Perception of Stimuli in Controlled Environment and Gender Impact on It Case Study: Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism Students at the International University of Imam Khomaini, Qazvin, Iran

Abstract
One of the main concepts in the domain of human-environment studies is the way of perceiving the environment, both in micro and macro scales. Since the neurological and cognitive system of humans is responsible for establishing connection between man and its environment and has its own specific facilities and limitations, urban planners, in the fields environmental planning and design, must have the required dominance about the mechanisms and processes of understanding the environment by people, to succeed in elevating the urban environment. This is because it is this perception which afterwards forms their interpretation of the environment and eventually emerges in a form of behavior in the environment.
Undoubtedly if the people’s behavior in an architectural, or, urban space would be closer to the view of urban planners and architects (and consequently, there would be agreement between the planner/designer and the consumer), we could claim that the result is more successful.
Seeing the environment from this point of view and utilizing its results in urban planning and architecture requires accurate recognition and study of the mechanisms and processes of the relation between human and the environment. The significant issue in this field is that global experiences show that there is considerable distinction between men and women’s environmental perception and their criteria. Among common methods for accomplishing this important task are empirical and experimental ones. Along this line and in an empirical activity, 51 male and female students (from the faculty of Architecture and Urbanism; IKIU.) were asked to attend a photo gallery and observe twenty two pictures of natural and manmade landscapes and then answer a number of questions according to what they saw. The aim of this experiment was primarily to determine the way of understanding the environment among these students in general, and secondly to specify if there is a considerable difference between males and females in this area or not? This article is the outcome of this research which along with reviewing the relevant literature analyzes the results obtained from this test.