reactivity. A three component intervention concept, Enhancement of Person-Environment Compatibility (EP-EC) will be proposed and applied to stressors in the hospital. The components include alterations in the structure of the physical environment via collaboration between setting managers (e.g., nurses who are aware of occupant needs) and environmental planners (e.g., architects, environmental engineers); ongoing reduction of unnecessary ambient stressors by setting managers; and manager instruction of setting occupants (e.g., patients) in control over stressors. It will be argued that societal and technological development play a crucial role in the potential effectiveness of enhancement of person-environment compatibility. The generalizability of these contentions to environmental problems outside the hospital will be discussed. Finally, it will be argued that the continued investigation of simpler, more-ordered ambient stressors, such as those found in the hospital, may contribute to an empirical basis for public policy decisions regarding the reduction of these and other, more complex environmental problems (e.g., toxic landfills) that are a greater threat to collective well-being.
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DESIGNING HOSPITAL ENVIRONMENTS FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES.
FERGUSON, Roy V.; School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria, Canada.
Hospital environments have a tremendous psychological impact on children and their families and can, depending on the design, enhance treatment programs or inhibit them. This presentation will begin with a brief review of selected research on the psychological effects of hospitalization on children and then will examine some of the key literature on pediatric hospital design. Slides will be shown that demonstrate how environmental design principles were applied to (a) the renovation of an existing hospital program area, and (b), the design of a new pediatric hospital. Data will be presented on how a changed physical environment in the above hospital positively influenced the behavior of both the treatment staff and the children/families in the program.
The presentation will close with a discussion of how hospital and community treatment settings can be designed, or modified, to support the developmental and psychological needs of children and youth in a manner that augments the treatment goals of the program. If time permits, discussion will also include a summary of data collected throughout Scandanavia, just prior to this conference, on pediatric hospital design.
TS ENV 4
ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY: GENERAL APPLIED ISSUES I
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EXPERIMENTAL TESTS OF RESTORATIVE ENVIRONMENTS THEORY
HARTIG, Terry; University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
GÄRLING, Tommy; University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
EVANS, Gary W.; Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
Some environments contribute more than others to recovery from some negative prior condition. Toward expiaining this, Kaplan and Kaplan (1989) have articulated a restorative environments theory concerned with recovery from directed attention fatigue. Ulrich (1983) centers an alternative on stress reduction. Both frameworks hypothesize greater restorative potentials for natural environments than typical urban settings. Two experiments tested this hypothesis while examining the theories' differing statements about antecedent conditions, outcome dimensions, and the time course of restoration. Both studies employed factorial designs in which level of pretreatment stress and/or attentional fatigue was crossed with treatment environment. One study was completed in Sweden and used photographic simulations during the 15 minutes of treatment. The other study was carried out in the U.S. and had a 1-hour treatment in field settings. Results show that restorative experiences can concurrently involve both stress reduction and recovery from directed attention fatigue, that restoration relates to the prior condition of stress/attentional fatigue, that emotional and physiological outcomes emerge more quickly than restoration of attentional capacity, and that the natural settings had greater restorative value than the urban environments studied.
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PERSONALITY TRAITS, MOODS AND ADAPTATION TO THE ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
MAKHNACH, Alexander V.; Institute of Psychology, Moscow, Russia.
The study of the influence of hypoxia, noise as a complex of adverse environmental factors (CAEF) on moods and personality traits is presented. Questionnaires and methods of factor and taxonomy analysis were employed.
By means of taxonomy analysis 2 groups of operators with good and poor adaptation to the CAEF after their climb to the "altitude" 3500 m in pressure chamber were formed. Different type of adaptation to the CAEF was determined by personality traits (PT). Ss with poor adaptation were characterized by high anxiety, tension. Their moods connect with introversion, rigidity, impunity reactions, low motivation and self-esteem. Ss with good adaptation were characterized by arousal, law anxiety, they were confident and support stable level of activity. Their PT were: impulsiveness, extroversion, motivation of receiving of reward, persistence, extrapunitive reactions, good sociality.
The adaptation to the CAEF depends on some PT which were determined by human performance efficiency in CAEF.
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RÔLE FÉMININ ET STRUCTURES SPATIALES.
BERNARD, Yvonne; Institut de Psychologie Paris V, Paris, France.
