Landscape Journal · 2013 · 24 citations · 25 references
Natural ResourcesLandscape ArchitectureLandscape EcologyEnvironmental PsychologyLandscape MetricsLandscape Pattern AnalysisLandscape PhotographyTemporal Landscape ChangeColor Legibility In LandscapesComplexity MeasuresLandscape Perception AnalysisLandscape Perception AssessmentLandscape PreferencesLandscape Visual AssessmentSeasonal Change PhotographyVisual Preference
Visual landscape preference research over four decades has produced frameworks such as Kaplan and Kaplan’s four‑criterion model, yet the influence of seasonal plant changes on these criteria remains largely unexplored. This study investigates whether seasonal variations in plant and vegetative characteristics affect the four Kaplan criteria. Experts evaluated color photographs of five sites at three seasonal time points across three landscape projects, and repeated‑measures ANOVA assessed seasonal effects on each criterion. Seasonal changes significantly altered legibility ratings, with early‑to‑late summer and late summer‑to‑fall contrasts differing, while coherence, complexity, and mystery ratings remained unchanged.
Abstract Over 40 years of visual landscape preference studies have brought about numerous frameworks and informational factors for understanding and predicting human environmental perceptions. Rachel Kaplan and Stephen Kaplan (1989) developed one of the most widely cited, which is composed of four criteria—coherence, legibility, complexity, and mystery. Few if any studies have investigated whether these criteria are affected by naturally-and culturally-induced seasonal changes in plant and vegetative characteristics. This research need is addressed herein. At five locations within each of three landscape architecture project sites in Pennsylvania and New York, 27 experts estimated the presence of each criterion in color photographs taken at three different times of the year. Separate repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA) examined the effects of seasonal changes depicted in the photographs. Results showed that the seasons depicted had a significant effect on legibility estimates and a non-significant effect on estimates of coherence, complexity, and mystery. Planned contrasts showed that legibility estimates were significantly different between early and late summer, and late summer and fall. Suggestions for future research and practice are provided.
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