M. Carmen Hidalgo

Effect of urban vegetation on psychological restorativeness.

The present study analyzes the contribution which natural elements in the city make to restorativeness, that is, the potential of certain environments to help recover the capacity to focus attention, reduce mental fatigue, and reduce stress. We presented photographs of 12 urban scenes (streets, industrial areas, and buildings) with and without vegetation to 214 university students, divided into 12 groups who then completed the Perceived Restorativeness Scale. The results support the hypothesis, i.e., urban environments with natural elements yield higher restorativeness than urban environments lacking these.

Determinants of risk perception and willingness to tackle climate change. A pilot study

Abstract Different research papers have demonstrated that risk perception related to climate change can be attributed to different variables such as general environmental beliefs, knowledge about climate change and self-efficacy (Heath and Gifford, 2006; Sundblad, Biel and Gärling, 2007). However, the lack of agreement in the work carried out so far and the need to define specific scales of attitudes towards climate change indicate that further research must be conducted along these lines. This pilot study analyzes the determinants of risk perception and behavioral intentions in relation to climate change found in the literature. A Likert-type scale was developed to assess the following variables: knowledge, attitudes towards climate change and self-efficacy as predictive variables and risk perception and behavioral intentions as criteria variables. This scale was tested on 84 university students. The internal consistency of the scale was acceptable for all variables with the exception of attitude toward climate change where consistency was low. The results of the regression analyses showed that 44% of the variance observed in risk perception related to climate change can be explained by the level of knowledge, attitudes toward climate change and self-efficacy. 17% of the variance observed in relation to behavioral intentions can be predicted by attitudes toward climate change and self-efficacy.

Attachment to the physical dimension of places.

Social relationships had been important in explanation and prediction of attachment to places. Although some have asserted the importance of physical aspects of the environment in the formation of attachment ties to a place, the social environment is required for the formation of bonds to a place, although strong emphasis on the social aspect has been questioned and the importance of the physical environment noted. The present objective in two studies was to test whether college students (ns = 30 and 27) show a preference for a place they know, independently of the social interactions developed in them. Results confirmed the hypothesis, i.e., after a very brief stay in a certain place with nobody else there, these college students preferred that place to another with which they had not had previous contact.

Confirmación de la estructura factorial de una escala de apego e identidad con el barrio

Resumen Estudios previos indican que el apego y la identidad implican relaciones diferentes con un lugar, pero la alta correlación existente entre ambas variables a menudo dificulta su diferenciación empírica y conceptual. Esta falta de claridad en la relación entre distintos conceptos relacionados con el lugar representa para muchos el principal obstáculo para el avance en este campo. En este trabajo se realizó un análisis factorial confirmatorio para verificar la estructura factorial de la escala de apego e identidad con el barrio, desarrollada por Hernández, Hidalgo, Salazar-Laplace & Hess (2007). Asimismo, se compararon simultáneamente dos grupos creados en función de la variable tiempo de residencia. Los resultados permiten confirmar la estructura de los dos factores, validar que es la misma para los dos grupos comparados y valorar la influencia del tiempo de residencia en la intensidad de los vínculos.

Towards a Multidisciplinary Framework to Include Privacy in the Design of Video Surveillance Systems

Privacy impacts of video surveillance systems are a major concern. This paper presents our ongoing multidisciplinary approach to integrate privacy concerns in the design of video surveillance systems. The project aims at establishing a reference framework for the collection of privacy concepts and principles, the description of surveillance contexts, surveillance technologies, and accountability capabilities.

Predictores de la percepción de riesgo y del comportamiento ante el cambio climático. Un estudio piloto

Resumen Diferentes estudios han mostrado como determinantes de la percepción de riesgo del cambio climático diversas variables tales como las actitudes hacia el medio ambiente, los conocimientos sobre el cambio climático o la autoeficacia (Heath y Gifford, 2006; Sundblad, Biel y Gärling, 2007). Sin embargo, la falta de consenso en estos trabajos, así como la ausencia de escalas de actitudes específicas hacia el cambio climático sugieren la necesidad de profundizar en esta línea. En este estudio piloto se analizan conjuntamente los predictores de la percepción de riesgo y de la disposición a actuar contra el cambio climático más relevantes hallados en la literatura previa. Para ello se ha elaborado una escala tipo Likert para evaluar las variables objeto de estudio: conocimiento, actitudes hacia el cambio climático y autoeficacia como variables predictoras y percepción de riesgo e intención de conducta como variables criterio. Esta escala ha sido puesta a prueba en una muestra de 84 estudiantes universitarios. La consistencia interna de las escalas son aceptables, excepto la variable actitud hacia el cambio climático que obtiene un nivel bajo. Los resultados de los análisis de regresión indican que la percepción sobre la realidad del cambio climático se explica, en un 44% de la varianza, a partir del nivel de conocimientos, la actitud hacia el cambio climático y la autoeficacia. La intención de conducta se predice en un 17% a partir de la actitud hacia el cambio climático y la autoeficacia.

Confirmation of the factorial structure of neighbourhood attachment and neighbourhood identity scale

Abstract Previous studies indicate that attachment and identity imply different relationships with a place, but that the high correlation between both variables often hinders their empirical and conceptual differentiation. Such lack of clarity of the relationship between different place-related concepts is for many the main obstacle to furthering progress in this field. In this study, a confirmatory factorial analysis was conducted to verify the factorial structure of the neighbourhood attachment and neighbourhood identity scale developed by Hernández, Hidalgo, Salazar-Laplace, and Hess (2007). Moreover a simultaneous comparison was made of two groups based on the variable, length of residence. The results corroborate the structure of both factors, validate it as being the same in both groups, and assess the influence of length of residence on intensity of bond.

Naturaleza y bienestar infantil (Silvia Collado and José A. Corraliza)

Thanks to the Publishing division of the Fundación As Salgueiras, which is committed to publishing these kinds of works, and of course to the determination of its authors, Silvia Collado and Jose Antonio Corraliza, this interesting and necessary book will be brought to light, seeking to capture the attention of parents, educators, architects, urban planners, and political figures regarding the growing need to recover contact with nature as part of healthy and balanced childhood education and development, from a physical and psychological perspective. It is interesting because it highlights a largely unknown and yet extremely important aspect of urban life: the potential negative effects of a lack of contact with natural environments on children living in big cities, and the benefits provided by such contact. It is necessary, in turn, because awareness must urgently be raised with regard to this problem in order to tackle it. As shown clearly through the different chapters of the book, today’s urban living inflicts a series of deficits and negative impacts on personal wellbeing, as a consequent of a lack of interaction with nature: anxiety, attention and concentration deficits, hyperactivity, irritability, etc. The benefits provided by contact with nature on the physical and psychological wellbeing of adults, on the other hand, have been widely known in the field of Environmental Psychology for some years: greater psychological wellbeing, stress reduction, improved cognitive functioning such as attention span and memory, lower occurrence of physical illness and disease, among others. Only recently has attention turned to the benefits of natural environments on children, observing that regular contact with natural or semi-natural environments such as forests, parks, gardens, etc., also provides numerous benefits to children in terms of their creativity, physical activity, stress reduction, and health (for example obesity). Furthermore, children develop more favourable attitudes towards the environment, which translate into greater care and conservation of nature, which makes this interaction a mutually beneficial exchange.