L'habitat est un interface entre la singularité de l'individu et les normes sociales qui guident son comportement. Les dispositions spatiales générent et reproduisent les propriétés du systéme social. La maniére dont est conçu l'espace domestique nous informent plus que tout autres témoignages de la structure des relations familiales et en particulier des rôles qui sont attribués à l'homme et à la femme. Dans le cadre de la communication présentée nous aborderons le probléme des relations entre structures sociales et structures spatiales à travers une rapide mise en perspective historique qui nous permettra de voir comment l'architecture de l'habitat en FRANCE est étroitement liée à la représentation du rôle de la femme dans la société. Aprés avoir montré comment s'est constitué un lien social et idéologique entre la femme et le logement, nous verrons dans une deuxiéme partie quels sont les facteurs d'évolution des modes de vie qui sont susceptibles d'entrainer aujourd'hui la rupture de ce lien. On insistera en particulier sur les effets que peuvent avoir la généralisation et la valorisation du travail féminin sur une redistribution des rôles. Cette derniére partie s'appuyera sur les résultats d'une enquéte française relative aux usages du logement.
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IMPRESSION FORMATION IN NOISE.
HERMAND, Daniele; Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive, Université Charles de Gaulle, France.
MOCH, Annie; Institut Parisien de Recherche Architecturale Urbanistique et Société, Université Paris X, France.
WAROQUIER, Laurent; Université de Lille III, France.
The present study examines the effects of noise on impression formation in two situations: co-présence and cooperation.
Forty female subjects were randomly assigned to experimental conditions. They were supposed to solve puzzles in groups of four persons: one subject and three partners. Half of the subjects (20) were exposed to noise (92dBA), the other half (20) were not. Two experimental situations were proposed: either being simply together (co-présence) or performing a real work together (cooperation).
The impression formation was assessed by nine scales of eighteen items, each concerning some traits of the partner: 1) Dynamism, 2) Sociability, 3) Social intelligence, 4) Self-confidence, 5) Optimism, 6) Sincerity, 7) Tenacity, 8) Patience, 9) Wariness.
The results of the multivariate analysis (MANOVA) show main effects of noise and situation. The interaction was also significant on the nine scales of impression formation. Subsequent univariate analysis (ANOVA) show same effects. Dynamism, sociability, social intelligence, self confidence, optimism, sincerity are evaluated more negatively in the cooperation noisy situation. Tenacity, patience and wariness are evaluated more positively in the cooperation noisy situation. According to the situation, the noise negatively or positively emphasizes the impression formation.
This results are convergent with the data of scientific literature (Broadbent, 1979; Siegel & Steel; Moch, 1987).
In conclusion, the noise but also the type of situation may have different effects on impression formation according to the treatment applied to the social stimulus.
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COGNITIVE MAPPING OF PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS. METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS BASED ON THEORIES OF SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF MIND.
TSOUKALA, Kyriaki; University of Thessaloniki,
Cognitive maps as produced from the interaction of the individual with the physical environment have become an important research topic over the last decades. The systems that have been created for the interpretation of the function, form and contents of cognitive maps are directed by either (a) the excessive reinforcement of the role of one of the members of the above rel ation and, in consequence, the loss or weakening of the other member, or, (b) the abolition of this difference and inequality, which entails a well-balanced role of equal weight for the members of this relation. In this case the system of interactions is formed by mediating elements, such as the cultural, social and financial elements, and the individual 's sex, knowl edge, experience and activity. Through these elements the buily environment is re-constructed. In certain theories, these elements make their appearance within the logic of causality in the form of determinants, while in others, within the functionalistic rather than interactive logic. This paper deals with tne interpretation system associated with the social interactionalism. This is the epistimological approach moving around the concepts of Vygotsky's historical -cultural theory and other approaches from the area of Activity Theory. The activity and signs of the built space function as mediating instances in the interaction between the subject and the physical environment and result in an interior product, the representation or subjective image of the built space, and an exterior one, the recoded space through its subjectivisation. This approach and the concepts and the methods entailed in it have never been applied in environmental psychology. This paper aims at raising various issues as regards the function of concepts and methodological tools of this approach when applied on the analysis of phenomena observed in the individual's spatial behaviour in a built environment.
TS ENV 5
ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY: GENERAL APPLIED ISSUES II
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ÉCATON, A ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN STUDY.
ALBARES, C; ÉCATON - Estudio de Diseño Ambiental, Madrid, Spain.
We offer a new business experience that shows how metodology and knowledge from Psychology have many advantages and business aplications for interior decorating.
The equipment is formed by an interior designer and a psychologist.
The psychologist's task take place through the whole realization and design process, from the very first contacts with promoters and users till monitoring closely every work during and after three months having finished each work.
Assesment and intervention skills from Psychology allow, beyond all doubt, a better and more complete knowledge from environmental variables, users and their interactions, through environmental design.
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A TEST FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDES OF TEACHERS (TEAT).
