Visual communication plays a crucial role in sharing relevant social information. Vision has been studied extensively in the domain of neuroscience, and visual communication has been explored through traditional social science avenues. However, the field can benefit greatly at the crossroads of communication neuroscience, similar to the intersection of biology and chemistry - biochemistry. One roadblock has been the cost and difficulty of incorporating neuroscience methods in communication studies. This study tested a novel electroencephalography (EEG) device that is far cheaper, easier to use, and more mobile than previous devices. The EEG system was used to compare event related potentials (ERPs) to affective visual stimuli - representative of the kinds of engaging content that pervades modern social media. While no differences were found between positive and neutral stimuli, ERPs were successfully detected by the new EEG system and the moderate strength of our affect manipulation may have precluded stronger effects. Additionally, making use of a "foot-in-the-door" compliance gaining technique in participant instructions led to significantly improved data capture. These results support the use of this EEG system in future communication studies and provides evidence for an easy social influence tactic that can improve data quality as neuroscience is being scaled up to big-data studies. Having an affordable and mobile EEG system makes it possible to incorporate neuroimaging into a variety of communication paradigms, extending beyond visual communication.
Read
