Stimulus Overload Theory In Environmental Psychology

2000 and advanced in environmental psychology lewicka 2005.

Stimulus overload theory in environmental psychology. Stimulus load theorists state that environmental stimulus has an effect on human performance due to the fact that human beings. We weren t ancestrally prepared to deal with booming cities overly crowded schools and the bombardment of the world at our swiftly moving thumb tips. One branch of stimulation theory is adaptation level theory helson 1964.

Stimulus overload is seen in the presence of more than 2 stimuli around a person. Various theories have been developed in environmental psychology. Sensory overload occurs when one or more of the body s senses experiences over stimulation from the environment.

As was cited by schneider gruman and coutts 2012 stimulus overload is the idea that our society today is much too much for our hunter gatherer nervous systems. The theory holds that individuals adapt to particular levels of stimulation in certain environmental contexts. While there are several theories that have attempted to define this relationship the two that will be used for the purpose of this paper are stimulus load theory and arousal theory.

Examples of these elements are urbanization crowding noise mass media technology and the explosive growth of information. Milgram hypothesized that people who live in cities are constantly being subjected to stimuli in their environment. Environmental psychology attempts to explain the relationship between humans and their environment.

The urban overload hypothesis was created by stanley milgram in 1970. Arousal theory environmental load adaptation level theory within a behaviorist and determinist paradigm. The field of environmental psychology recognizes the need to be problem oriented using as needed the theories and methods of related disciplines such as psychology sociology anthropology.

Is where there are more than two stimuli present in the environment. There are many environmental elements that affect an individual.