Environmental determinism and possibilism

architecture 3rd and 4th sem

Influence of Environment on Behavior

Environmental Determinism

Environmental Possibilism

Enviornmental Probabilism

Environmental Determinism

known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism
Time Period: Late 19th century
Theory of evolution- survival of the fittest, process of natural selection
Environment (climate, soil, terrain, vegetation) controls human behavior
Birth of civilizations
Physical environment determines the culture and development of the society.

Environmental Probabilism / Cultural Ecology

Time Period: Late 20th century





Man is fairly knowledgeable, usually rational and predominantly acquisitive.
Individual’s decision cannot be predicted but his range of possible decisions and the probability of making one can be ascertained.

Environmental probabilism is a thought that considers the probabilistic relationship between physical environments and behavior. ��For example, an warm, and welcoming entrance to a campus building will increase the probability of it being entered more so than if it is cold and unwelcoming. The welcoming entrance does not cause entry, but the probability of entry can be increased with proper design.

BEHAVIOR is an individual’s response to the environment or to a self-generated stimulus, mediated by the following:

Physiological subsystem

Cultural subsystem

Social subsystem

Personality subsystem

1. BUILT ENVIRONMENT &
SPATIAL CULTURE
Lecture 02

2. BEHAVIOR ENVIRONMENT
PLANNING
stimulus
response

3. Influence of Environment on Behavior
•Environmental Determinism
•Environmental Possibilism
•Enviornmental Probabilism

4. Environmental Determinism
• known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism
•Time Period: Late 19
th
century
•Theory of evolution- survival of the fittest, process of natural selection
•Environment (climate, soil, terrain, vegetation) controls human behavior
•Birth of civilizations
•Physical environment determines the culture and development of the
society.

12. Environmental Possibilism / Cultural Determinism
•Time Period: 1920s
•the theory that the environment sets certain constraints or limitations, but
culture is otherwise determined by social conditions.
•Environment as the medium by which man is presented with opportunities.
Man’s choice and effort in realizing these opportunities. So behavior is
hardly determined by the environment.
•Environment as the context of behavior which sets limits to the
accomplishment of any attempted endeavor.
•Technology, capital and efficient organizational skills widens these
limits and expands range.
•The idea of environmental possibilism provides that humans are able to use
tools and technology to either alter or address environmental concerns.

13. • possibilism addresses how people use resources
to create their own environment and mitigate
its effects.

16. Environmental Probabilism / Cultural Ecology
•Time Period: Late 20
th
century
•Man is fairly knowledgeable, usually rational and predominantly acquisitive.
•Individual’s decision cannot be predicted but his range of possible decisions
and the probability of making one can be ascertained.

17. Environmental probabilism is a thought that considers the probabilistic
relationship between physical environments and behavior.
For example, an warm, and welcoming entrance to a campus building will
increase the probability of it being entered more so than if it is cold and
unwelcoming. The welcoming entrance does not cause entry, but the probability
of entry can be increased with proper design.

18. Environment E
Characteristics
d, e, f
Individual
A
Attributes
b, c, d
With motivation for action M
Behavior
B
Environmental Probabilism

19. BEHAVIOR is an individual’s response to the environment or to a self-generated
stimulus, mediated by the following:
•Physiological subsystem
•Cultural subsystem
•Social subsystem
•Personality subsystem

20. Behavioral Framework
•Stimuli
•Perception & Percept
•Apperception
•Cognition
•Motor response
Physical
Perceptual
Environment
See, smell, hear,
taste, touch
Process of being
aware of the
existence of the
stimulus or the
“percept”
Process of
interpreting the
percept in terms of
previous
experience.
The percept is
matched with
images held in
our Cognitive
Atlas
(Storehouse)
Once the percept
is matched and
understood, it
becomes
“cognition”.
Cognition may not
be derived from
perception always,
but may be self-
generated or
imagined.
A similar
stimulus
reactivates it
later
Action
the mental action or
process of acquiring
knowledge and
understanding through
thought, experience,
and the senses
Events or
occurrences in the
environment of an
organism that
influence its behavior
self-
consciousness