¶ … Environmental Psychology: Securing its Future" by Harold M. Proshansky Relatively young field, is it secure?

Epistemology: study or theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge

How did field begin, where is it going?

Environmental Psychology: Yesterday and Today

Yesterday

Empiricism -- theory of relying on observation, experiment, experience

Positivism -- theory that considers religion, metaphysics imperfect means, and relies on natural phenomenon and empirical sciences

Field developed in 1960s during social and political upheavals

But even before, after WWII -- new structures built, rapid growth -- increased research in social psychology, emphasis on attitude change, group processes, intergroup conflicts

Lewin (1948), Festinger, Schacter, and Back (1950) and Deutch (1949) students of Lewin (1948) -- began applying field theory conceptions to various social problems

Confluence of Forces

laboratory-experimental model but failure to apply to real world -- leads to loss of credibility and "malaise" in the social sciences in 1960s and 1970s -- still absence of environmental psychology blatantly -- noisily elusive -- hard to understand

Emergence of Environmental Design / Psychology

Result of external factors put pressure on all behavioral sciences

Unprecedented growth of urban, suburban

Need to answer questions about human needs, values, behaviors, experiences

Architect planners such as Fitch (1965), Alexander (1964), Izumi (1965), Lynch (1960)-challenging values,