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Unit 19 Environmental Psychology
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1 Introduction
1.1 Read the text title and hypothesize what the text is about. Write down your hypothesis.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
1.2 What do you know concerning this issue? List your ideas in the table left column “I know”.
| I know that… | I have learnt that… |
1.3 If you know answers to these questions write them down in the space given after each question.
| When did investigations into human interaction with the built environment begin? | |
| How do higher ceilings encourage people to think? | |
| Why do people function most effectively in green spaces? | |
| What synchronizes our sleep-wake cycle? | |
| How does adequate sunlight influence student outcomes? | |
| What do people feel in a dimly lighted room? | |
| w s What classroom seating arrangement increases student participation? | |
1.4 Circle in the list the words and expressions you know. Write down their translation in the table and calculate the percentage of your lexical competence.
| to unearth | a dorm room | ||||
| tantalizing clues | to score higher | ||||
| social cohesion | mental fatigue | ||||
| to foster alertness | innate | ||||
| neuroscience | to pay off | ||||
| lofty | an expansive vista | ||||
| perception | a snap judgment | ||||
| focus | a subject |
Architects have long intuited that the places we inhabit can affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. But now, half a century after Salk’s inspiring excursion, behavioral scientists are giving these hunches an empirical basis. They are unearthing tantalizing clues about how to design spaces that promote creativity, keep students focused and alert, and lead to relaxation and social intimacy. Institutions such as the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture in San Diego are encouraging interdisciplinary research into how a planned environment influences the mind, and some architecture schools are now offering classes in introductory neuroscience.
The growth of the brain sciences in the 20th century gave the field a new arsenal of technologies, tools and theories. Investigations into how humans interact with the built environment began in the 1950s, when several research groups started analyzing how the design of hospitals, particularly psychiatric facilities, influenced patient behaviors and outcomes. The field has become known as environmental psychology.
Such efforts have already lead to cutting-edge projects, such as residences for seniors with dementia in which the building itself is part of the treatment. Similarly, the Kingsdale School in London was redesigned, with the help of psychologists, to promote social cohesion; the new structure also includes elements that foster alertness and creativity. “All this is in its infancy, ” says architect David Allison, who heads the Architecture + Health program at Clemson University. “But the emerging neuroscience research might give us even better insights into how the built environment impacts our health and well-being.”