Psych 195 Environmental Psychology

Andrada, Aryan Joelle Andrade, Erika Mae Co, Kim Angelo Villa, Bea Trisha

Prof. Ram

December 9, 2010

environmental load or overstimulation

When too much stimuli is present at one given point in time. Useful when describing reactions to novel or unwanted environmental stimuli.

Five parts:
5. When fatigue occurs ameliorated 4. When athe of attention that may 3. Humans have a may be available 2. The amountamount of information a 1. Attentionstimuluslimited capacity toto from through incoming of adaptive person reduced demands may be require some sort stimuli the response the environment exceedsand individuals processis not constant and on invest only information process all that inputs temporarily processing or by its significance is evaluatedto isarelevant, capacity to depleted after through a limited effort in attendingprolongedat restorative overload occurs. demands. environments decision is monitoringAfter informationprocess, and (nature trails, any one time. attendingato prolonged zoos, about which coping response, demands, the totalto this is a typeattention made museums, etc.). This is labeledifas A normal reaction capacity for of tunnel vision employ. ignore the inputs less ART. Attention Restoration Therapy, may suffer from any to where we an overload. or relevant to the task at hand and devote more attention to The more intense an input is, the greater those that are relevant. its adaptive significance and attention given to it.

Generally, stimuli most important to the task at hand are allocated as much attention as needed and less important stimuli are ignored. If these less important stimuli tend to interfere with the central task, ignoring them will enhance performance. If, however, a task requires a wide range of attention, as when we must do things at once, performance on less important task will deteriorate.

Once capacity for attention has been depleted due to prolonged demands, even small demands for attention may cause overloading.
Behavioral aftereffects:

Reduced capacity to attend to relevant cues

decreased tolerance for frustration errors in mental functioning less frequent altruistic behavior

 Milgram

(1970) suggested the deterioration of social life in large urban areas is caused by the ignoring of peripheral social cues and a reduced capacity to attend to them because of the increased demands of everyday functioning.

1. Being away 2. Extent

Recovery is most likely in a restorative environment having these four characteristics:

3. Fascination

4. Compatibility

In terms of generalizability, the model applies to mental and motor performance and to at least some social behaviors . With regards to research, this perspective suggests many possibilities, including evaluating whether or not a given environment is likely to produce an overload, and assessing the extent to which attentional depletion contributes to social and environmental problems.