Eyes of Berlyn and Brunswik
Perceiving the Environment through Theories: The World in the
Eyes of Berlyne and Brunswik
Round 1: Experiencing Environmental Perception
The general picture
I entered a floral park somewhere in the State of [your State] on the 20th of March. I chose this place because it was where I felt most comfortable; it was quiet, peaceful, filled with solitude and the beauty of nature and its surroundings. I felt safe here, as it was far away from the city, and yet filled with the laughter of children who were playing around the park. It was a sunny afternoon, and it was the exact place where I could just move around, observe, take notes, and mentally step back and think. I can be observant and mindful in this type of surrounding and yet feel safe, as there were security officers moving around. This was not the first time I went in this park, but it still it felt so majestic like it’s the first time. What really caught my eye were the flowers being displayed in random colors and effects just next to the grass, while others were displayed in brown pots, arrayed in random shades.
Looking beyond the picture
It was the flowers that caught my dearest attention. There were colors of red, pink, tangerine, beige, lilac, and lavender so many colors of the rainbow arrayed in different styles across the grass. There were bees going over them, bugs and caterpillars hovering above the red and orange leaves, busy doing something with the leaves that only they knew. I noticed the sunshine that was displayed in the grass, making the leaves and flowers looked so grand like they were displayed in the glory of their robes of different shades. Looking at nature, I was brought to the tiny world of little creatures that were hovering above and below the leaves, and the flowers that were evident to the insects. I felt like I was transformed into a tiny creature, and looking at it I imagined what it would have felt like to be so tiny.
Round 2: The World in the Eyes of Berlyne
What the world is
In the eyes of Berlyne, the world that I entered was filled with flowers that were designed uniquely like they were a magic art of somebody great and highly artistic, capable of creating flowers of all kinds, all colors and styles. The flowers may all seemed similar from afar. But for somebody who was positioned close to them, such as I was, they looked so dissimilar from one another—not just different in colors but in the way they were designed. Some flowers were attractive because of their vibrant colors and shades. Other flowers were because of their large sizes. Others, on the other hand, may be tiny but were still attractive because they looked dainty and so appealing to the eye. I may have found them to be so attractive because it was not every day that I can see so many flowers displayed in just one place. I may have found them attractive because of the complexity behind those designs, in which I noticed that the work of art was spontaneous behind the shades of colors. It was like entering a new world fashioned in rainbows of colors and arrayed sublimely.
The world according to Berlyne
The world in the lens of Berlyn is a world of elements that are attractive in our insights; yet, each of us perceives differently these elements, and what may be attractive to one person may not be attractive to the other person. Berlyn believes in environmental appraisal, in which people have their own judgments of what is or is not attractive. In correspondence with the elements in the floral park, what takes place is my perception of the collative properties of elements, mostly the different flowers and creatures that are displayed. It catches my attention because of two things: first is novelty, which is newness to the perceiver; and second is complexity, wherein there is a large variety of elements being perceived in the display. It was these elements that influenced my judgment, so that I perceived the place to be very attractive. There is fittingness on the way the flowers were arrayed around the park, as there were leaves and sunshine displayed next to them.
Round 3: The World in the Eyes of Brunswik
What the world is
In the eyes of Brunswik, the world that I entered, which was the floral park, appeared more like a world of magic elements, where each flower corresponded an astounding creature that was not just magical but had a mind and feeling of its own. True, all creatures, including plants and flowers, do have life. But while I sat next to them, I imagined them to be alive with their own minds and feelings, much like people. I believed that they can feel us and wanted to be in tune with us; to be loved by us the way we loved people and animals alike. Like them, the flowers and plants also have feelings of their own. They have souls that correspond with us, wanting us to live as majestically as they do. It is a world that is so tiny people have had a hard time noticing them beyond their midst. Still, their world is one filled with rainbows of colors, as if they were inviting us to stay within their midst, and feel the breadth of land and the warmth of the sun, as they spread around a world so colorful.
The world according to Brunswik
The world in the lens of Brunswik captures the lens model, in which both people and the environment are important. Both the perceiver and the environment can be described as systems that have properties of their own. It would be uneven to just focus on the perceiver, or the people, and then discard the environment, such as the flowers and plants. They also have properties of their own, and lives of their own. They live within the land as well, and dwells within the mountain ranges, as much as humans and animals do. In the lens of Brunswik, the world is full of cues, and these can be perceived and brought to light when entering a new environment. Still, people are gifted with the perception of knowing what to look for in a given setting, and what cues appear to be more important than the others. For this, the world becomes filled with big and small elements that have lives of their own.
