Perceptual Regions in Texas

Abstract

PERCEPTUAL or vernacular regions are those perceived to exist by their inhabitants and other members of the population at large. They exist as part of popular or folk culture. Rather than being the intellectual creation of the professional geographer, the vernacular region is the product of the spatial perception of average people. Rather than being based on carefully chosen, quantifiable criteria, such regions are composites of the mental maps of the population. Geographers in the United States have recognized the existence of perceptual regions for some years, but few have attempted to study them. Pioneer works by Joseph W. Brownell and Gary S. Dunbar appeared in the early I96o's.' Seemingly these have had little impact; and even the infusion of behavioral psychology, which yielded such a rich and abundant harvest of perception studies in American geography, has so far produced only a handful of investigations of perceptual regions.2 In an effort to map and analyze the major vernacular regions of Texas, I gathered data by means of a questionnaire administered to 3,860 Texans in the spring of 1977. Questionnaries were distributed in classrooms at thirty colleges and universities across Texas (Fig. I). Under controlled conditions designed to prevent prior discussion or suggestion of correct answers, respondents were asked to reply in writing to questions concerning vernacular regions as related to their home county.3 A fairly good distribution of counties was obtained in this manner. To cover most of the scattering of rural counties for which no responses were received, questionnaires were distributed to some nonstudent residents-county farm agents, postmasters, newspaper editors, and the like. Tlie large majority of respondents, however, were college students, and as a result most were young, above average in education, and wealthier than the norm. The sample is thus biased in several respects and my findings should be regarded with some caution. I do feel, however, that the regional patterns shown are basically accurate.

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