CASTANEDO SECADAS, Celedonio; Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
The objetive of this study was to develop a valid environmental attitude assessment instrument for use with teaching training students. The sample was comprised of 525 subjects (men and women) in a public University. Fifty items were selected and administered in a five points Likert-Scale format ("strongly agree" to "strongly disagree" with the statement of the item). Validity was achieved by content validity, criterion-related validity and construct validity (factor analysis). For reliability, internal consistency was calculated with the Cronbach´s Alpha and Spearman-Brown Split-Half. Stability (test/retest) was calculated 30 days after the test. Other findings will be exposed in this presentation, as the implications for curriculum development if this instrument is incorporate in the school system as a way to assess the environmental attitudes of teachers and students (up to sixgrade), and also can help in the design of a learning strategy program that can modify the attitudes, v.g. getting a better behavior in the human being in his relationship with the environmental problems.
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PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF SCHOLARS' RESPONSES TO NOISE POLLUTION.
PRESENTING AUTHOR(S):
ALVARADO, J. M.; DELGADO, C.; GARCÍA, V.; SANTIAGO, J. S.; TURRERO, A.; ZULOAGA, P. and SANTISTEBAN, C.; Instituto Pluridisciplinar U.C.M., Madrid, Spain.
The effects of school sound conditions on scholars' behavior, considering everyday life real conditions, are studied in this work.
The common complaint that noise produces deterioration of working efficiency is hard to prove in laboratory experiments, using noise levels below 90 dB(A). However, these studies have not ecological validity. Our studies "in situ", as well as in conditions simulating a real classroom, have shown some harmful effect of noise, or of any kind of sound, compared with silence conditions, even when the level of experimental sounds is only moderate (about 70 dBA).
The present study has been carried out in a noisy secondary school near Madrid. The school is affected by motorway and aircraft noise.
The sample was composed of 188 subjects, 94 males and 94 females with ages between 14 and 18 years old.
Subjects performed tasks and proofs in their own classroom and during their own class period.
The noise levels registered while the tasks and proofs were carried out, ranged between 40 and 70 dB(A).
The relationships between classroom noise conditions (noise levels, type of noise, spectra and intelligibility) and performance in memory, attention and comprehension tasks, personality dimensions and individual sensitivity to noise, are discussed.
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TRANSACTIONAL RESEARCH ON SPATIAL BEHAVIOR AND SPATIAL KNOWLEDGE.
OCHAÍTA, Esperanza; ESPINOSA, Mª Angeles and HUERTAS, Juan Antonio; Faculty of Psychology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
This research analizes the effect of different factors -instructional conditions, the spatial structure and spatial learning- on environmental behavior and knowledge from a transactional approach.
The subjects had to learn a route in two different spaces, regular and irregular, during four trial sessions. In the first session there were three different methods of instruction: "direct experience", "cartographic and direct experience" and "verbal description and direct experience". Different measurements have been taken in order to analyze spatial behavior and spatial representation.
The results showed that no differences were found between different experimental conditions. Spatial structure and learning were important factors whose complex transactions with spatial behavior and spatial representation showed different results.
In general these effects were clearer on representation measurements than on behavioral ones. Regular spatial structure generates Euclidian or metric representations and irregular structure generates functional representations. The effect of learning was most important in the irregular space than in the regular one.
Conclusions focus on the relevance of the transactional approach and discuss the clasical concept of "spatial representation".
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SOCIAL IDENTITY AND URBAN SYMBOLIC SPACE.
VALERA PERTEGÁS, Sergi and POL URRUTIA, Enric; Department of Social Psychology, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
All the elements of urban space are the result of a set of factors wich, together, make possible its emergency. From this moment, this element follows an own way of evolution atthe same time as the factors which made it possible are changing and evolving. Therefore, the urban element could change its name, its location, suffer restorations or modify its use features. However, there is another change less obvious to the naked eye: this space is also evolving in relation to the mean function conferred by the social network involved with it. As a result, this space is filling up with affective and symbolic elements conferred by users in addition to the meanings which the planners or designers had determined "a priori". Sometimes, this construction of carried and shared social meanings could be transformed the space in an important key to facilitate social identity processes in relation to the urban environment and, therefore, could be considered an urban symbolic space.
In this paper we will present some elements of discussion in order to settle the relationship between the urban symbolic space and the social identity involved with the environment. For this reason, we will retrieve the social categorization of the self theory in relation with other works which are located close to urban ecology approach as well as contributions in the environmental psychology field, from works about cognitive maps to the urban-identity concept or works about social identity and environment. Finally, we will analize the results of an investigation carried out in a neighborhood of the city of Barcelona in this theoretical framework.