Environmental And Architectural Psychology

Environmental and Architectural Psychology: The Basics is a jargon-free and accessible introduction to the relationship between people and their natural and built environment. Exploring everything from the effectiveness of open plan offices to how people respond to life-threatening disasters, the book addresses issues around sustainability, climate change, and behaviour, and is grounded in theory and ideas drawn from psychology, geography, and architecture. Author Ian Donald introduces both the theoretical underpinnings and the applications of environment-behaviour research to solving real world problems, encouraging readers to reflect on the role of design and policy in shaping the environments in which they live and work. With chapters considering the impact of environment on identity, wellbeing, crime, and spatial behaviour, Donald shows us not only how people shape and affect the environment, but also in turn how the environment shapes and affects people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Addressing some of the most important questions of our time, including how behaviour drives climate change, and what we can do about it, this is the ideal book for anyone interested in the interactions between architecture, the environment, and psychology.

The present volume in the series focuses on homes, residences, and dwellings. Although many fields have had a long-standing interest in different aspects of home environments, the topic has recently come to the forefront in the interdisciplinary environment and behavior field. Researchers and theorists from many disciplines have begun to meet regularly, share ideas and perspectives, and move the investigation of psychological, social, and behavioral aspects of home environments to the central arena of environment and behavior studies. This volume representative-though not comprehensive attempts to provide a sampling of contemporary perspectives on the study of home environments. As in previous volumes, the authors are drawn from a variety of disciplines, including environmental design fields of architecture and planning, and from the social science fields of psychology, sociology, anthropology, and history. This diversity of authors and perspectives makes salient the principle that the study of homes in relation to behav ior requires the contributions of many disciplines. Moreover, the chap ters in this volume reflect an array of research and theoretical view points, different scales of home environments (e.g., objects and areas, the home as a whole, the home as embedded in neighborhood and communities, etc.), design and policy issues, and, necessarily, a com parative and cross-cultural perspective. Home environments are at the core of human life in most cultures, and it is hoped that the contributions to this volume display the excite ment, potential, and importance of research and theory on homes.

This textbook provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to the rapidly expanding field of environmental psychology. The authors start with a review of the history of environmental psychology, highlighting its interdisciplinary nature. They trace its roots in architecture, ecology and geography, and examine the continuing relationship of these subjects to the psychological tradition. The book then moves through key contemporary lines of research in the field, contrasting models from perception and cognition, such as those of Gibson and Brunswick, with major social psychological approaches as represented by Lewin, Barker and others. The book concludes with an analysis of the most promising areas of research and practice

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