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Lighting quality contributions from biopsychological processes

From National Research Council Canada

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Affiliation
  1. National Research Council of Canada. NRC Institute for Research in Construction
FormatText, Article
Subjectlighting quality; visibility; photobiology; arousal; Lighting
Abstract
Internal processes, both biological and psychological, are thought to mediate the relationships between luminous conditions and such behavioral outcomes as task performance, mood, social behavior, aesthetic judgements and satisfaction. This review paper summarizes the state of knowledge concerning mediating biopsychological processes: visibility, photobiology, and stress and arousal. Visibility is well-understood and obviously relevant to lighting practice. Photobiology, however, is a new entrant to the realm of lighting research; its findings could have important implications for recommended illuminance levels if these were based on more than visibility. Stress and arousal, interrelated concepts, are popular notions, but close examination reveals only weak support for these mechanisms as explanations of lighting effects on behavior. The improved organization of research and increased predictive power that would result from clear exposition of theoretical mechanisms in lighting research holds promise for progress in linking research and application.
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In
  • Journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society 30, no. 1 (1 April 2001): 3–16.
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedYes
NRC numberNRCC 42468
NRC-IRC-8873
NPARC number20331643
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Record identifier04eff66a-c7fc-45cd-8fc8-288556b90c9d
Record created2012-07-18
Record modified2020-03-27
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