Welcome to Environmental Psychology!
Ever wondered why you act differently when you’re in a quiet library compared to a noisy football stadium? Or why you might follow orders from someone in a uniform even if you don't want to? That is exactly what we are exploring here! In the H167 OCR AS Psychology course, "Environmental" factors are often called Situational Factors. We are looking at how the world around us—our "environment"—influences our behavior.
Don't worry if this seems a bit broad at first. We’re going to break it down into two main areas: how the social environment makes us obey, and how the learning environment shapes how we grow up.
1. The Social Environment: Why Do We Obey?
In Social Psychology, the "environment" isn't just trees and buildings; it's the people and the authority around us. This is known as a Situational Explanation.
Key Study: Milgram (1963) - Obedience
Milgram wanted to see if the environment (a prestigious university and a stern experimenter) could make ordinary people do something "bad"—like giving electric shocks to a stranger.
What you need to know:
- The Situation: Participants were at Yale University. The experimenter wore a grey lab coat (a symbol of authority).
- The Result: 65% of participants went all the way to 450 volts!
- The Takeaway: It wasn't that the people were "evil"; it was the environment (the prestigious setting and the pressure from authority) that caused the behavior.
Key Study: Bocchiaro et al. (2012) - Disobedience and Whistle-blowing
Bocchiaro looked at whether people would obey, disobey, or "blow the whistle" (report the authority) when asked to do something unethical.
- The Situation: An experimenter asked students to write a letter encouraging others to take part in a sensory deprivation study that they knew was dangerous.
- The Result: Most people obeyed. Even though we like to think we are independent, the situational pressure to be polite and helpful to an experimenter is very strong.
Quick Review: Social environmental psychology teaches us that who we are (our personality) often matters less than where we are (the situation).
2. The Learning Environment: External Influences
In Developmental Psychology, the environment refers to the external influences we encounter as we grow up. This is often called the Nurture side of the debate.
Key Study: Bandura et al. (1961) - Transmission of Aggression
Bandura looked at how the "learning environment" (watching an adult) affects children's behavior.
- The Concept: Social Learning Theory. This just means we learn by watching and imitating others.
- The Example: If a child is in an environment where they see an adult hitting a "Bobo Doll," they are much more likely to be aggressive themselves.
- Memory Aid: Think of ARMM (Attention, Retention, Motor Reproduction, Motivation). To learn from our environment, we have to pay attention, remember it, be able to do it, and want to do it!
Key Study: Chaney et al. (2004) - The Funhaler Study
Chaney looked at how we can change a child's environment to make them behave better (in this case, taking their asthma medication).
- The Trick: They changed the "environment" of the inhaler by adding a whistle and a spinning toy.
- The Result: Because the environment became rewarding (Positive Reinforcement), the children used the inhaler more correctly.
Key Takeaway: Our environment provides "models" for us to copy and "rewards" that encourage us to keep doing certain things.
3. The Big Debate: Individual vs. Situational
This is a favorite for exam questions! When psychologists look at the environment, they are debating with the "Individual" side.
The Individual Explanation: You act the way you do because of your personality, your genes, or your unique brain structure. (e.g., "I helped the person because I am a kind person.")
The Situational (Environmental) Explanation: You act the way you do because of the people around you, the rules of the room, or the rewards you might get. (e.g., "I helped the person because everyone else was watching me and I felt I had to.")
Common Mistake to Avoid:
Don't assume it's always one or the other! Most modern psychologists believe it is an interaction. Your personality (Individual) might lead you to choose a certain environment (Situational), and then that environment changes you further!
4. Methodological Issues: How do we study the environment?
When we study the environment, we usually use two types of experiments. Here is a quick guide to understanding them:
Laboratory Experiments
Analogy: Like a scientist looking at a plant in a controlled greenhouse.
- Strength: We have total control over the environment. We can turn the "noise" up or down to see exactly what it does to the participant.
- Weakness: It's an artificial environment. People might act differently because they know they are being watched (Demand Characteristics).
Field Experiments
Analogy: Like a scientist watching a plant grow in the middle of a wild forest.
- Strength: It’s the "real world." Participants don't know they are in a study, so their behavior is natural (High Ecological Validity).
- Weakness: It's messy! We can't control everything that happens in the environment (Extraneous Variables).
Quick Review Box: Key Terms
Situational Factors: Influences from the external environment (like authority figures or the setting).
Social Learning: Learning through observation of models in our environment.
Obedience: Following a direct order from an authority figure in the environment.
Ecological Validity: How much a study reflects real-life environments.
Final Summary and Takeaways
1. Social environment matters: Milgram showed that the presence of an authority figure in a prestigious environment can make us do things we never thought we would.
2. The environment teaches us: Bandura and Chaney showed that our surroundings (the models we see and the rewards we get) shape how we learn and grow.
3. The big question: Always ask yourself—is this person acting this way because of who they are (Individual) or where they are (Situational)?
Great job! You've just covered the core environmental/situational concepts of the H167 syllabus. Keep these studies in mind, and you'll be able to tackle any question on how the world shapes the mind!