environment behavior

The American Institute for Cleaning Sciences may not be impartial about the value of clean facilities, but their recent research paper on this topic, available at the website noted below, is based on independent studies.

Dunning and Balcetis’ research confirms that what we see can be based on our thoughts and preferences and may not be totally objective.  They conclude that “people see what they wish to see. People categorize objects and represent aspects of their environment in ways that align with their preferences, a phenomenon that has been demonstrated using different measures of perceptual experience and corroborated using both nonconscious and behavioral measures.

A Swedish study has empirically linked stress and hypersensitivity to sounds.  Hasson, Theorell, Bergquist, and Canlon learned that  “Women suffering from stress-related exhaustion exhibit hypersensitivity to sounds when exposed to stress.”  During the study reported, men and women “between the ages of 23 and 71 with low, medium or high levels of 'emotional exhaustion' [experienced] five minutes of experimentally induced physical (hand in ice), mental (performance on a stress test) and social (being observed) stress.”  Women participating in the study “

Saunders’ work recognizes that making design decisions without considering how they will mesh with the culture of the people who will ultimately use a space can be a risky.  The study reported focuses on natural areas that conserve indigenous plants and animals.  As Saunders details, “conservation agendas need to be informed by a landscape aesthetics that embraces the cultural and material richness of people’s relationship to place . . . .

Baran and colleagues investigated the relationship between street design and park use (for related information, see, for example, http://researchdesignconnections.com/pub/learning-urban-planner-06-03-11).  Their research indicates that “neighborhood urban form variables have positive associa­tions with the number of youth and adults observed in park zones, although only the number of street intersections was statistically significant for most subpopulations (boys, young children, and women) . . .

Recent research has shown that people doing office work need to be able to stand while working, when they choose to do so (for related information, see http://researchdesignconnections.com/pub/why-should-every-work-space-pro...). A new study, conducted by Chourasia and colleagues, indicates that sit-stand desks should not be introduced in a vacuum, without considering potential modifications to other tools used by workers, such as computer software: “Participants . . .

Kifer and colleagues have scientifically verified an effect that design researchers often uncover in the field - people who have more power perceive that their lives are better than those without power.  This research may help explain disparities in responses to workplace environments, for example.  Specifically, Kiefer and team determined that “experiencing power [in general, at work, in romance, or in friendships] leads to greater SWB [subjective wellbeing] . . . .

Erik Altmann, Gregory Trafton, and Zach Hambrich’s research supports earlier studies indicating that interrupting a person’s train of thought when they’re doing thoughtful work can have negative repercussions – previous work has shown that it can take 15 to 20 minutes to return to the pre-interruption level of performance.  Altmann, Trafton, and Hambrich found that brief interruptions, about 3 seconds long, doubled error rates on tasks that are “relatively difficult.”  Altmann states that “’Even momentary interruptions can seem jarring when they occur during a pr

Dumbaugh and Zhang took the unique approach of investigating how urban areas can be designed to be safe for people over age 75, whether they’re drivers or pedestrians.  They found that “Intersections, strip commercial establishments, big box stores, and arterial thoroughfares were associated with increases in crashes involving older motorists, while big box stores and arterials increased crashes for older pedestrians.

Carbone and Nauth, respected futurists, have written about the homes of 2022 in The Futurists.  They project many changes for the form of houses 10 years from now, as well as changes in how we will use our homes, including, “As the need for wired power and data access falls away—and new interfaces emerge—more-flexible home designs may come into vogue. Rather than dedicated media rooms or home offices, spaces may be more flexible and adaptive; residents may be able to work or play in any room that suits their preferences . . . .