The role of familiarity in landscape aesthetics: A study of tallgrass prairie landscapes.

Abstract

The role of familiarity in aesthetic appreciation of tallgrass prairie landscapes was investigated in two separate studies. In both studies, familiarity was assessed through self-report measures of Experience, Background, and Predisposition. Knowledge, as an additional index of familiarity, was assessed in Study I and manipulated in Study II. The manipulation involved a lecture focussing either on the ecological or the cultural/historical aspects of prairies; a control group received no instruction. Preference was measured by having the participants rate 41 prairie landscape scenes. Analysis of the preference ratings also provided insight into the way participants perceived the prairie landscapes studied. Students in a variety of University courses participated in the studies, with 197 participants in Study I and 204 participants in Study II. The results of both studies were clear in terms of the relationship between familiarity and preference. In both studies those participants with higher Knowledge and Experience levels, rural Background, and Predisposition for prairie and natural settings had significantly higher preferences for prairie scenes than did other participants. Thus, greater familiarity with the prairie landscapes studied predicts greater preference for those landscapes. In terms of perception of prairies, five landscape categories were discerned from analysis of preference ratings. The major themes or key characteristics of these landscape categories were: landform, foreground texture, color, landscape pattern, and sky pattern. For the majority of the participants, who had minimal familiarity with prairies, these themes or characteristics are important in allowing perception and understanding of prairie lands. This work reviews literature from diverse sources that support the positive relationship between familiarity and preference. It also suggests that new aesthetic assessment techniques may need to be developed for prairies and perhaps other open lands. These techniques should acknowledge and consider this relationship between familiarity and preference.