Choice and Stability of Young Children's Preferences for Physical-Environmental Setting Characteristics

Abstract

The present study investigated preschool children's (17 boys and 30 girls) environmental preferences in size, shape, color, complexity, texture and lighting. Using a guided story-walk as a prop, each characteristic was presented to the child in simplified contexts incorporating the theme of home and its surroundings. Young children discriminate, in selected fashion, in their preferential responses to physical-environmental characteristics of the environment, with color and texture serving as salient dimensions for the boys and girls and also among the 24 younger children, aged 3 to 4 yr. Stability of choices across the two settings characterized the preferences of both younger and older preschool children.