Experimental Lab
The School of Politics and Global Studies Experimental Lab is a research facility located on the 6th floor of Lattie F. Coor Hall at Arizona State University. The space is designed to facilitate the research of faculty and students from a variety of areas within the political science discipline. Explore exciting research taking place in the lab as well as information for students looking to participate in a study and researchers looking to utilize the lab.
Our objective
The first goal of the SPGS Experimental Lab is educational. The discipline of political science is built on previous research and findings. In order to allow students the best opportunity to learn about research first hand, students are required to participate in research directly or to read and write about published research findings. By participating in original research as subjects, students will see the research process from an inside perspective and have the ability to ask questions about the research process.
The second goal of the SPGS Experimental Lab is scientific. Political science is a vastly expanding and evolving field, with many questions remaining unanswered. Through the Experimental Lab, faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students in the political science program are conducting cutting edge research that benefits their own research agenda as well as helping to shape current and future developments in the field of political science.
Through participation in the Experimental Lab, students are contributing directly to the development of the science they are studying. By reviewing and writing a report on experimental research in political science (the alternative activity created for students who don't wish to participate in a study), students are able to examine the finished product of research.
Meet the team
Suited for your research needs
The Lab capabilities include...
An experimental laboratory designed to accommodate up to 15 individuals at a time.
Equipment which includes 18 laptops and 20 tablets that can be utilized for data collection as well as for presentation of experimental stimuli, such as political debates, political advertisements, newspaper articles, etc. The Lab is also equipped with headphones, privacy dividers, iMotions software, and MAXQDA software.
Being used for focus groups thanks to flexible furniture allowing for unique room configurations.
A reception/waiting area on the 6th floor of Coor Hall.
About iMotions Software
iMotions Software is one of the highlights of the SPGS Experimental Lab. Researchers using our Lab have the option to utilize iMotions Facial Expression Analysis in their studies to capture the emotions participants experience in response to stimuli. There are 40 muscles within the face which can each be individually triggered. FEA analyzes the thousands of different facial configurations to assess what emotions are being felt. Specifically, this software is able to capture feelings of joy, anger, surprise, fear, contempt, sadness, and disgust. For example, when someone is happy their cheeks raise, their lips move apart, and their lip corners lift up. Some facial expressions are easily visible to the naked eye (macro expressions). But other expressions are more difficult for a human to detect. This is where iMotions software comes into play.
In political science, this software may be used to assess how respondents feel about political campaign advertisements, public service announcements, campaign logos, or candidate's appearances, among other things.
One study conducted in our Lab demonstrated that there are significant differences between self-reported measures of emotions and emotional expressions documented by the iMotions software. Specifically, the iMotions software was better able to distinguish between different emotions and generate better predictions for the primary dependent variables in the study (Fridkin et al., 2021).
An example of iMotions
The Impact of Emotional Responses to Public Service Announcements: The Case of Gun Violence in Schools
We examine how people’s emotional reactions to gun violence public service announcements (PSAs) influence information acquisition, policy preferences, and political engagement. Utilizing a non-student sample of more than 100 participants, we look at people's emotional reactions (i.e., anger, sadness, contempt, and fear) to two Sandy Hook Promise PSAs. We assess people’s emotional reactions by relying on two complimentary measures: the traditional self-report measures as well as facial expression analysis. We demonstrate that when people are feeling sad after watching the Sandy Hook Promise PSAs, they are significantly more likely to retain information from a news article about school violence.
Furthermore, feelings of contempt and fear lead people to seek out additional information about gun violence. In addition, we find when people feel anger, contempt, and fear after watching the PSAs, they change their views of gun policies. Finally, fear and contempt increase people’s likelihood of becoming politically mobilized.