Contemporary theory on human interaction with the built environment focuses on the creation of place (“placemaking”). A place is defined as a given section of the environment to which humans have assigned appropriate feelings and behaviors. Using the Roman civic feast as a test case, this paper applies the model of placemaking proposed by Amos Rapoport to the built environment of Ancient Rome with the civic feast as a test case. I look to epigraphic, literary, visual, and archaeological evidence for the set of appropriate behaviors assigned to places of civic feasting (“Feasting Places”). This investigation involves laying out the theoretical framework, the physical circumstances of the Feasting Place, behaviors of Romans within it, and evidence for Romans distinguishing Feasting Places from other places. In conclusion, Romans do in fact distinguish between places by means of environmental cues, as evidenced by the case of the civic feast. / text

This project centers on an office environment and the physical and psychological well-being of the people who work within it. Located at 525 Beresford Avenue in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Churchill Park United Church was converted to serve as an office space for a hypothetical publishing firm, Choice Publications. With recent knowledge concerning the health and well-being of employees, the design of workplaces has shifted to comprise a human-centered approach. The purpose of this practicum project was to investigate the evolving nature of the office and to determine its role regarding the identity, well-being, and behavior of individuals in order to better accommodate their needs. Central to the exploration is the study of environmental psychology theories and the introvert-extrovert dichotomy. Research into third place theory and the significance of home act as the primary lenses to evolve conventional office design into a hybrid of new typologies. / October 2015

The theory of planned behaviour proposes that behaviour is predicted by behavioural intention which is, in turn, predicted by attitudes toward the behaviour, subjective norms regarding the behaviour and perceived control over the behaviour. Implied within this theory is that each of the three base components (attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control) influences intentions. However, despite being one of the most widely used theories in social psychology, few studies have investigated this basic premise. In addition, research on cognitive dissonance, public commitment, confirmation bias, implemental mindset, and the false consensus effect suggest that there may be a reverse-causal influence of intentions back on the base components of the theory. This potential reverse-causal sequence was tested in three studies. The first was correlational, the second was a lab-based experiment, and the third was a quasi-experimental field study. Study 1 employed a cross-lagged correlation design and showed that a reciprocal relation between intentions and base components was plausible. For the behaviour of supporting an environmental organization, Study 1 showed that attitudes were likely to influence intention-setting and that intention-setting subsequently influenced subjective norms. Study 2 employed a modified version of a free choice paradigm in which participants chose to set an intention to support one of two environmental organizations (using different support behaviours). Consequently participants rated the base components for the chosen organization higher and the rejected organization lower. However, this effect was primarily observed if participants were not initially committed to supporting an organization before the study began. Study 3 was a field study in which chemistry lab users who were exposed to an intervention that targeted behavioural intentions subsequently perceived more positive subjective norms (one aspect of subjective norms was changed). Together, the three studies demonstrate that a reverse-causal relation between intentions and base components is plausible and, thus, the theory of planned behaviour should be modified to include a reciprocal relation between these constructs. Intentions are most likely to influence base components that are least relevant to actual behaviour. When attitudes, subjective norms or perceived behavioural control are associated with actual behaviour, the one that is most strongly associated is least likely to change in response to setting an intention to engage in that behaviour. Other, less relevant, base components are more likely to change. / Graduate / 0451 / 0621 / 0768

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Geography and Geology / Master / Master of Philosophy

This research project develops a theoretical approach to the study of the experience of environmental quality. The approach is derived from the transactional perspective of perception and uses the concepts of mergence and barriers to explain how people's experience of a place relates to their judgment of environmental quality. It assumes that people value environments which facilitate positive emotional experiences and that the judgment of environmental quality is related to the potentialities of the environment to provide a context for valued experiences. The implications of this theory are discussed with regard to the differences between the experience of built versus natural environments, an experiential versus value system approach to environmental quality, and the value of high quality natural environments. The first study used a structured interview to examine people's experience and evaluation of high and low quality built and natural environments in the Tucson area. The second study examined the use of photographic surrogates for the study of environmental quality by comparing objective photographs with subjective photographs taken by people visiting environments. The results support the view that the human valuing process is an affective, synthesizing, and concretizing process. The experiential differences between built and natural environments were examined with regard to the degree of interrelatedness of the physical, social, and functional aspects of the environment. The experiential and value system approaches to studying environmental quality were shown to be complementary, and some potential problems with the value system approach were examined. The value of high quality natural environments was shown to relate to the symbolic, spiritual and experiential meaning which people attribute to them. Although there were differences between the two methods of photographically simulating environments, both methods were shown to be useful for providing surrogates for the study of environmental quality. Overall, this research demonstrated the value of a holistic experiential framework for the study of environmental quality which helps to unite scientific research with people's experience of the environment.

