Gary W. Evans - Böcker

How do human beings comprehend, evaluate, and utilize the physical environments they inhabit? In this edited volume, a distinguished group of international contributers examines in detail the interconnections between what we know about, feel, and hope to accomplish in real world environments. Psychologists, planners, architects, and geographers discuss the state of knowledge in environmental cognition, building and landscape assessment, aesthetics, and decision-making. Gaps in our thinking about environmental issues are also discussed. The authors present an analysis of how our knowledge can be utilized in the design and planning of settings better suited to human needs. Of interest to psychologists, geographers, and environmental designers, Environment, Cognition, and Action examines the dynamic interplay of assessment, knowledge, and action of people in all settings relevant to daily life - home, school, office and industry.

Eight years ago, four psychologists with varying backgrounds but a common in­ terest in the impact of environmental stress on behavior and health met to plan a study of the effects of aircraft noise on children. The impetus for the study was an article in the Los Angeles Times about architectural interventions that were planned for several noise-impacted schools under the air corridor of Los Angeles Interna­ tional Airport. These interventions created an opportunity to study the same chil­ dren during noise exposure and then later after the exposure had been attenuated. The study was designed to test the generality of several noise effects that had been well established in laboratory experimental studies. It focused on three areas: the relationship between noise and personal control, noise and attention, and noise and cardiovascular response. Two years later, a second study, designed to replicate and extend findings from the first, was conducted.

A systematic 1982 presentation of hitherto scattered research on human reactions to five environmental stress factors: noise, heat, air pollution, crowding, and architectural dysfunction. The chapters analyse the concept of psychological stress in terms of its heuristic value in different research paradigms. They show the importance of not only the physical reality but also the individual's perception of it in a diverse array of settings.

This book explores how, why, and at what level chaos at the familial and societal level affects children. It uses Urie Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory of human development as the means to understand the nature of relations between chaos and development. There is growing evidence that exposure to chaos can adversely impact children's development and family functioning. The operation of chaos may explain why there are developmental consequences associated with poverty or living in high stress environments.

Eight years ago, four psychologists with varying backgrounds but a common in­ terest in the impact of environmental stress on behavior and health met to plan a study of the effects of aircraft noise on children. The impetus for the study was an article in the Los Angeles Times about architectural interventions that were planned for several noise-impacted schools under the air corridor of Los Angeles Interna­ tional Airport. These interventions created an opportunity to study the same chil­ dren during noise exposure and then later after the exposure had been attenuated. The study was designed to test the generality of several noise effects that had been well established in laboratory experimental studies. It focused on three areas: the relationship between noise and personal control, noise and attention, and noise and cardiovascular response. Two years later, a second study, designed to replicate and extend findings from the first, was conducted.