Environmental cognition: the prediction of preference in rural Indiana

Over the last two decades, landscape perception research has responded to the problem of preserving landscape scenery by examining issues of landscape management, planning and design in a number of countries. One of the underlying problems encountered has been a lack of landscape perception theories that are essential for a development of an integrated approach to assessing scenic value. This study utilizes multi-dimensional scaling and canonical correlation analysis to test and examine the relationship of the four components of the theoretical framework of the Kaplans' Information Processing model, as a methodology for predicting landscape preference in the rural Indiana. The results of this study clearly illustrate the viability of the Kaplans' model in predicting preference, but findings reveal that some of the components have minimal impact on preference in the Indiana landscape. This study does, however, strongly advocate the utility of the Kaplans' model. With further research, practitioners and educators can apply models of this nature to assess scenic quality that are theoretically sound, have validity in terms of public perceptions and are adaptable to a variety of landscape contexts. -Author