This study titled School Model of Norrberga- a New Model of School. Some opinions that six pupils in the sixth grade have of their school is an explorative study. The purpose of this study is to some extent explain the ideas behind this quite spectacular model of school and the intentions of the City Council of Norrberga as they decided that all the schools that were to be renovated or built in the town of Norrberga had to follow a specific script.    As I first visited The Moonlight School I was puzzled. How do the teachers work it out? But, above all: Do the pupils work it out? What do they think about their school? When I was to write my final essay I wanted to try to sort this school out in more scientific terms.  There is a nice, warm atmosphere at the school and the pupils make good results. The school has an open architecture and there are seven classes with 60 pupils each and three teachers per class. Pupils and teachers work together in various work units in different areas of the school. In this newly built school with hardly any inside walls, or walls made of glass, the pupils in the sixth grade experience new ways of teaching. In order to find out how these pupils, having experienced both the old Moonlight School and the new model, looked upon their new school I wanted to perform individual interviews with some of them. I also visited the school a couple of days to observe the atmosphere and how they organised the day.  While analysing the collected material trying to describe the school I found support in the theories of Michel Foucault and John Dewey as well as scientific reports about school buildings and history of schooling. I selected those I found most significant for this study.  I found that the pupils mainly are satisfied with their school. Those having experienced all their schooling there do not have problem with the lack of not transparent walls nor with people and transports passing through the spacious educational area.  The community wanted to build smaller schools with more efficient use of the facilities. There is also an intention of developing new ways of teaching better adapted to current teaching methods and curriculum.

Sävar bibliotek ska införa meröppet, och denna studie har undersökt hur man bör gå tillväga. Intervjuer utfördes via telefon och e-mail till andra meröppna bibliotek, och en fokusgrupp utfördes med besökare och personal vid Sävar bibliotek. Vi undersökte även relevant litteratur för att hitta hur själva miljön i biblioteket ska se ut. Vi kom fram till att det är viktigt att information om förändringarna kommer ut till besökarna. Det är också viktigt att biblioteket ska vara en social miljö, så det är viktigt att arrangera det så att det uppmuntrar till social interaktion. / Sävar library will introduce self-service (“more-open”) and in this study we have researched how to carry it out. Interviews were performed through telephone and e-mail to other more-open libraries and a focus group was performed with visitors and personnel at Sävar library. We also researched relevant literature in order to find how the environment in the library should look like. We found that it is important that information about the changes reaches the visitors. It is also important that the library will continue to be a social environment, so it is important to arrange it so that it encourages social interaction.

This dissertation identified key parallels between the theories of place attachment and interpersonal attachment, a comparison that then informed three objectives of the research program: (1) to explore the functions of place attachment and describe which are shared with interpersonal attachment; (2) to examine how these functions differ according to stable individual differences in place and person attachment; and (3) to assess whether these functions differ according to the geographical scale at which the attachment rests. An additional methodological goal was to bring a new approach to the study of place attachment, drawing on experimental paradigms used in interpersonal attachment research. Research objectives were achieved through the completion of three separate studies. Study 1 began the inquiry into the functions of place attachment with a content analysis of community members’ open-ended descriptions about places to which they consider themselves attached. Thirteen categories of benefits were revealed: memories, belonging, relaxation, positive emotions, activity support, comfort--security, self-growth, freedom--control, entertainment, connection to nature, practical benefits, privacy, and aesthetics. These functions were discussed with reference to the functions of interpersonal attachment previously identified in the literature. The next two studies used experimental methodologies to further evaluate, and expand upon, the functions of place attachment identified in Study 1. Study 2 evaluated whether a security function exists for place attachment by assessing the impact of threat exposure on the mental accessibility of place attachment words. Specifically, threat exposure was operationalized by mistakes made on a lexical decision task, and place attachment proximity was represented by participants’ subsequent reaction times to place attachment words in this task. Results showed that exposure to threats increased proximity-seeking to places of attachment, but not to other types of places. Study 3 evaluated the ability of place attachment to provide belongingness, control, meaningfulness, self-esteem, and improved affect, and this was done within the context of a commonly-used ostracism paradigm. Place attachment was manipulated using a visualization exercise, and ostracism was manipulated using a bogus rejection paradigm. The dependent variables included participants’ current moods and experienced levels of psychological need satisfaction (i.e., meaning, self-esteem, control, and belongingness). Although ostracism did not interact with the place attachment visualization, the latter was found to increase individuals’ current levels of self-esteem, meaning, belongingness, control and negative affect, but only among participants without an avoidant place attachment style. This comparison between interpersonal attachment and place attachment revealed some overlap between the two types of bonding, and most importantly, inspired new research questions and methodological approaches to advance the study of place attachment – a less mature theory, but one with much applied value and theoretical potential. / Graduate / 0451

Bibliography: p. 324-335. / vii, 335 p. : ill., map ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / A framework of psychological processes which shape the experience of travel as a mediator between home and the Other; and a framework of various structures which affect the travel experience. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geography, 1998

Thesis (M. Arch. St.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Architecture, 1993? / 11 leaves of transparencies. Includes bibliographical references.