Latest Blog Posts
Patelaki and colleagues add to the body of knowledge related to walking’s cognitive implications. They report that “Mobile brain/body imaging (M0BI) was used to record electroencephalographic (EEG) activity, 3-denstional (3D) gait kinematics and behavioral responses in the cognitive task, during sitting or walking on a treadmill. In a cohort of 26 young adults, 14 participants improved in measures of cognitive task performance while walking compared with sitting. . . In contrast, 12 participants . . . did not improve.”
Eleni Patelaki, John Foxe, Kevin Mazurek, and Edward Freedman. “Young Adults Who Improve Performance During Dual-Task Walking Show More Flexible Reallocation of Cognitive Resources: A Mobile Brain-Body Imaging (MoBI) Study.” Cerebral CORTEX, in press, https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhac227
Obeidat and Jaradat found that it’s desirable to include human figures in digitally visualized architectural spaces. More details: “The use of human figures throughout the design process enables designers to experience, communicate, and evaluate design concepts. . . . an experimental study was conducted with first-year architecture students, in which they experienced three architectural scenes (non-presence of VHR [virtual human representation], presence of idle VHR, and presence of animated VHR). Statistical analyses of the students’ self-assessments examined how the inclusion of VHRs in digitally visualized architectural spaces influenced the perceptions of these spaces. The study revealed that incorporating VHR into representations of architectural spaces positively affected the students’ sense of physical dimensions and of the spatial qualities.”
Bushra Obeidat and Esra’a Jaradat. “The Influence of Virtual Human Representations on First-Year Architecture Students’ Perceptions of Digitally Designed Spaces: A Pilot Study.” Business Research and Information, in press, https://doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2022.2083549
Nasim evaluated links between living conditions and children’s mental health. The investigator reports that their “study explored the role of housing (and neighbourhood) quality in explaining differences in childhood mental and physical health between those living in social-rented flats and houses. . . . Evidence is found that poorer housing quality explained over 50% of the deficit in the mental health of children in flats compared with houses in the social-rented sector. The role of housing quality in accounting for the poorer mental health of children was not explained by observable differences in the level of household disadvantage. . . . [effects were] primarily explained by differences in levels of damp and mould as well as differences in the mother's satisfaction with her home, with a smaller role for the temperature of the home.”
Bilal Nasim. “Does Poor Quality Housing Impact on Child Health? Evidence from the Social Housing Sector in Avon, UK.” Journal of Environmental Psychology, in press, 101811, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101811
Migliore, Rossi-Lamastra, and Tagliaro studied, via a literature review, gender issues in workplaces. They conclude that “Within the broader context of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) matters, gender issues have attracted ample attention from scholars and policymakers. . . . The reviewed articles document a general convincement [conviction] shared by different scientific fields that the workspace affects women and men differently. The results show that space is a crucial element for enhancing gender equality in the workplace.”
Alessandra Migliore, Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, and Chiara Tagliaro. “Are Workspaces Gender Neutral? A Literature Review and a Research Agenda.” Building Research and Information, in press, https://doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2022.2087172
Hoendervanger’s multi-method dissertation probes who can most effectively use activity-based workplaces (ABW). He shares that “a clear profile arises of workers who best fit with ABW environments, i.e.: high task variety, job autonomy, external and internal mobility, social interaction . . . low need for privacy; few high-complexity tasks, many non-individual tasks; appropriately using open and closed work settings; frequently switching between work settings; relatively young age. Furthermore, lack of privacy for high-concentration work, due to the highly prevalent use of open work settings, appeared to be the single-most important issue in current ABW practice. The ABW concept is clearly not a one-size-fits-all solution and requires careful implementation to provide the right mix of work settings, and to stimulate workers to use them in accordance with their varying and changing needs.”
Jan Hoendervanger. 2021. “On Workers’ Fit with Activity-Based Work Environments.” University of Groningen, Dissertation, https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/on-workers-fit-with-activity-bas...
