Specialist Research Laboratory
Environmental Psychology Laboratory
Summary of Research Activities
The discipline Environmental Psychology is dealing with the
interrelationships between human experiences & behavior and the
physical (natural & built) environment. The main research themes in
this laboratory are: How do humans perceive and evaluate built and
natural environments? How do they impact on the status of environments?
How are environmental hazards dealt with? How can information and
communication about environmental risks be improved? In addition,
methodological issues are pursued.
Current Areas of Research
- Soundscapes in public places (partly
with Ann Makin & Karmen Jobling)
- Improving disaster preparedness through risk communication
- The potential of the world-wide-web for enhancing bushfire
preparedness
- Assessment of simulated and real environments (joint project with Professor Ian
Bishop, Department of Geomatics)
- Virtual environments and human perception (in collaboration with Professor Ian
Bishop & Professor Terry Daniel, University of Arizona/USA)
- Virtual environment presentations
- perception and appraisal (in
collaboration with Dr Lex Toet & Drs Joske Houtkamp, Utrecht
University, Netherlands)
- Risk perception in 'western' and 'eastern' cultures
- Attitudes towards risk-taking: a cross-cultural study (Chinese part in collaboration with
A/Professor Winton Au, University of Hong Kong)
- Verbal qualifiers for rating scales used in environmental
studies
Research Staff:
Research assistants:
- Nicole Besley, Karmen Jobling, Fu Norijan; temporarily: Maja Graham, Maria Vassos,
Yu Zhao.
- also, visiting students from Europe: Imke Dirks, Sereina Oggier.
Lab Facilities:
The Laboratory is equipped with three computers; one has a
large-format monitor for working with pictures or simulations of
environment presentations.
As data sets, a large number of own photographs (mostly taken
with a digital camera) and videos are available; plus
computer-simulated views resulting from the long-term collaboration
with Prof Bishop.
For sound measurements, a small portable sound level meter is
on hand.
Funding & Grants:
For each of these projects, a description
of the research plan and selected reports can be found at www.rohrmannresearch.net.
| Project: |
Virtual environment presentations
- perception and appraisal |
Year:
|
2007-8
|
Funded by:
|
Private Donation
|
| Project: |
Appraisal of virtual
reality realism—Melbourne campus study |
| Year: |
2004 |
| Funded by: |
Department of Psychology Research Support Scheme (DRSS) |
| Project: |
The potential of the
internet for enhancing bushfire preparedness |
| Year: |
2004–2006 |
| Funded by: |
National
Bushfire CRC |
| Project: |
Appraisal of
soundscapes in public places |
| Year: |
2003–2008 |
| Funded by: |
Private Donation |
| Project: |
Assessment of
simulated and real environments |
| Year: |
2003 |
| Funded by: |
Department of Psychology Research Support Scheme (DRSS) |
| Project: |
Appraising materials
for enhancing bushfire preparedness |
| Year: |
2001/7–2002/6 |
| Funded by: |
Australian Emergency Management Authority |
| Project: |
Risk attitudes—a
cross-cultural study—comparison of Australian and Swiss data |
| Year: |
2001 |
| Funded by: |
Dept. of Psychology Research Support Scheme (DRSS) |
| Project: |
Virtual
environments: Experiments in validity |
| Year: |
2001 |
| Funded by: |
Melbourne University Research Development Grant Scheme
(MRDGS) |
| Project: |
Risk perception—a
cross-cultural comparison |
| Project: |
Verbal qualifiers
for rating scale construction - subgroup analyses |
| Year: |
1999 |
| Funded by: |
Department of Psychology Research Support Scheme (DRSS) |
Current Research Students:
Margaret Blanch, Athena Iliades, Sonja Pedell.
