Person-environment System Research Articles

Complexity theory of psychopathology.

There is a renewed interest for complex adaptive system approaches that can account for the inherently complex and dynamic nature of psychopathology. Yet a theory of psychopathology grounded in the principles of complex adaptive systems is lacking. Here, we present such a theory based on the notion of dynamic patterns: patterns that are formed over time. We propose that psychopathology can be understood as a dynamic pattern that emerges from self-organized interactions between interdependent biopsychosocial processes in a complex adaptive system comprising a person in their environment. Psychopathology is emergent in the sense that it refers to the person-environment system as a whole and cannot be reduced to specific system parts. Psychopathology as a dynamic pattern is also self-organized, meaning that it arises solely from the interdependencies in the system: the interactions between countless biopsychosocial variables. All possible manifestations of psychopathology will correspond to a wide variety of dynamic patterns. Yet we propose that the development of these patterns over time can be described by general principles of pattern formation in complex adaptive systems. A discussion of implications for classification, intervention, and public health concludes the article. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Factors affecting expert performance in bid evaluation: An integrated approach.

Experts play a crucial role in underpinning decision-making in most management situations. While recent studies have disclosed the impacts of individuals’ inherent cognition and the external environment on expert performance, these two-dimensional mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, we identified 14 factors that influence expert performance in a bid evaluation and applied cross-impact matrix multiplication to examine the interdependence of the factors. The results indicate that the two dimension-related factors affect each other within a person–environment system, and a poor situation perception gives rise to the deviation of expert performance. Expert performance can be improved if external supervision and expertise are strengthened through deliberate practices. The study proposes a new expert performance research tool, elucidates its mechanism in bid evaluation from a cognitive psychology perspective, and provides guidelines for its improvement in workplace contexts.

Conceptualizing the Human Health Outcomes of Acting in Natural Environments: An Ecological Perspective.

Human-nature interactions have been presented as important for promoting and sustaining wellbeing and health benefits. Research has shown that pictures of nature, interacting with nature, physical activity in nature, immersion in nature and even feeling connected to nature can improve health. While considerable research supports this notion that nature can have positive health impact, theoretical and conceptual frameworks that help explain how the natural environment provides benefits to human health and wellbeing have proved limited. In extreme cases, theoretical approaches reinforce a problematic notion where nature is viewed as a separate entity, as a treatment to be taken as prescribed to remediate health problems that arise. Such approaches are limited as they fail to address how beneficial person-nature relations may be captured in interventions. There is a need for a deeper understanding of the processes underlying the observed benefits of the person-nature link in order to design effective research and interventions. It is especially important to consider the implications of research on person-nature relations for people living in urban contexts. In this paper, we present an ecological perspective building on James Gibson’s conceptualization of human behavior. Specifically, we outline a framework that emphasizes the person-environment system as the most appropriate scale of analysis. We present three relevant concepts from the ecological approach: form of life, affordances and niche construction, as helpful for appreciating how acting in natural environments might benefit human health and wellbeing. This approach urges policy makers and urban designers to rethink environmental designs to provide and support a landscape of affordances that makes use of the richness of natural environments.

MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING: DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL APPROACH IN PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION

Ponte Academic JournalFeb 2018, Volume 74, Issue 2 MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING: DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL APPROACH IN PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATIONAuthor(s): Olga LopukhovaJ. Ponte - Feb 2018 - Volume 74 - Issue 2 doi: 10.21506/j.ponte.2018.2.2 Abstract:The article analyses the development of environmental approach to explore personalitys well-being, health and happiness systems in psychology and education. Revision of one hundred sources about the environmental approach allowed us to reveal the main trends in the development of theoretical and applied areas in psychology, psychotherapy and education. Different viewpoints on interaction mechanisms in the person-environment system in the article were examined. They are congruence theories of person-environment interaction (Kahana, 1982), Dynamic features and person-environmental resources conception of Moos (1991), Four-front approach of Wright and Lopez (2002) and Engagement model of person-environment interaction of Neufeld et al. (2006). The current state of the environmental approach in applied areas of psychology and education focuses on the conditions, which should provide personalitys harmonious development, and allow removing or minimization stress factors that violate personal well-being. These conditions, in general, presuppose an orientation toward the natural environment as a resource for the human psyche as well as the active inclusion of a person in the care of the environment and formation of ecological consciousness. The review of inter-level representations current state interactions in the person-environment system covers the fields of intercultural psychology, geographical psychology, ecological psychology and environmental psychotherapy. In conclusion, modern person-environment system representation was shown. It contributes preservation and restoration to personalitys well-being and mental health system, assumes a person position as an active subject of interaction with environment. It is important to perceive nature as a harmony and health source for modern person who lives mostly in built environment and to develop ecological consciousness that means to take responsibility for the environment. Download full text:Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Username Password

