Capturing the hike experience on video: A new methodology for studying human transactions with nature.
Item
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Title
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Capturing the hike experience on video: A new methodology for studying human transactions with nature.
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Identifier
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AAI3144162
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identifier
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3144162
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Creator
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Mausner, Claudia.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Gary Winkel
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Date
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2004
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Recreation | Psychology, Behavioral | Geography | Land Use Planning | Anthropology, Cultural | Natural Resource Management | Landscape Architecture
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Abstract
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Few empirical studies have examined the human experience of nature. Most research has focused on human response to nature vis-a-vis landscape perception, using photographs or slides in laboratory settings. Questionnaires, rating scales, and physiological indicators have been used to evaluate responses to these simulations. This dissertation addressed the methodological shortcomings of existing research by developing new techniques for studying human transactions with nature in a real-world context. These techniques incorporated multisensory environmental information, visual and extra-visual perception, movement, and the dynamics of time. Hiking was the focus of inquiry, as an outdoor activity which promotes interaction with nature. Members of the Appalachian Mountain Club were recruited to hike a 5-mile trail section in New York's Sterling Forest State Park. Six separate hikes were conducted, each with a different pair of hike partners. One person wore a forehead-mounted microvideo camera to videotape the hike from beginning to end. Both partners wore external microphones to capture conversation and environmental sounds; they were instructed to talk about what they heard, touched, smelled, or saw while hiking.;A questionnaire was administered immediately after each hike, and follow-up interviews were conducted to review excerpts from the videotaped hikes (see CD-ROM with sample clips). The HIKEN(TM) notation system, similar in design to a musical score, was developed to facilitate analysis of the extensive videotape data. The existing literature served as a heuristic for theoretical analysis. Findings indicate that many assumptions which underlie the traditional approach to this subject need to be revised to accommodate a real-world context. Attention is an area of inquiry that deserves greater emphasis, along with individual differences and changes in human-nature transactions over time and across settings. The hike experience must be studied in terms of kinesthetics and multimodal perception, and challenge is a dimension in need of focused investigation. Analysis of the hike as a sequence of events revealed the quality of "insideness", a subject which can be explored further from a phenomenological perspective. This study also offers preliminary direction for improved design and maintenance of hiking trails, to expand their potential for providing diverse and rewarding nature experience.*.;*This dissertation is a compound document (contains both a paper copy and a CD as part of the dissertation).
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy Restricted.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.