Farmers’ Attitudes Towards Organic and Conventional Agriculture: A Behavioural Perspective - Organic Food and Agriculture: New Trends and Developments in the Social Sciences - page 148

Fig. 1. A model of environmental behaviour
information is then used to update the cognitive map knowledge and to formulate a
behaviour decision. This decision leads either to a reiteration of the whole process, creating
another search for information from the real world until sufficient information has been
acquired or some time/cost limitation acts to constrain the search, or to overt behaviour. As
a result of the latter, the real world undergoes a change, fresh information becomes available
and the whole process begins again.
Cognition is likely to vary from individual to individual and hence from group to group,
but most such units seem to have enough in common between their cognitions to make it
possible to co-ordinate thought and action (Simmons, 1993). However, there is likely to be a
discrepancy between words and deeds. Cognition and perception lead to behaviour itself,
which may be considered as the taking of action in regard to some environmental feature
such as if, or when, to apply pesticides to a crop. There are psychological differences
between individuals (leading, for example, to differences in physical sensation when