Individuals Cognition of Spaces Essay

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Spatial Cognition

People perceive and understand space differently depending on how it makes them feel, especially with regards to boundaries. Consequently, the definition of space changes across various individuals because every space has different meanings and feelings for every individual. In some situations where individuals may feel comfortable and at peace in one space, others may be very uncomfortable and irritated. For instance, social statues can change the feelings people obtain from the specific space. Based on this analysis, it is relatively clear that space affects people differently, which contributes to varying interpretations, definitions, and understanding of space. Therefore, when addressing spatial cognition, it is increasingly important to examine the different ways space is perceived and the varying feelings associated with it.

People's Perception of Space

As previously mentioned, people's perceptions and understanding of space differ significantly on the premise of how space affect them, especially their feelings. The difference in interpretation, understanding, and definition of space is attributed to the fact that people can experience an environment in varying ways and from different perspectives (Pazzaglia & Meneghetti, 2010, p.1). Generally, people experience space through moving around in it, studying a map, evaluating it from an aerial view, or listening to a description of the specific place or space. The process through which an individual experiences an environment in turn affects his/her spatial representation or spatial cognition.

Together with social cognition, spatial cognition is influenced by people's interaction with the environment and with team members (Khan & Lodhi, 2014, p.744). Interactions between humans and the environment is a crucial component in spatial cognition because of the significance of the environment in the lives of humans. However, spatial cognition has received relatively minimal attention in literature in relation to visualization, geographical location, navigation and imagery of a certain location or place. These components continue to play a major role in spatial cognition, which incorporates mental approach and the experience of knowing, especially perception, conception, recognition, and reason. Throughout interactions between humans and the environment, people usually define space by developing their arguments in certain ways (Swearingen, 2010, p.27). In this process, they definitions are usually influenced by fights between people on how to use the specific space they are attempting to define.

The differing perceptions of space among individuals are also fueled by personal differences in wayfinding, which is an important element in spatial cognition and behavior. Generally, some people are better than others at wayfinding, which explains the differences in individual perception of space (Golledge, 1999, p.46). People have different capabilities in wayfinding because of the prevalence of goal-directed travel, which is not only an interesting issue to individuals but has also attracted the attention of psychologists, researchers, and geographers who examine the issue systematically. Individual differences in spatial cognition and behavior are influenced by several factors at varying systemic levels. Therefore, the issue of why the wayfinding capabilities of individuals differ is because of the mixture of qualified, partial, and conditional reactions instead of a simple, direct answer or explanation.

In essence, the perception of space among individuals is usually relative to visual overview, which varies with regards to proximity. Visual overview, particularly proximity, is influenced by boundaries, which can be physically continuous or discrete points that are commonly known as landmarks. However, landmarks are sometimes regarded as continuous since they may encompass or impose a shape on space. Individuals' knowledge of these boundaries and landmarks is not trivial and may involve goal-directed navigation (Dolins & Mitchell, 2010, p.1). People respond to actual space using behavioral strategies that are dependent on their perceptions of space.

How Space Affects People

Given the individual differences in spatial cognition, space has varying impacts on people with regards to the subsequent feelings it generates. Some of the most common ways through which space affects people include

Generating Different Feelings

One of the major impacts of space on people is that it generates different feelings because of the individual differences in perceptions and cognition of space. As previously mentioned, every space has different feelings among individuals because the meaning of every space differs in every person. Some spaces or locations that make people feel comfortable and at peace may make others feel irritated and uncomfortable because people define and understand spaces differently. For instance, it individuals are exposed to a place with social statues, their feelings about that space is increasingly likely to change. According to the findings of recent studies, being in a space where people are exposed to nature makes them feel more alive because it generates feelings of increased vitality (Ryan, 2010, p.159).

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Generally, exposure to nature has traditionally been linked to increased energy, improved sense of vitality, and a better sense of well-being. However, these feelings are generated among people with a greater sense of vitality who find pleasure in outdoor experiences. This implies that people without such high sense of vitality and pleasure may not find exposure outdoor experiences and nature as a source of sense of improved well-being and feelings of being more alive. Therefore, space affects people by generating different feelings among individuals based on the meanings they associated with the particular space as well as their interpretations.

Psychological Wellbeing and Creative Performance

The second way through which space affects people is through influencing a person's sense of psychological well-being and creative performance. The impact of space on an individual's psychological well-being and creative performance is attributed to the fact that physical dialogue takes place when a person interacts with a certain space. As a result of the physical dialogue during interactions, every space has the capability of shaping our personality or individuality as well as behavior. This implies that space has considerable impacts on the way people live their lives to an extent that it actually acts as a source of empowerment or discouragement. Consequently, urban planners, business owners, and designers are increasingly embracing the fact that people are partially defined by their interactions with spaces they occupy, interact with, and inhabit (McAuliffe, 2014).

According to Takayama et al. (2014), interactions between people and the environment has a considerable impact on psychological outcomes (p.7207). This is mainly because these interactions affect activity, which in turn influences psychological outcomes with regards to well-being and performance. These researchers made this conclusion based on findings that natural environments are strongly linked with improved health effects given that stress has become a public health issue, especially in urban settings. Therefore, space influences psychological well-being and creative performance either by generating stressors that contribute to poor health or dealing with these stressors to generate positive health effects.

Effect on Productivity

Since space affects our individuality and creative performance, it has considerable effects on productivity. This essentially means that our interactions with space determine our level of productivity. If an individual connects with the space he/she is occupying or inhabiting, he/she experiences enhanced productivity whereas the lack of such connections is strongly linked to decreased productivity and performance. Generally, when individuals feel uncomfortable with their surrounding spaces, they tend to decrease their engagement in their various activities, which in turn contributes to declining productivity. This is primarily because the feelings of discomfort make them lose some sense of control, which is crucial towards increased productivity and performance. If comfort with surrounding spaces is enhanced, individuals tend to regain some sense of control and happiness, which translates to increased engagement and productivity.

Social Interactions

Space affects people by influencing social interactions through accessibility and ability to navigate around a particular location. Generally, physical environment plays an important role in determining how social interactions take place, especially by influencing people's interpretations of intentions and desires of others. Space affects social interactions through interfering with the quality and frequency of communications given that communication between people involves both verbal and non-verbal cues. This implies that there is a strong link between the layout of space and the quality and frequency of social interactions. This effect of space on people occurs because inter-relations between individuals is largely determined by their physical environment (Skold, 2012).

Changes in Feelings between Individuals

As previously mentioned, space generates different feelings between people largely because of its numerous impacts. The changes in feelings from one person to another are largely a by-product of individual differences in meanings and perceptions of space. Based on the previous interactions, a person's cognition is an important element in determining the definitions and meanings of spaces. Therefore, people experience different feelings when interacting with spaces because they have different cognitive processes and abilities. This implies that spatial cognition is the biggest contributor not only to the various meanings of spaces but also feelings associated with these spaces. When a person interacts with or is exposed to a certain space, he/she begins engaging his thought processes and patterns in creating meaning and understanding of the specific space or place. The outcome of his thoughts determines his/her feelings regarding the space despite common meanings or feelings that may be associated with the same space. In this process, an….....

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