Chapter 3: Environmental Perception and Cognition
Introduction
Characterizing Environmental Perception
Perspectives on Environmental Perception
Traditional Approaches to the Perception of Size, Depth, and
Distance
Holistic Analysis
Gestalt Psychology
Nativism Versus Learning
Brunswik’s Probabilism
Ecological Perception of the Environment
Perception of Affordances
Some Implications for Environmental Perception
Habituation and the Perception of Change
Habituation or Adaptation
Perception of Change
Overview of Environmental Cognition
An Informal Model of Spatial Cognition
Cognitive Maps
History of Cognitive Mapping
An Image of the City: Kevin Lynch
Elements of Cognitive Maps
Additional Early Observations
Current Perspectives
Methods of Studying Cognitive Maps
Sketch Maps
Mapping Reactions to Remembered Environments
Recognition Tasks
Distance Estimates and Statistical Map Building
Errors in Cognitive Maps
Types of Errors
Familiarity and Socioeconomic Class
Gender Differences
Acquisition of Cognitive Maps
Children’s Maps
Adult Map Acquisition
Memory and Cognitive Maps
The Form of the Representation
Distance
Structure
Wayfinding
Action Plans and Wayfinding
Setting Characteristics That Facilitate Wayfinding
Maps
You-Are-Here Maps
Structure Matching
Orientation
Simulations Facilitating Spatial Learning
When Wayfinding Fails: Lost and Found
Conclusion