The Elderly and Environmental Perception in Collective Housing

The interaction of people with physical spaces happens in reciprocal association, where the person-environment system is influenced by and causes an impact on human behavior. Bearing this in mind, this paper sets out to show how elderly residents perceive the environment in collective housing. What is therefore sought is to understand how the elderly perceive their space, in response to their wants and expectations, by applying different techniques for assessing perception in groups of elderly people. The findings in three institutions, in which elderly people reside, have shown a similarity in results, which are seen to be less than enlightening, probably due to the cognitive impairment of the elderly.

‘Option recognition’ in later life: variations in ageing in place

ABSTRACTDuring the 1970s, American gerontologist M. Powell Lawton and colleagues saw the person–environment system as fundamental to defining the quality of later life. They proposed the environmental docility hypothesis that weighed whether the more competent the person, the less dependent they are on environmental circumstances. This work was later advanced to show that environmental pro-activity, including adaptation, could reinforce control and autonomy. While that theoretical development focused on the micro-environment of accommodation, it can be applied to the macro-environment of community living. This paper, which utilises data from an empirical study ‘Environment and Identity in Later Life’, examines both the micro and macro scales, develops the theoretical content of the person-competence model, considers the complexity of person–environment interaction, and argues that over time some people find that their attachments to particular environments are compromised by declining competence or changes in the environment, or both. The point at which change impacts on an individual's independence and wellbeing is reached when adaptive behaviour cannot rebalance the macro- and micro-environmental press. This point, termed ‘option recognition’, leads to a range of strategic responses including: modification of behaviour or environment; structural support using formal and informal services; and relocation; all of which impact on self-identity.

Change processes in development: The concept of coactive scaffolding

The concept of scaffolding is generally invoked to refer to the ways in which a more expert individual assists a child by performing a part a task or by otherwise directing or supporting a child's task-related actions. A coactive systems model of development provides a framework for examining other ways in which person-environment relations may scaffold development. From a coactive systems view, the unit of analysis for understanding development is the coactive person-environment system. Within such a system, although individual actors exert control over their actions, thoughts and feelings, action is the product of coactions among each element of the system over time. From this view, coactive scaffolding refers to any process outside of an individual's direct control that functions to direct individual action toward novel or higher-order forms. Three broad categories (and subtypes) of coactive scaffolding are proposed and illustrated: ecological scaffolding, social scaffolding, and self-scaffolding.

Thermal and Ventilation Characteristics in a Workstation Area by Personal Air-Conditioning System

abstractThis paper investigates thermal and ventilation characteristics in a workstation area of an office building equipped with a personal environmental system. An under-floor air-conditioning system with and without a desk-mounted PEM (Personal Environmental Module) is compared. A tracer gas experiment using SF6 gas is performed to measure the local supply index and the room mean ventilation effectiveness. The particle image velocimetry is utilized to obtain quantitative velocity vectors in the workstation area for various supply air conditions. As a result, the local supply index in the workstation area is found to be increasing by operating a PEM, while overall room ventilation effectiveness remains the same. Flow visualization results show upward buoyant flows for a heating condition, and there is a need to adjust the angle of the PEM diffuser grille.

A Comprehensive Approach Towards the Planning, Grading and Auditing of Hiking Trails as Ecotourism Products

Tourism has long neglected a sustainable approach. Nature based tourism – of which hiking forms an important part – is a fast growing sector within the tourism industry. There is thus a need to consider the effective planning of trails. The thesis is hereby proposed that, in the planning process, trails, apart from being ecologically sustainable, should furthermore not be seen as mere links between places but as part of a holistic integrated person-environment system in order to provide maximum benefit so as to ensure sustainability. Trails should therefore be true ecotourism destinations, implying that they should be laid out in an ecologically sustainable way, be culturally sensitively planned, be psychologically rewarding and be profitable to the host community on a long term basis. A Comprehensive Trail Planning Model is proposed. For successful marketing an accreditation system is furthermore needed. This is based on a scientific description of the trail which can be done in terms of the environment, accommodation, trail facilities and degree of difficulty. An explanation is given how these parameters can be analysed (by means of checklist and a computer model) in order to provide an objective measurement for describing any nature based hiking trail.