The acquisition of schemata about location of urban facilities in public space

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate acquisition of schemata about location of urban facilities. Materials were photos of public space, in which one of three urban facilities (a mailbox, a public-telephone, and a coin--operated locker) were removed by photo-retouching software. The task was to choose the most suitable urban facility for each corrected-photo and to locate it at the most suitable position on the photo. Among three participant groups (primary school 3rd grade: n = 153, primary school 5th grade: n = 118, undergraduate: n = 250), undergraduates chose the most suitable urban facility, and their located position was more concentrated. The results suggest that participants acquire the schemata and use them for inference. Although even 3rd grade children have acquired the schema to some extent, the adults have more detailed schemata of urban facilities in public space.