Cross-Cultural Environmental Modelling.

This paper reports a series of studies of environmental cognition. Conducted among American preschoolers, Navajo and Puerto Rican school children, and American, Mexican and Maori adults, all of the studies employ techniques of environmental modelling that permit objects such as buildings, trees and vehicles. A pilot test of the environmental modelling technique conducted in Puerto Rico in 1968 demonstrated that increasingly with age, children grouped the models in ways resembling landscapes. Subsequent studies indicated (1) positive features of the technique in assessing environmental cognition and (2) considerable ability among very young children. Among the Navajo the models were found to be very effective in eliciting talk about Navajo residence patterns. Environmental modelling was used in 1972 to assess environmental cognition among adults in Santa Monica, CA, and, later, to assess the relation of sex roles and socioeconomic class to environmental knowledge among Mexican adults. In 1978, the modelling technique was used to solve a problem of environmental design when the Maori of Waahi, New Zealand, were awarded money to relocate and redesign important areas and structures in their community. Through the use of modelling techniques in planning seminars attended by community participants, planners and other environmental professionals, spatial attributes of Maori cultural organization became evident. (Author/RH)