Wolpert _1964_

							  Early Approaches to Human
          Geography
Introduction
                       Martin Phillips
     Behavioural and Humanistic Geographies
                           Ontology
                        Epistemology
Positivism
   Ontology     – phenomena to be explained as 'instances of laws'
                  (Schaeffer, 1953)
   Epistemology – scientific method – systematic/objective
                 observation
     Behavioural Geography

   Ontology of Behavioural Geography




   Epistemology of Behavioural Geography
     Behavioural Geography

   Ontology of Behavioural Geography
      even from within the ranks of the spatial scientists a measure of
      unease quickly began to emerge about the ability of their cherished
      'laws' and 'models' (notably their borrowings from Christaller, Von
      Thünen and Weber) to account adequately for observed patterns of
      location and movement within society (Cloke, 1991, p. 66-67).



      Human geographers began to
      question the concept of economic
      rationality
        Criticisms of economic rationality models



    Was 'profit maximisation' universal ?

    E.g. Wolpert (1964)
    »    People satificers as well as optimisers


    Was it ever possible ?
      Wolpert (1964) - rationality always 'bounded'

       –   by peoples' decision making ability
       –   variations in environmental knowledge
       Criticisms of economic rationality models


    Was 'profit maximisation' universal ?

    E.g. Wolpert (1964) - study of farm productivity in Sweden
    »    People were making sub-optimal decisions
    »    People satificers as well as optimisers

    Was it ever possible ?
       Wolpert (1964) - rationality always 'bounded'

       –   by peoples' decision making ability
       –   variations in environmental knowledge
      Criticisms of economic rationality models



      'perfect knowledge and a perfect ability to utilise such
      information in a rational fashion, economic man
      maximises returns and minimizes costs' (Blakemore
      1981: 96)
 Who has perfect knowledge?
 Knoweldge restricted by geography
     Spatially delimited knowledges
     Cognitive/mental maps (Downs and Stea 1973, Gould and
      White, 1974)
     Perceptual fields (Potter, 1976, 1977, 1979)
     Behavioural environments (Boal and Livingstone)
     Behavioural geographies

Golledge et al (1972) identify 5 areas of behavioural
  geography research
    Decision making and locational choice

    Information diffusion and innovation

    Search and learning

    Voting behaviour

    Hazard perception and mental maps
                   Epistemology


   Continuation of positivism?
        See Couclelis and Golledge 1983; Golledge and Counclelis
         1984; Golledge and Rushton 1984; Golledge and Stimson 1987


   Non-positivist ?
        See Burton (1963), Brookfield (1969) and Mercer and Powell
         (1972)