DEA 1500 Introduction to Environmental Psychology

1/21 Wed
3 Stories:
1. Malaria people have lower survival in lower altitude environments
because malaria is more prevalent in lower elevation (stagnant water)
than higher
2. Evolution human species have evolved to live inside, independent
of outside environments
3. Consumer Behavior and Global change
US consumers contribute 30-40% of total pollutants, causing
global climate change
During that same time period, Japan more than doubled its per
capita GNP, cutting solid waste by over 50%
Life expectancy in Japan is much longer than those in US
Human Ecology
Understand the major forces that shape human well being, and
use that knowledge to make a difference in peoples lives
o Biological factors, social environment, physical
environment
Research Examples
1. Hubel and Weisel if you raised two animals (even human beings) in
environments with different physical conditions, would that affect their
biology and/or behavior?
o Cats were raised in vertical/horizontal environments
o Biological effects - in the brain (visual cortex)
Single cell recording in the visual cortex in respond to
visual stimulus that is vertical/horizontal
Cat raised in vertical environment when shown
vertical stimuli, they had many cells that fired, when
shown horizontal stimuli, their cells showed no
response (and vice versa)
o Behavioral effects
Brain development: effects of environmental stimulation
o Rats in complex environment vs. standard cage
The rats in the complex environment have more
neurons and synapses, these neurons are also more
developed
o Similar research on human babies raised in orphanages
(much less physical/social stimulation), who were observed
to have more deficiencies
Plasticity and Critical Period
o Some aspects of human responses are plastic, malleable
with respect to environmental influences

o Critical period: windows/opportunities in time when the

environment can have more impact on organism
(plasticity)
Approximated 6-10 weeks
o Degree of plasticity often varies as a function of particular
time periods during development; differ across species and
vary with different environmental dimensions
Homework
o What happened to the brain/behavior of the cat wearing
sunglasses with horizontal lines on one eye, and vertical
lines on the other?
2. Cornell kitchen triangle
Triangle arrangement between sink, refrigerator, and stove was
most efficient (least walking), no more than 21 circumference
o Refrigerator can be further from the sink and the stove
o Still affects how people design kitchens today
3. Civil Rights Memorial
Aesthetics
This example varies from the first two because it observes
cognitive appraisal, instead of observing the direct relationship
between environmental and human health/behavior