Eric S. Knowles

Perception of Neighborhoods by City and Suburban Residents

A number of neighborhood studies have supported the view that urban areas are a mosaic of local communities or neighborhoods with clear boundaries and a high degree of identity. However, many of these studies are based on highly identifiable innercity natural areas in large metropolitan centers; thus, the generalizability of these findings is limited. Two studies broadened the investigation of these issues by looking at neighborhood perceptions of residents living in relatively undifferentiated innercity, outercity, and suburban areas of a middle-sized metropolitan area. In both studies, residents were asked to draw and describe their neighborhood. The first study (N=72) indicated that the content of neighborhood images differed by area of the city: city residents ascribed the same number of positive characteristics, but more negative characteristics to their neighborhood than did suburban residents. Moreover, suburban residents in both studies drew neighborhoods that were substantially larger than the innercity neighborhoods. The second study, conducted with 24 immediate neighbors from the inner city and suburb, indicated that in both areas there was a high degree of agreement among neighbors on the neighborhood limits, but little consensus on a neighborhood name. These results support and extend the local community model of neighborhoods: From city to suburb the imagability of neighborhood does not differ; it is both high and consensual. But the content of the image does change; suburban neighborhoods are seen as larger and less negative.

Affective and cognitive mediators of reactions to spatial invasions.

Abstract At a crosswalk on a busy street, a confederate, sketching a drawing or not, stood close or far from a pedestrian for 10 sec before the street light indicated “Walk.” In the first study, pedestrians were given the opportunity to subsequently help this confederate or another accomplice by calling attention to a dropped pen. In the second study, crossing speeds were timed and pedestrians were asked to record their mood and reactions to “another pedestrian,” who happened to be the confederate. These studies tested and found evidence for both cognitive and arousal explanations of reactions to spatial invasions. Cognitive and attributional theories imply that characteristics of the invader are important mediators of reactions to the invasion. The close nonartist was judged to be more inappropriate, produced faster escape speeds, and was helped less than the close artist or the far confederates. Arousal explanations imply that any invasion produces a generalized reaction which would be unrelated to characteristics of the invader. The other accomplice was helped less when the subject had been invaded and this reduction in helping was unaffected by the artist manipulation. These findings suggest a general arousal response to any invasion with a subsequent reliance on cognitive interpretations.

Convergent validity of personal space measures: Consistent results with low intercorrelations

Low correlations among personal space measures have been used as evidence against their convergent validity. This argument is analyzed and found limited to personality trait assumptions. Convergent validity more generally concerns whether findings from one measure generalize to other measures. In the present study 91 subjects completed three measures (a disguised interaction distance, figure placement distances, and the Comfortable Interpersonal Distance Scale) under different conditions of subject sex, sex of the other person, and acquaintance with the other person. The three measures showed an average intercorrelation ofr = .034, but consistent significant effects of acquaintance. These findings demonstrate that convergence of findings may be obtained even when measures are not highly correlated. The search for convergent validity should concentrate on the generalizability of findings rather than correlations among measures.

Social Cohesion Effects on Spatial Cohesion

A systems analysis of groups implies that strengthening the social bonds among group members should increase their spatial cohesion, that is, moving to avoid an invasion of the groups space. Male and female subjects (N = 48) received false information that a female confederate had very similar or dissimilar opinions. Afterward, subjects walking down a hallway with the confederate had to respond to a potential invasion of the dyad. Male subjects showed more protection of the group space in similar than in dissimilar conditions, but females showed uniformly high spatial cohesion. These results are interpreted as supporting the systems analysis.

Attributional Consequences of Personal Space Invasions

Two studies investigated the cognitive consequences of personal space invasions on a city sidewalk. Invaded pedestrians crossed a street faster, judged the invader more negatively, rated the invaders behavior as less appropriate, attributed specific intentions, and in one study but not the other, rated their own feelings less positively than did non-invaded pedestrians.

Norm Strength and Alms Giving: An Observational Study

Summary This study examines the applicability of normative theory to helping behavior. Temporally defined norms, such as those associated with holidays, are not subject to the criticisms applied to situationally defined norms. The charitable gift giving norms associated with Christmas were assumed to grow stronger as Christmas Day drew nearer. An observational study indicated that the average donation to a Salvation Army kettle increased with temporal nearness to Christmas. Analysis of these data and earlier studies suggests that intensity of charitable behavior may be associated with subject characteristics including strength of felt norms; whereas extensity may be associated with situational features.

The proximity of others: A critique of crowding research and integration with the Social Sciences

Dissatisfaction with density as a concept and as an operational definition appears to have resulted in neglect of the close presence of others as a defining initial condition for crowding. The problems with density are analyzed and an alternative conceptualization, the prox imity of others, is suggested. The proximity model based on the summed closeness to each other person present provides a per spective that (a) replaces density, (b) provides a basis for predicting some unexplained relationships in crowding, (c) emphasizes the similarity of crowding to other psychological and social science issues, and (d) suggests several neglected issues in crowding research.

Forms of social awareness and helping

Abstract People encounter situations from different forms of awareness; that is, they can attend to different focal topics (e.g., self, other person, or other persons situation) from different perspectives (e.g., the selfs viewpoint, the other persons viewpoint). Two studies assessed whether brief interactions would produce different forms of social awareness, whether the form of awareness would persist to a subsequent interaction, and whether it would influence helping in that encounter. Pedestrians on a city sidewalk were induced to become self-focused (experimenter took their picture), become other-focused (they took experimenters picture), or empathically adopt the perspective of another person (they advised experimenter where to take a picture). In Study 1, subjects were interviewed after leaving the experimenter. First- and third-person pronoun use and self-ratings suggested that subjects had different forms of awareness. In Study 2, pedestrians participated in one of the same three interaction conditions or a control noninteraction condition and subsequently encountered a confederate in need of help. Subjects in the self-focused and empathic condition helped more than subjects in the other-focused or control condition. Results suggest that forms of awareness created in a brief interaction do persist to subsequent interactions and influence helping. Other variables may influence helping by altering forms of social awareness.

A Comment on the Study of Classroom Ecology A Lament for the Good Old Days

Current research on classroom ecology fails to match the quality or interest of a little-known 60-year old study. Griffith (1921) studied approximately 20,000 grades achieved by students alphabetically assigned to seats in various lecture classes. Griffiths study is recounted and used to develop the following criticisms of recent classroom ecology research: (a) by dichotomizing front versus back of a classroom, recent studies preclude finding the curvilinear effects observed by Griffith, (b) recent studies do not consider the microecological features, such as aisles, empty seats, or local density, identified by Griffith as important, and 4c) recent studies do not focus on theoretical issues such as those discussed by, Griffith concerning how seating position might translate into higher grades and greater participation.

A critique of figure placement procedures in studies of crowding

Although often used, Desors figure-placement procedure makes an assumption that has not been tested. Two studies briefly reported indicate that the assumption that a constant criterion of crowdedness is being applied to different conditions is not always true. Several implications for simulation techniques and for general research strategies are discussed.