In his dissertation project Zhou probed social connections formed in co-working spaces. He reports that “Mixed methods were applied to study coworking spaces in New York City. . . . The results suggest that social connectivity between the members was low even before the Covid-19 pandemic. Three major reasons were identified: lack of opportunity, lack of motivation, and a behavioral norm of minimizing interaction in the open-plan environment. . . . I propose that flexibility is about . . . how much visibility and mobility the space offers, and how much time the occupants are physically present in the space. . . . Increased flexibility in space and time negatively affected an individual’s attitude toward social interaction. . . . These results suggest that the nature of coworking may embody a conflicting relationship between the two concepts: ‘flexibility’ and ‘community.’”
Yaoyi Zhou. 2021. “Flexibility Vs. Community: Two Studies About Coworking Space and the Member’s Social Connectivity.” Cornell University, Dissertation, https://www.proquest.com/openview/5bd133f73f6958b8a6da3d3db1c05e24/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Fukuie and colleagues probed how hearing particular sorts of music influences cognitive performance, and their findings may be complicated to apply in group settings, but not solo use ones. The investigators report that “Hearing a groove rhythm (GR), which creates the sensation of wanting to move to the music, can also create feelings of pleasure and arousal in people, and it may enhance cognitive performance, as does exercise, by stimulating the prefrontal cortex. Here, we examined the hypothesis that GR enhances executive function (EF). . . . participants underwent two conditions: 3 min of listening to GR or a white-noise metronome. . . . Our results show that GR enhanced EF . . . in participants who felt a greater groove sensation and a more feeling clear-headed after listening to GR.”
Takemune Fukuie, Kazuya Suwabe, Satoshi Kawase, Takeshi Shimizu, Genta Ochi, Ryuta Kuwamizu, Yosuke Sakairi, and Hideaki Soya. 2022. “Groove Rhythm Stimulates Prefrontal Cortex Function in Groove Enjoyers.” Scientific Reports, vol. 12, 7377, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11324-3
Grant and Handelman study the evolving role of houses. They report that “Traditionally, the home is regarded as a place of singularization that is to be aligned with the homeowner’s unique identity. This traditional meaning has come to be confronted with a contradictory understanding of the home as a marketplace asset. Homeowners come to experience a market-reflected gaze that shuns singularization while driving homeowners to exhibit expertise in aligning their homes with marketplace standards. Professionalization of the home, through marketplace expertise and standardization, discourages personalization, leading to an experience of disorientation with the place of home.”
Annetta Grant and Jay Handelman. “Dysplacement and the Professionalization of the Home.” Journal of Consumer Research, in press, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucac023
Lieberman, in a study published in Psychological Review, probes how people come to understand the world in which they live. A press release related to his work asks “Why are we so sure that the way we see people, situations and politics is accurate, and the way other people see them is foolishly wrong? The answer, according to new research by UCLA psychology professor Matthew Lieberman, lies in a region of the brain he calls the ‘gestalt cortex,’ which helps people make sense of information that is ambiguous or incomplete — and dismiss alternative interpretations. . . . People often mistake their own understanding of people and events as objective truth, rather than as merely their own interpretation. That phenomenon, called ‘naive realism,’ leads people to believe that they should have the final word on the world around them. . . . ‘When others see the world differently than we do, it can serve as an existential threat to our own contact with reality and often leads to anger and suspicion about the others,’ Lieberman said.”
“Well, I See It Differently!” 2022. Press release, UCLA, https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/gestalt-cortex-why-people-see-things-...
Erraiaa and teammates evaluated the importance of aligning scents experienced in a store with brand image. They determined via an experiment that “when the scent is perceived as congruent with the brand image, reactions in the store are more favourable. It is not enough to use a scent that ‘smells good’ or that is congruent with other factors (e.g. sensory environment); the scent must be perceived by consumers as consistent with the brand image. Findings also reveal that the diffusion of a scent congruent with the brand image improves guest satisfaction, intention to revisit and perceptions of the product and service. . . . The findings show how important it is for hospitality organisations to use scents to generate a positive impact on their guests. Hotel, restaurant and café managers wishing to enhance customer reactions through the creation of an olfactory atmosphere should take scent congruence with the brand image into consideration.”
Karim Erraiaa, Patrick Legoherel, Bruno Dauce, and Anil Bilgihan. 2021. “Scent Marketing: Linking the Scent Congruence with Brand Image.” International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 402-427, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-06-2020-0637
Pages
