所謂《環境心理學)最簡單的說法就是利用行為科學的手法及技巧，嘗試去探索、了解人類和實質環境之間的互動關係。也就是說，了解人類如何認知及體驗實質環境;人類在實質環境中如何行為;以及實質環境如何影響人類。本文引介美國密西根大學Kaplan夫婦的《熟悉度》、《認知圖》及《偏好矩陣》之概念，來探討環境心理學如何幫助我們了解人和環境之間的互動關係，最後並說明如何利用這些概念來檢視、評估環境設計。

Environmental Psychology, using the techniques and skills of Behavioral Science, helps us realize the relationships between human and his physical environment. That is to say, it helps us in studying how people perceive and experience the physical environment; how people behave in the physical environment; and, in turn, how the physical environment affects people. In this paper, I introduce the concept of "Familiarity", "Cognitive Map", and "Preference Matrix", which are developed by R. Kaplan and S. Kaplan at the University of Michigan. By using these concepts, I try to unravel the relationships between people and his physical environment. I also explain how to put these concepts into practice. Overall, these concepts can be viewed as effective guidelines to design and evaluate the environmental design.