As the year-end holidays approach, people scheduling holiday events often face a dilemma -- should they do things the way they always have or try something different? Should they serve the same homemade soup on a holiday eve that they have for the last decade or so? What about the tried-and-true holiday decorations -- should they be retired? The holiday music whose CDs only see the light in the month of December?

The environmental psychology-based answer to all of these questions is simple: if it seemed like a good choice last year, don't change it.

Being around and experiencing familiar things makes us comfortable. We can relax when we believe we can predict what's coming next, and we've found whatever we know to be next up pleasant in the past. Physical things that are familiar can bring to mind all sorts of positive memories we associate with holidays past. But object-associated memories can be a reason to make a change as well. If something really negative happened during last year's festivities -- party-goers learned of an unexpected death, for example -- changes in the holiday décor may be in order.