Models of Preference for Outdoor Scenes

Abstract

Predictions derived from three models of the relations between cognitive processing of and preference responses to outdoor scenes were examined. Twelve scene types were identified, ranging from the inner city to large-scale natural environments found in the Sydney region of Australia, the Padua region of northern Italy, and the Netherlands. In two experiments, participants from the three locations made preference, familiarity, and typicality judgments of all examples of each scene type, with the participants from Sydney and Padua making judgments of the stimuli from both locations while the Dutch participants judged the stimuli froll all three locations. The results of the experiments were most consistent with a preference-for-differences model, with only limited evidence for a preference-for-prototypes model. The largest effect on preference was related to scene type, an effect that is difficult to explain using either of the models of preference. It is argued that this presents a significant problem if it is accepted that preference is considered an important aspect of environmental experience.