The analysis of perception via preference: A strategy for studying how the environment is experienced

Systematic approaches to the management of the visual resource tend to be based on categorizations, and on assumptions of what is valued or preferred. Underlying these distinctions is an implicit view of the perception of the environment. The expert's perceptions, however, may be quite different from the perceptions of those who lack specialized training. While direct questioning regarding environmental perception is unlikely to be fruitful, it has been shown that the use of preference reactions to photographic material is a highly effective procedure for deriving salient perceptual categories. A series of studies focusing on diverse land uses and land covers has generated considerable insight into the way the environment is experienced by the general public. It is safe to say that these empirical results neither match the categories that are the provinces of professional groups assigned with the management of the visual resource, nor do they correspond directly to the attributes assumed to be important in preference. Rather, environmental perception is finely tuned in certain kinds of environments and much less differentiated in others. Equally preferred scenes may fit distinctly different categories. The neglect of the public's categorizations and valuation may lead to approaches that are apparently rational and systematic, but inconsistent with such prevailing perceptions.