UB

DEPARTMENT 0F
ENVIR0NMENTAL
SCIENCE

% CRUUP ASSIC

AmanLle k LenLswe 200902S4S
nLlameLse MouLlakgola
200902S91
LucenLla Seleka 200904900
8onolo 8 nLhaba 200903140
1hablso Monakwane 200903017



ULS1ICN 4C|ear|y art|cu|at|ng the key po|nts of each approach
compare and contrast the phenomeno|og|ca| and behav|our|st
approaches to human geography


Human geography is a branch oI geography that Iocuses on the study on the patterns and processes that
shape human interactions with the environment; it also Iocuses on the study oI human use and
understanding oI the world and the processes that aIIects it. It combines the economic and cultural
geography to explore the relationships between humans and their natural environment. Human geography
deals with the interaction oI the humans and the environment and as such geographers developed
approaches in order to study and analyze these interactions. It is Ior this reasons that the essay seeks to
brieIly provide a brieI explanation to what the phenomenological and behaviorist approach to human
geography are and how they came about and as well as to comparing and contrasting these two
approaches to human geography.
StanIord Encyclopedia oI Philosophy (2008), deIined phenomenology as 'the study oI structure oI
experience or consciousness; the study oI phenomena`: appearances oI things, or things as they appear in
our experience, or the ways we experience, things thus the meanings things have our experience. The
word phenomenology itselI dates as back as the 18
th
century and was applied by the Swiss-German
mathematician and philosopher, Johann Heinrich Lambert to part his knowledge that distinguishes truth
Irom illusions and errors. In the 19
th
century the word was used chieIly associated by G.W.F Hegel, who
traced the development oI the human spirit Irom mere sense to absolute knowledge`. And thereIore as
already suggested in the deIinition oI the phenomenology, the phenomenological approach involves 'a
return oI experiences in order to obtain comprehensive description that provides the basis Ior a reIlective
structural analysis that portrays the essence oI the experience (van Kaam, 1966, p15).
Behaviorism is the philosophical position that says that psychology, to be a science, must Iocus its
attentions on what are observable, the environment and behavior, rather than what is only available to the
individual; perceptions, thoughts, images, Ieelings and others. The latter are subjective and immune to
measurement, and thereIore can never lead to an objective science. It is said to have begun around the 20
th

century where many oI the psychologist talked mostly about introspection which is about what the
psychologist analyses their mental processes. The Iirst behaviorists were Russians and the very Iirst was
Ivan M. Sechenov (1829 to 1905) but it was Iounded by a US psychologist by the name oI John Broadus
Watson. Researchers like Ivan Pavlov and John B. Watson started to develop a structure which
emphasized observable processes which are behavioral responses and environmental stimuli and the
results was a new approach called behaviorism which grew stronger Ior about IiIty years becoming the
most leading Iramework Ior experimental research. This approach made psychologists to gain interest in
other approaches and still it is very inIluential today. Ivan Petrovich conducted some experiments
showing that learning is based association. He proved this by his theory which he called conditioned
reIlex whereby he used dogs.


The behaviorist approach to human geography is an approach brought about as a response to the spatial
analytic interest and thus tries to explain the interactions between human beings behavior and the spatial
behavior. It argues that human beings can never make perIect decisions because their ability and
knowledge is always restricted (Blakemore, 1986) while the phenomenological approach to human
geography is an approach that was aimed at understanding the world than scientiIically explaining it. It is
aimed at behaviorism which is the theory that human behavior is determined by conditioning (a change in
behavior due to association between events) rather than by the mind and emotions. The phenomenological
approach is concerned with the study oI experience Irom the perspective oI an individual and thereIore
rejecting the quantitative approach while the behaviorist approach Iocus its attentions on what are
observable, the environment and behavior, rather than what is only available to the individual;
perceptions, thoughts, images, Ieelings and others and by so doing providing an understanding to the
relationship between the human beings and the spatial behavior.
The phenomenological approach is based on the paradigm oI knowledge and subjectivity as compared to
the behaviorist approach and also emphasizes the importance oI personal perspective and interpretation,
that is, the approach Iocuses on an individual and each individual has their own diIIerent meaning and
thereIore this make the approach to develop an individuals` world, a world with an individual`s own
actions and the meanings oI the phenomena in that individual`s world. And the behaviorist approach is
objective and is based on spatial geography and emphasizes the cognitive and decision making variables
in order to help provide an understanding to the relationship between the environment and the spatial
behavior, that it promotes the spatial behavior through people`s ability to remember, process and evaluate
the mental maps. It is Ior the above reasons that one can also say the behavior provides qualitative results
as it based on a group oI people while the phenomenological approach provides quantitative results as it
Iocuses on an individual.
Both theories are based on decision making where by one is based on individual level and the other one is
based at group level. In addition to that another school oI thought maintained that both theories are
inIluenced by the environment and this can be supported by Ivan Petrovich who conducted some
experiments showing that learning is based association. He proved this by his theory which he called
conditioned reIlex whereby he used dogs. Using his knowledge that expectation could not only be
encouraged by the sight and smell oI Iood but also by other associated stimuli such as the sounds oI their
keeper's approach. When the bell is rung many times with no meat Iorthcoming, the dog eventually stops
salivating at the sound oI the bell. But, just give him a little meat powder once, and it is as iI he had never
had the behavior extinguished: He is right back to salivating to the bell. This impulsive recovery
strongly suggests that the habit has been there all alone. The dog had simply learned to be in command oI


his response and all these prove that we are inIluenced by the environment. The push-pull model oI
migration assumed environmental determinants oI movement, speciIically identiIying negative push
Iactors at the immigrant source area and positive pull Iactors at the immigrant receiving area (Bogue,
1969). In this model, the behavior oI moving is a response to speciIic environmental stimuli with the
intended consequence oI improved well-being. Chapin (1974) developed a model to explain human
activities that recognized the role played by motivated behavior aimed to satisIy individual wants through
activity in the environment
Though both approaches diIIer in that one Iocuses at individual and the other a group, they all approaches
in human geography that seek to analyze human behavior, how they interact with their environment and
to provide an understanding to the relationship between human beings and the spatial behavior. The
phenomenological approach Iocuses on how people relate consciously, subconsciously and unconsciously
to objects in the world and also the behaviorist approach is concerned the relationship between human
behavior and the spatial behavior.
In conclusion it is possible Ior one to say the phenomenological approach developed Irom the behaviorist
approach, in as time went on the population became an issue and thereIore shiIting the Iocus Irom and
individual but rather a group oI people. And also though the approaches may seem to diIIer a bit their
aims and reasons why they were developed are more or less the same, to study the relationship between
the environment and human beings.




REFERENCES
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-phenomenology.htm
http://www.meriam-webster.com/dictionary
Helen Hemingway Benton. 1974. Knowledge in Depth. The New Encyclopedia Britannica. William
Benton Publisher. Seoul/Sydney/Tokyo/Toronto
Keith Bassett. 1999. Progress in Human Geography. Bristol BS8 1SS, UK