PSYC A326: ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE/SUGGESTIONS FOR PROJECT A

In general, the purpose of these projects is to see how course content manifests itself in “real

life” – these projects are intended to allow you to apply what you have learned to actual

environments. Be creative! Have some fun while learning about Environmental Psychology!

As stated in the syllabus (pages 8-9):

“Project A has each student focus on a topic or variable that has the potential to influence

behavior in some given environment. This influence can be one that facilitates behavior,

including social behaviors, or hinders behaviors.

Examples of topics or variables appropriate for Project A include:

Hard/soft architecture

Fixed and semi-fixed features

Personal space and/or territoriality

Architectural privacy and control

Density and crowding

Ambient environmental variables – noise, heat, cold, light, wind, rain, etc.

(Note – this might be difficult to address, except for light, including sunlight)

Personalization of environments” (to be addressed in CLASS 10)

The format or style of your submitted project is up to you. You can, for example, do:

a. a PowerPoint presentation (with or without narration)

b. video recording(s)

c. a text file with photos inserted

d. some combination of these

For example, if you are addressing hard/soft architecture, you can photograph several examples

of these that you encounter in any environment, such as at home, office building, medical

facility, courtroom, retail business establishment, etc. – whatever is appropriate. You can put

these photos into a document, adding some explanation about the particular object (whether hard

or soft architecture, including why it is categorized as such or how it is used or not used). You

can also add these photographs to a PowerPoint file, providing some explanation, as well. By

describing how it is used (or not, such as a hard park bench), you are describing the ways in

which these objects affect or influence behavior.

You could make a video recording of people walking in public places, like William Whyte did in

showing people walk through a plaza in front of a high-rise building, or children (or adults)

interacting with water in a public park. Any of the variables addressed by Whyte are

appropriate, but focus on the variable, not the specific environment.