Environmental Psychology Answers Review Questions
Chapter 1
1. What is environmental psychology? Give a short definition
Environmental psychology is the discipline that studies the interplay between humans and
the natural and/or build environments.
2. Describe the four key features of environmental psychology.
- A focus on human-environment interactions
- An interdisciplinary approach
- An applied focus
- The use of diversity of methods
3. Which concept has increasingly become a guiding and unifying principle for research
in environmental psychology?
The concept of sustainability which is using, developing and protecting resources at a rate
and in a manner that enables people to meet their own current needs and also ensures that
future generations can meet their own needs: achieving an optimal balance between
environmental, social, and economic qualities.
4. Give three examples of problems studied by environmental psychologists.
- Pollution
- Deforestation
- Climate change
5. Why do environmental psychologist use a diversity of research methods?
Each research method has its strengths and weaknesses and choosing a research method
often is a trade of between internal and external validity. Weaknesses of one research
method may be compensated by the strengths of another research method.
Chapter 2
1. Do environmental risks differ from other types of risk, and if so, in which way?
Environmental risk differs from other risks in a number of ways.
- Firstly, environmental risks are characterised by high complexity and uncertainty, with
intricate causal relationships and multiple consequences. They often encompass both
risk for and risks from the environment
- Secondly, environmental risks often emerge from the aggregated behaviors of many
individuals rather than from a single activity. Therefore mitigations (verzachtingen)
cannot be easily attained because they require actions of many people.
- Thirdly, the consequences of environmental hazards (gevaren) are often temporally
delayed and geographical distant. The people who contribute to a risks are not
necessarily the ones who suffer the consequences.
, 2. Which heuristics do people use to derive risk judgements?
- Availability heuristic (e.g. subjective probability of car accident increases when a
wrecked car is at the side of the road)
- Anchoring and adjustment heuristic (e.g. when asked for a percentage of African
countries in the UN, people’s estimates were heavily influences by an arbitrary
number that showed up on a wheel of fortune)
- Affect heuristics (e.g. when there are positive feelings about an activity, risk is judged
as low and benefit as high)
3. Describe the psychometric paradigm. Which dimensions have commonly been found
to characterise perceived risk?
The psychometric paradigm is an approach of studying risk perception which aims at
identifying the psychological dimensions underlying risks judgements. The dimensions
that have been found to characterise perceived risks are:
- Dread risk (the extent to which a risk is dreadful, having severe consequences or being
uncontrollable and involuntary)
- Unknown risk (the extent to which the risk is experiences as new, unfamiliar,
unobservable or having delayed effects)
4. What is meant my protected values and deontological reasoning?
- Protected values are values that are seen as absolute and not tradable
- In deontological reasoning there is focussed on the inherent rightness or wrongness of
an action
5. How can emotions affect risk perceptions?
Risks are judged as higher when there is a negative feeling about an activity, while they
are judged as lower when there is a positive feeling about an activity (affect heuristic). But
different specific emotions can have differential impact on perceived risk even when they
have the same valence (e.g. anger vs. fear)
Chapter 3
1. List the common indicators of stress.
- Noise
- Crowding
- Pour housing quality
- Poor neighbourhood quality
- Traffic congestion
(stress is visible by physiology, negative affect, nervousness, complex task performance
and motivation)
2. What is the adaptive function of stress responses?
- On the short term a fight or flight response (and then returns to homeostasis)
- On the long term the body tries to achieve allostasis (stability through change) which
allows the individual to function in a changed situation ( but it causes wear and tear on
the body)
, 3. Which factors can make sound turn to noise? Name a physiological and psychological
factor.
- Physiological: intensity
- Psychological: unwanted
4. Name two mental health correlates associated with poor housing quality.
Symptoms of anxiety and depression.
5. Describe an example of a spillover effect. How might this phenomenon relate to
coping with stressors?
After a demanding commute (omschakeling), drivers have more negative social
interactions with their family members at home.
Chapter 4
1. What is the main difference between objectivistic and subjectivistic approaches to
visual landscape quality assessment?
The objectivist approach is an approach to studying visual landscape quality that views
scenic beauty as inherent to the landscape while the subjectivist approach views scenic
beauty as a construct of the observer.
2. List the five models of visual quality distinguished by Daniel and Vining (1983).
- The ecological model (objectivist)
- The formal aesthetic model (objectivist)
- The psychophysical model (between objectivist and subjectivist)
- The psychological model (subjectivist)
- The phenomenological model (subjectivist)
3. The preference matrix by Kaplan and Kaplan (1989) distinguishes two basic
information needs that guide people’s landscape preferences and four characteristics
that fulfil these needs. Describe these needs and characteristics.
The two basic needs are:
- Understanding
- Exploration
Four characteristics that fulfil these needs:
- Coherence (immediate understanding of how elements in the environment fit together)
- Complexity (visual richness that can be immediately explored)
- Legibility (understanding of what lies ahead and how you can find your way)
- Mystery (the promise of new things to explore if moving further into the landscape)
4. Which are the nine key aspects of visual landscapes according to the VisuLands
framework?
