Combining neuroscience and self-report

Persuasive messages have the potential to influence us by grabbing our attention, eliciting positive or negative cognitive responses, and ultimately impacting our memories, beliefs, and behaviors. My goal is to understand how language in these messages affects this process from attention to long-term outcomes. To this end, I compare brain activity and self-report measures (i.e., reactance, counterarguing, intentions) in response to persuasive health messages to reveal both similarities and differences in how messages are processed. Another line of work considers the effects of flow. Working with Dr. Richard Huskey and several other wonderful collaborators, we have published some articles testing the synchronization theory of flow. Check out the press coverage. Through this work I have gained expertise in Python (e.g., scikit-learn, pandas, etc.) and data visualization.

My dissertation, funded by the Sandi Smith Research Fellowship for Health and Risk Communication in the Michigan State University College of Communication Arts and Sciences, involves understanding how people’s brains respond to messages based off real-world social media campaigns to identify what messages are most engaging and effective. We use a low-cost minimally invasive mobile electroencephalography (EEG) device, to measure responses to messages about e-cigarette use. Participants view each word in the message individually and then write their thoughts about the messages. Participants also complete a pre- and post-survey about conversations they have about e-cigarettes. Brain responses to viewing the words will then be compared to recall and subsequent conversations, to gain theoretical and practical insights into how health-related messages affect attention and memory, or interpersonal conversation. This work requires careful data management and attention to detail. The datasets are typically large and require careful cleaning and prepation. Ensuring code and procedures are well-documented has been key to the efficiency and success of this work!

Collecting brain responses during interpersonal interactions

Another area of interest is understanding persuasive health messages in interpersonal contexts. What type of language in interpersonal relationships is more effective to encouraging behavior change and how are those messages perceived? Working with Dr. Elizabeth Dorrance Hall and Dr. Amanda Holmstrom, we have been examining the connection between face threat, and face mitigation strategies (i.e., attempts to reduce face threat), to reactance, and health-related outcomes. We look at these connections by examining daily conversations between romantic couples collected from a diary study. We have several ongoing projects using this data. Additionally, Dr. Dorrance Hall, Dr. Schmaelzle, and Dr. Holmstrom have prepared an NIH grant exploring this research further that I have assisted with. I am fortunate to have taken leadership roles in several of these projects and been able to apply for funding and mentor others as a leader.