Магистратура 2019/2020

Психология среды

Статус: Курс по выбору (Прикладная социальная психология)

Направление: 37.04.01. Психология

Кто читает: Департамент психологии

Где читается: Факультет социальных наук

Когда читается: 1-й курс, 3, 4 модуль

Формат изучения: без онлайн-курса

Преподаватели: Сауткина Елена Владимировна

Прогр. обучения: Прикладная социальная психология

Язык: английский

Кредиты: 5

Контактные часы: 48

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The scope of Environmental Psychology as a discipline is to study the interplay between people and their natural and built surroundings. On the one hand, environmental psychology focuses on the role of physical environments in people’s lives, for example, the capacity of natural environments to restore people’s psychological resources. On the other hand, it examines the ways people shape their physical environments, e.g., psychology of urban design, or processes involved in pro-environmental action. Since the 1960s, the role of environmental psychology was both to conduct research, and to apply these findings in real life, e.g. in design, sustainability, health, education, and other areas. Today, environmental psychology plays a very important role in helping to shape people’s awareness and behaviour in order to transition towards a sustainable future, and to counteract, mitigate and adapt to the existing environmental threats. This course will introduce students to the key theories, concepts, methods and applications of environmental psychology so that they are able to conduct basic research and practice work in the area of people-environment studies. Students will be able to gain knowledge and experience in environmental psychology through interactive lectures and active learning seminars. Course topics will include: history and scope of environmental psychology; psychology of built environments; psychology of human-nature interactions; people in the face of environmental risks; psychology of pro-environmental action; and fundamentals of applied environmental psychology.

Learning Objectives

• This course is designed to provide an overview of the theory, methods, contemporary academic research and practical applications in the field of environmental psychology.
• This course aims to develop an appreciation of how psychology can contribute to shaping urban environments, preserve natural environments, and deal with the challenges of environmental and climate change.
• The course aims develop students' capacities to be able to conduct basic research, practice or policy work in the field of environmental psychology.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Knows the key concepts, theories and methods in the field of environmental psychology.
• Knows the key theories in Environmental Psychology regarding urban and built environments.
• Knows the key principles of application of Environmental Psychology in design of urban and built spaces.
• Is able to critically analyse built environments drawing on environmental psychology methods, theories and evidence, and suggest evidence-based improvements.
• Knows key theories of people-nature relationship in the field of environmental psychology.
• Is able to conduct case study analyses and evaluate the restorative potential of environments.
• Knows the key determinants and models explaining pro-environmental behaviour.
• Able to analyse and build interventions behavior aiming to change environmental behaviour.
• Knows the key theories of environmental risk perception and human behaviour in face of environmental risks.
• Knows the key principles of successful collaboration of environmental psychologists with policy-makers and practitioners.
• Is able to conduct a basic evaluation of an environmental intervention.
• Is able to clearly and successfuly disseminate environmental psychology research among non-academic audiences from different sectors.

Course Contents

• Environmental Psychology: History, Key Theories and Methods
• Urban Environments: Overcoming Stressors with Opportunities
• People and Nature
• The Psychology of Pro-Environmental Action
• Environmental Risks
• Building links between Science, Policy and Practice in the Area of People-Environment Studies

Assessment Elements

• Individual Written Assignment
  Student will choose an environment (e.g. urban square, street, indoor environment, and will be asked to provide a description and an analysis of this space by using environmental psychology methods, theories and evidence. Choice of space. Choose an environment to consider in your analysis. This can be a built environment, a natural environment, or mixed (e.g. an urban square with trees and garden elements). Examples include, but are not limited to: street block, neighbourhood, urban square, street, public garden, indoor environment such as office space, shop, institutional environment, etc. 2. Literature review (approx. 700 words). Provide a short literature review, based on: 1) original studies and research reviews regarding the chosen type of environments; 2) theoretical concepts that you select to use for the analysis (see 4. Analyse the space). 3. Characteristics of the space (approx. 500 words). Provide a description of this environment in terms of its physical and social characteristics, and include 3-5 photos to illustrate the main characteristics. You can choose to use an exisitng observation tool to record the characteristics of this place. You can also construct your own observation tool (around 7-10 items is enough), based on the literature review that you have conducted. 4. Analysis of the space (approx. 900 words). Use Environmental Psychology concepts and theories that you have learnt in the first part of this course to analyse this space. Examples of theories can include, but are not exclusive to: Affordances, Behaviour Settings, Place Identity, Broken Windows, Attention Restoration Theory, etc. You can use one theory or concept to base the analysis upon, but are welcome to use a combination of 2-3. The analysis should be grounded in the literature review. 5. Provide recommendations (400 words). Provide recommendations to improve the environmental characteristics of this place grounded in the literature review.
• Group Assignment: Intervention Design
  Students work in groups (2 to 3 people) to design an evidence-based intervention to promote sustainable behaviours. They produce a Power Point presentation.
• Final Exam
  A 20-minute oral exam based on lecture contents. Students are given 4 open questions to answer.
• Attendance and activity
  Lecture and seminar attendance and active participation. Student cannot miss more than 2 lectures and 3 seminars.

Interim Assessment

• Interim assessment (4 module)
  0.2 * Attendance and activity + 0.2 * Final Exam + 0.3 * Group Assignment: Intervention Design + 0.3 * Individual Written Assignment

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Clayton, S. (2012). The Oxford handbook of environmental and conservation psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
• de Groot, J. I. M., Berg, A. E. van den, & Steg, L. (2019). Environmental Psychology : An Introduction. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Fleury-Bahi G., Pol E. & Navarro O. (2017). Handbook of Environmental Psychology and Quality of Life Research. Springer Link.

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Goleman, D., Bennett, L., & Barlow, Z. (2012). Ecoliterate: How educators are cultivating emotional, social, and ecological intelligence. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.