Environmental topic 5-psychological effects of the built environment

Question 2

Ulrich aim

Answer 2

investigate whether the view from a hospital bed affected the patients recovery from surgery

Question 3

Ulrich sample

Answer 3

46 patients aged 20-69 from a suburban pennsylvania hospital who had all undergone gall bladder removal surgery. they had no history of psychological disturbance and no serious post-op complications
23 pairs of patients were matched on relevant criteria such as age, gender, smoking, weight. one had a view of trees and the other of a brick wall

Question 4

Ulrich procedure

Answer 4

analysed records of patients assigned rooms on either the 2/3rd floor and rooms identical
all patients had gall bladder removal surgery between may and october.
a nurse who was unaware of which condition the patients had been in then analysed the records and noted the length of hospitality, analgesic, medication, doses for anxiety and nurses notes

Question 5

Ulrich results

Answer 5

patients with tree view spent significantly less time in hospital than wall-view patients (7.96vs8.70 days)
patients with the tree view took significantly fewer moderate and strong pain doses and more doses in the weak category
significantly more negative notes made about the wall view patients
no significant difference in terms of number or strength of anxiety medication or in terms of post op minor complications

Question 6

Cohen et al

Answer 6

investigated reading ability of 54 children living in bridge apartments in new york city attending the same public school and noise levels of traffic for those on high or lower floors
correlated noise levels readings with academic ability using the MAT measuring their ability to distuingish between similar words
found a significant correlation between floor level and auditory discrimination
auditory discrimination correlated positively with word knowledge, reading comprehension and total reading score

Question 7

White et al

Answer 7

longitudinal study of over 10,000 people between 1991 and 2007
controlling for changes over time including income, marital status, employment, physical health and housing type, they found that those living in greener areas experienced less mental distress and higher life satisfaction

Question 8

Armitage

Answer 8

investigated whether cul-de-sacs are less likely to experience crime than through roads.
analysed records of property crimes in greater manchester, west midlands and kent.
analysed recorded crime data from jan 2007 to december 2009 and found that sinuous cul-de-sacs had the lowest level of crime
suggested footpaths can be included when they are well used, short, direct, wide, overlooked, welllit and not running along the side or rear of properties