ABSTRACT
This chapter begins to explore how the relations between people and place are mediated by processes of information acquisition and processing that differ between individuals according to their age, bodily ability, gender, social role and so on. Environmental perception refers to the acquisition of information from our surroundings via the senses of touch, taste, hearing, smell and sight. The use of these senses differs from person to person and also from place to place. Environmental cognition refers to the way this information is processed and organized by the brain. This process differs according to our reasons for being in particular places as well as our psychological development. Information acquired from the environment is built up into environmental images which are stable and learned mental constructs which are used to orientate ourselves in familiar and less familiar places. Mental mapping techniques, distance-estimation exercises and questionnaires are important means of exploring these images.