Chapter 1
1. What is environmental psychology? Give a short definition
Environmental psychology is the discipline that studies the interplay between humans and
the natural and/or build environments.
2. Describe the four key features of environmental psychology.
- A focus on human-environment interactions
- An interdisciplinary approach
- An applied focus
- The use of diversity of methods
3. Which concept has increasingly become a guiding and unifying principle for research
in environmental psychology?
The concept of sustainability which is using, developing and protecting resources at a rate
and in a manner that enables people to meet their own current needs and also ensures that
future generations can meet their own needs: achieving an optimal balance between
environmental, social, and economic qualities.
4. Give three examples of problems studied by environmental psychologists.
- Pollution
- Deforestation
- Climate change
5. Why do environmental psychologist use a diversity of research methods?
Each research method has its strengths and weaknesses and choosing a research method
often is a trade of between internal and external validity. Weaknesses of one research
method may be compensated by the strengths of another research method.
Chapter 2
1. Do environmental risks differ from other types of risk, and if so, in which way?
Environmental risk differs from other risks in a number of ways.
- Firstly, environmental risks are characterised by high complexity and uncertainty, with
intricate causal relationships and multiple consequences. They often encompass both
risk for and risks from the environment
- Secondly, environmental risks often emerge from the aggregated behaviors of many
individuals rather than from a single activity. Therefore mitigations (verzachtingen)
cannot be easily attained because they require actions of many people.
- Thirdly, the consequences of environmental hazards (gevaren) are often temporally
delayed and geographical distant. The people who contribute to a risks are not
necessarily the ones who suffer the consequences.
, 2. Which heuristics do people use to derive risk judgements?
- Availability heuristic (e.g. subjective probability of car accident increases when a
wrecked car is at the side of the road)
- Anchoring and adjustment heuristic (e.g. when asked for a percentage of African
countries in the UN, people’s estimates were heavily influences by an arbitrary
number that showed up on a wheel of fortune)
- Affect heuristics (e.g. when there are positive feelings about an activity, risk is judged
as low and benefit as high)
3. Describe the psychometric paradigm. Which dimensions have commonly been found
to characterise perceived risk?
The psychometric paradigm is an approach of studying risk perception which aims at
identifying the psychological dimensions underlying risks judgements. The dimensions
that have been found to characterise perceived risks are:
- Dread risk (the extent to which a risk is dreadful, having severe consequences or being
uncontrollable and involuntary)
- Unknown risk (the extent to which the risk is experiences as new, unfamiliar,
unobservable or having delayed effects)
4. What is meant my protected values and deontological reasoning?
- Protected values are values that are seen as absolute and not tradable
- In deontological reasoning there is focussed on the inherent rightness or wrongness of
an action
5. How can emotions affect risk perceptions?
Risks are judged as higher when there is a negative feeling about an activity, while they
are judged as lower when there is a positive feeling about an activity (affect heuristic). But
different specific emotions can have differential impact on perceived risk even when they
have the same valence (e.g. anger vs. fear)
Chapter 3
1. List the common indicators of stress.
- Noise
- Crowding
- Pour housing quality
- Poor neighbourhood quality
- Traffic congestion
(stress is visible by physiology, negative affect, nervousness, complex task performance
and motivation)
2. What is the adaptive function of stress responses?
- On the short term a fight or flight response (and then returns to homeostasis)
- On the long term the body tries to achieve allostasis (stability through change) which
allows the individual to function in a changed situation ( but it causes wear and tear on
the body)
, 3. Which factors can make sound turn to noise? Name a physiological and psychological
factor.
- Physiological: intensity
- Psychological: unwanted
4. Name two mental health correlates associated with poor housing quality.
Symptoms of anxiety and depression.
5. Describe an example of a spillover effect. How might this phenomenon relate to
coping with stressors?
After a demanding commute (omschakeling), drivers have more negative social
interactions with their family members at home.
Chapter 4
1. What is the main difference between objectivistic and subjectivistic approaches to
visual landscape quality assessment?
The objectivist approach is an approach to studying visual landscape quality that views
scenic beauty as inherent to the landscape while the subjectivist approach views scenic
beauty as a construct of the observer.
2. List the five models of visual quality distinguished by Daniel and Vining (1983).
- The ecological model (objectivist)
- The formal aesthetic model (objectivist)
- The psychophysical model (between objectivist and subjectivist)
- The psychological model (subjectivist)
- The phenomenological model (subjectivist)
3. The preference matrix by Kaplan and Kaplan (1989) distinguishes two basic
information needs that guide people’s landscape preferences and four characteristics
that fulfil these needs. Describe these needs and characteristics.
The two basic needs are:
- Understanding
- Exploration
Four characteristics that fulfil these needs:
- Coherence (immediate understanding of how elements in the environment fit together)
- Complexity (visual richness that can be immediately explored)
- Legibility (understanding of what lies ahead and how you can find your way)
- Mystery (the promise of new things to explore if moving further into the landscape)
4. Which are the nine key aspects of visual landscapes according to the VisuLands
framework?
