Age Changes in Spatial and Object Orientation as Measured By Architectural Preference and Eft Visual Performance.

This research project was formulated out of an effort to bridge the gap between architectural design and psychological data. The specific topic that was used as a vehicle for establishing this connection was the nature of visual perception and its relation to the physical environment. The first stage of this research project involved an extensive review of theories and experiments that provide evidence for the hypothesis that the human visual system consists of two principal modes: focal vision and spatial vision. The main function of focal vision is to analyze form and identify objects. Spatial vision is more holistic; it is the seat of orientation and location processes. The second stage of the study involved a series of field experiments. Some aspects of the data resulting from these field studies corroborated the "two-mode hypothesis" but it was obvious that in order to obtain clear-cut responses that the experimental environments had to be more articulate in their expression of spatiality versus object-orientedness. As a result, a full scale environment was designed and constructed in which one end of the room was spatially-orienting, while the other end of the room was object-orienting. Two hypotheses were proposed. First, it was hypothesized that subjects who were field dependent would select spatially-orienting environments and subjects who were field independent would select object-orienting environments. Second, it was hypothesized that children and seniors would tend to select spatially-orienting environments, while the middle population would choose object-orienting environments. Sixty-four subjects aged 5-84 were given the EFT and the CEFT and later asked to select a seat in the experimental space. The first hypothesis was not supported for room choice as a whole, but was supported for choice of specific variables in the environment. Likewise, the second hypothesis was not supported for room choice as a whole, but was supported for specific variables. Symmetry, light, ceiling height, novelty, and color were found to be important factors in environmental choice.PhDArchitectureUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/158381/1/8125047.pd