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Philosophy(PhD) / Interaction with the natural environment has a vital role in human well-being - physical, social, spiritual and psychological - and yet in the twenty-first century many people lead a way of life totally separated from natural environments. Built environments and the increasing complexity of technological tasks necessitate increased demands for attention and a constant processing of information. Adaptation to such demands can result in depletion of psychological resources leading to stress and mental fatigue. Psychological resources must then be “restored” as they are critical for effective functioning. A review of restorative environments literature suggests there is further scope for enhancing restorative opportunities. A hypothetical model of enhanced restoration is proposed. It posits that an individual assuming a more active role, through raised cognitive awareness and physical encounter in the person-natural environment interaction will experience enhanced restoration in terms of restoration of directed attention and reduction of stress. The research hypotheses are tested using a quantitative field-based pretest-posttest experimental design with a sample of 100 volunteers. Data is collected through computerised objective and subjective measurement scales of attention and affect. Data is analysed through ANOVA. The major finding is that posttest scores improved compared to pretest scores in all 3 attention tests, 2 subjective attention scores and both affect measures, averaged over all 4 intervention groups. This means that the participants’ directed attention improved and they considered themselves to be less stressed regardless of the allocated experimental intervention group. Therefore, the most effective intervention in improving directed attention fatigue and reducing stress was raising an individual’s level of physical encounter with the natural environment. Further research is warranted, into the contribution that an individual can make to enhance the restorative process, and the need for education to raise awareness of the importance of the natural environment as a valuable (health-care) resource.

Over the last two decades, researchers in landscape perception research have responded to the problem of preserving landscape scenery by examining issues of landscape management, planning and design in a number of countries. One of the underlying problems encountered over this period of time has been a lack of landscape perception theories essential to development of an integrated approach to assessing and mapping scenic value. The "Information Processing Model" proposed by Kaplan and Kaplan (1982) has received a considerable amount of attention in application of a theoretical model for landscape assessment. It describes concepts related to cognitive processes which provide an objective, analytical basis for understanding observers' preference for landscape scenery. In a Pioneering research effort, Brown and Itami (1982) used this theory as a basis for assessing and mapping scenic quality.However, the one component not successfully incorporated into the model has been mystery. Research has continued to reveal the underlying structure of the mystery attribute. This study looks at validating a refined definition of the mystery component of the Kaplan Model and develops a quantitative procedure based upon physical landscape characteristics and inherent landscape composition classes for predicting and mapping this mystery attribute, in the rural Indiana landscape. This study utilizes MultiDimensional Scaling to test the mystery component of the Kaplans' model and to confirm the dimensions of the mystery model as proposed by Gimblett and Fitzgibbon (1987). Ninety color slides of rural landscape scenery were presented to 26 respondents who rated each photograph on a five point scale for mystery. The selecticn of the mappable variables used to describe the four variables of mystery and landscape composition classes were based on the relationships of the mystery variables to the prediction of mystery in the study. The predictive model developed in this study incorporates land form and land use measures and each were assessed and combined to derive composite ratings of mystery. These groups were normalized and weighted in relationship to each other in order to derive composite values of mystery which then were mapped. The results of this research strongly theoretical model yet has the capability to be spatially illustrate a clearer understanding of the variables contributing to the perception of mystery and reveals a comprehensive procedure for assessing and mapping mystery. Finally, this research strongly supports the Kaplan and Kaplan (1982) conceptual model as a reliable, comprehensive mapped and utilized by researchers and practioners in the overall quest for determining scenic quality for landscape preservation and management practices. / Department of Landscape Architecture

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis. 1975. M.Arch.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / Bibliography: leaves 147-149. / M.Arch.

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