Concurrents – Environmental Psychology: Communicating via Design
People carefully scan the environments in which they find themselves, and the silent messages they absorb during those “situational reviews” have significant effects on their thoughts and behaviors. A recent study by Master, Cheryan and Meltzoff indicates just how much. The Master-led team showed high school student classrooms which the researchers described in this way: “We decorated a small university classroom (i.e., 12 desks) using objects either identified as stereotypical or nonstereotypical of computer science in previous research. The stereotypical objects were Star Wars/Star Trek items, electronics, software, tech magazines, computer parts, video games, computer books and science fiction books. The nonstereotypical objects were nature pictures, art pictures, water bottles, pens, a coffee maker, lamps, general magazines and plants. Both classrooms also contained a table and chair at the front of the room, desks for students, a side table and a storage unit in the corner.” The group found that …
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