Employing Biometric Measurements to Evaluate Emotional Responses to Media Interactions
In a recent study, researchers investigated the impact of interrupting video content every three minutes for self-reporting on viewers' emotional experience. The study, which used the short film Helium, found that such interruptions can alter the emotional experience of viewers.
The study, which involved 16 test participants who watched the short film, divided the participants into a control group and an intervention group. The intervention group was interrupted every three minutes during the video, while the control group was not.
The researchers used the SAM pictogram scale to capture the subjective experiences of nine subjects in the intervention group during the video. On the other hand, the GSR data analysis was not conducted for the control group.
The GSR data from the intervention group showed a correlation between GSR measures and interruptions for self-reporting. Specifically, the data indicated that it took an average of 30 seconds for subjects in the intervention group to return to "normal" after interruptions.
The statistical evaluation of the video content showed evidence of a reduced experience in the intervention group when using the method of interruptions for self-reports. However, the study did not specify the exact method used to measure the statistical evidence of a reduced experience in the intervention group.
The study found that the interruptions caused by self-reporting had negative effects on the subjects' emotional experience, as evidenced by the biometric GSR data. The researchers suggest that these interruptions disrupt emotional immersion and alter subsequent emotional responses to the content.
The researchers explain that pausing the narrative flow for self-assessment breaks the continuity of the emotional engagement with the video, causing viewers to cognitively shift from experiencing emotions to reflecting on them. As a result, their emotional state during the viewing may be influenced or attenuated by the act of self-reporting itself.
This effect aligns with prior research in emotion and media studies that show self-report interruptions can affect emotional intensity, recall, and authenticity of feelings during media consumption.
In conclusion, the study suggests that interrupting video content every few minutes for self-reporting tends to interfere with and modify the viewer’s emotional experience, reflecting a trade-off between real-time emotional data collection and preserving immersive emotional engagement. The study, however, did not reveal any information about the subjects' emotional experience in the control group during the video.
The researchers propose that future health-and-wellness studies, focusing on mental-health and using therapies-and-treatments, should consider the impact of interrupting video content on viewers' emotional experiences, as such interruptions might disrupt emotional immersion and alter subsequent emotional responses to the content.
Incorporating self-reporting methods in scientific research, specifically within the field of health-and-wellness, needs to balance real-time emotional data collection with preserving the immersive emotional engagement of the subjects, to ensure an accurate and authentic representation of their emotional experiences during the study.
