This highly readable account of the ecological psychology movement makes its general ideas accessible to the beginning student and non-specialist. It describes the work of Roger Barker in the 'behaviour settings' of small American and English towns and the formulation of 'manning theory,' which concerns the number of people needed to 'operate and maintain' a particular setting. The author concludes by suggesting implications for everyday life and proposing different directions for ecological psychology.

"Explores the environment's effects on human wellbeing and behaviour, factors influencing environmental behaviour and ways of encouraging pro-environmental action"--

Ecological psychology is one of the main alternative theories of perception and action available in the contemporary literature. This Element explores and analyzes its most relevant ideas, concepts, methods, and experimental results. It discusses the historical roots of the ecological approach. The Element then analyzes the works of the two main founders of ecological psychology: James and Eleanor Gibson. It also explores the development of ecological psychology since the 1980s until nowadays. Finally, the Element identifies and evaluates the future of the ecological approach to perception and action.

Psychology theme in a set of three volumes is one of a number of many theme subjects covered by the Encyclopedia of Biological, Physiological and Health Sciences, a component of the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty such component Encyclopedias. The three-volume set is organized in seven main areas that try to cover essential information about such this wide and complex field of human knowledge from its neurobiological correlates, to the study of how the human mind imagines and how it produces symbols that guide human behavior, to the most advanced clinical interventions within the psychotherapeutic realm. These three volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students, Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers and NGOs.

An international team of leading scholars explores the latest theories, research, and applications critical to environmental psychology Featuring the latest research and concepts in the field straight from the world's leading scholars and practitioners, Handbook of Environmental Psychology provides a balanced and comprehensive overview of this rapidly growing field. Bringing together contributions from an international team of top researchers representing a myriad of disciplines, this groundbreaking resource provides you with a pluralistic approach to the field as an interdisciplinary effort with links to other disciplines. Addressing a variety of issues and practice settings, Handbook of Environmental Psychology is divided into five organized and accessible parts to provide a thorough overview of the theories, research, and applications at the forefront of environmental psychology today. Part I deals with sharpening theories; Part II links the subject to other disciplines; Part III focuses on methods; Part IV highlights applications; and Part V examines the future of the field. Defining the ongoing revolution in thinking about how the environment and psychology interact, Handbook of Environmental Psychology is must reading for anyone coping directly with the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that are destroying our environment and putting our lives in jeopardy. Topics include: * Healthy design * Restorative environments * Links to urban planning * Contaminated environments * Women's issues * Environments for aging * Climate, weather, and crime * The history and future of disaster research * Children's environments * Personal space in a digital age * Community planning

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

This work seeks to explain how human behaviour, thoughts, beliefs, values and feelings have contributed to environmental crises and how contributions from within psychology could aid the understanding and resolution of our environmental problems. The author examines social psychology, psychoanalysis, behaviourism, cognitive, and gestalt/transperal psychology and applies these theories to a selected environmental problem.

Covering the full spectrum of methodology, the timely and indispensible Research Methods for Environmental surveys the research and application methods for studying, changing, and improving human attitudes, behaviour and well-being in relation to the physical environment. The first new book covering research methods in environmental psychology in over 25 years. Brings the subject completely up-to-date with coverage of the latest methodology in the field The level of public concern over the impact of the environment on humans is high, making this book timely and of real interest to a fast growing discipline Comprehensively surveys the research and application methods for studying, changing, and improving human attitudes, behavior, and well-being in relation to the physical environment Robert Gifford is internationally recognised as one of the leading individuals in this field, and the contributors include many of the major leaders in the discipline

There is a growing consensus in the human factors/ergonomics community that human factors research has had little impact on significant applied problems. Some have suggested that the problem lies in the fact that much HF/E research has been based on the wrong type of psychology, an information processing view of psychology that is reductionistic and context-free. Ecological psychology offers a viable alternative, presenting a richer view of human behavior that is holistic and contextualized. The papers presented in these two volumes show the conceptual impact that ecological psychology can have on HF/E, as well as presenting a number of specific examples illustrating the ecological approach to human-machine systems. It is the first collection of papers that explicitly draws a connection between these two fields. While work in this area is only just beginning, the evidence available suggests that taking an ecological approach to human factors/ergonomics helps bridge the existing gap between basic research and applied problems.