Lab Precision with Real-World Scalability

How much does our environment really shape our emotional reactions? Join us for an insightful conversation with researcher Ana Luísa Abreu, who is exploring this very question by comparing physiological responses measured in traditional labs with those captured in people’s homes.

Ana shares her journey into making research more ‘real-world’, discussing the challenges and rewards of studying electrodermal activity (EDA) – a key marker of emotional arousal – outside controlled settings. Learn about the surprising consistency found across environments, how this impacts our understanding of emotion in everyday life, and the practical implications for everything from market research to future tech, developed through her work with Mediaprobe.

1. What motivated you to pursue this particular study on psychophysiological responses in controlled vs. naturalistic settings?
Since my master’s studies, I have been deeply interested in conducting research in the most naturalistic way possible. My research journey began with an investigation into facial familiarity using electroencephalography where participants viewed faces of both friends and strangers, allowing me to observe the neurophysiological differences in emotion recognition between familiar and unfamiliar individuals.
I believe Mediaprobe’s greatest strength lies in its ability to translate laboratory-based research into people’s everyday lives, thereby achieving significantly greater ecological validity. So, when the opportunity arose to join a research position at Mediaprobe, my top priority was to move beyond the limitations of the laboratory setting and explore the potential of real-world research. I initiated my work at Mediaprobe by investigating the differences in large-scale electrodermal activity measurements collected in naturalistic settings and comparing these findings with comparable measurements obtained in a controlled laboratory environment.


2. Could you elaborate on the challenges you faced when comparing lab and naturalistic environments?
Indeed, the fundamental challenge in comparing laboratory and naturalistic environments lies in navigating the inherent trade-off between experimental control and ecological validity. The very strength of naturalistic settings – their real-world context – introduces complexities in maintaining the rigorous control achievable in a laboratory. This often leads to environments that are inherently more variable and less standardized, potentially impacting the signal-to-noise ratio and overall reliability of our psychophysiological data. Finding the optimal balance between these two crucial aspects is a constant consideration.


Furthermore, conducting research within participants’ homes introduces unique ethical considerations beyond those typically encountered in a controlled laboratory setting. Recognizing this, and given my doctoral fellowship jointly supported by Mediaprobe and the University of Minho, all our research projects undergo thorough ethical review. We dedicate significant time and resources to ensure full conformity with the ethical norms and guidelines established by the Ethics Committee for Research in Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Minho. This meticulous ethical oversight is of utmost importance when conducting research in such personal and varied environments.


3. Why was electrodermal activity (EDA) chosen as the focus for emotional reactivity measurement?
Electrodermal activity (EDA) was chosen as a key focus for emotional reactivity measurement for several compelling reasons rooted in its physiological basis and practical advantages.
Fundamentally, EDA directly reflects the activity of the sympathetic nervous system, a crucial component of the autonomic nervous system responsible for the body’s “fight-or-flight” response. When an emotionally arousing event occurs, whether positive or negative, such as excitement, fear, or surprise, the sympathetic nervous system becomes activated. This activation leads to increased stimulation of the eccrine sweat glands, particularly those concentrated in the palms and soles. The sweat produced contains electrolytes, which significantly enhance the skin’s ability to conduct electricity. Therefore, changes in EDA serve as a sensitive indirect measure of sympathetic nervous system arousal, a core physiological component of emotional responses, specifically their intensity or arousal level.
Beyond its physiological basis, EDA offers significant practical advantages for measurement. Compared to more complex techniques like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), EDA is relatively non-invasive, requiring only the placement of simple electrodes on the skin, typically the palm. This ease of recording makes it particularly well-suited for research in naturalistic environments, where complex and “heavier” equipment becomes impractical.
Furthermore, EDA provides a continuous measure of physiological changes, allowing for the tracking of the temporal dynamics of emotional responses as they unfold in real-time, offering valuable insights into the time course of emotional reactions to different stimuli or situations.
Finally, EDA is largely an implicit measure, meaning participants have limited conscious control over their skin conductance responses. This can provide a more direct and potentially less biased window into underlying emotional reactions, including those that might not be fully captured by self-report measures or conscious awareness, potentially revealing more automatic or unconscious aspects of emotional processing.


4. What are the key implications of finding no significant differences in EDA responses across settings?
Finding no significant differences in EDA responses across controlled laboratory settings and naturalistic environments would have several important implications. Firstly, it could suggest that the emotional response being measured is robust and consistent across these different contexts. This would imply that the artificiality of the laboratory setting, or conversely, the complexities of the real world, do not significantly alter this response. Secondly, it could also imply that EDA is a reliable measure for comparing emotional reactivity across different environments, as it doesn’t appear to be overly sensitive to contextual variations. And ultimately, it might suggest that for certain research questions, the more logistically complex lab data collection might not be necessary, and valuable insights can be gained efficiently ecologically.


5. Can you share more about how ecological validity enhances our understanding of emotion in real-world contexts?
In a lab, we show participants a short, emotionally evocative video clip while measuring their EDA. The setting is controlled: they’re sitting in a quiet room, focused on the screen, knowing they’re being monitored.
Now, imagine the same person watching the same video clip at home, perhaps while their children are playing in the background or while they’re multitasking. The emotional impact and their physiological response (EDA) might be different. At home, they might be more distracted, their emotional state might be influenced by other ongoing events, and their overall level of arousal might be different than in the focused lab setting.
By including ecological settings we are able to see how the real-world context (being at home, potential distractions, social interactions) can modulate the physiological response to the same emotional stimulus. The lab might give us a “pure” measure in a controlled environment, but the naturalistic setting shows us how that response is influenced by the complexities of everyday life. Our emotional experiences are rarely isolated events. They are usually embedded within a stream of other activities and influenced by our surroundings and social interactions. Studying EDA in naturalistic settings helps us understand the physiological component of emotion within this real-world flow.
If we only studied EDA in the lab, we might overestimate or underestimate the typical physiological response to certain stimuli in everyday life. Understanding how context alters these responses is crucial for interpreting lab findings and applying them to real-world situations. For example, the level of arousal to an advertisement viewed at home might be very different from the arousal level when it’s viewed in a crowded and stimulating environment.


6. How has working with Mediaprobe influenced the direction or methodology of your research?
Working with Mediaprobe has profoundly influenced the direction and methodology of my research, primarily by enabling a significant shift towards more naturalistic approaches. Having been deeply interested in studying emotions in real-world contexts since my master’s, the opportunity to take advantage of Mediaprobe’s in-home data collection protocol has been transformative. It has allowed me to move beyond the inherent limitations of controlled laboratory settings and investigate emotional reactivity, as measured by EDA, in the rich and complex environments of people’s everyday lives. Furthermore, Mediaprobe’s methodology has opened up the possibility of collecting data from a larger and more diverse sample than would typically be feasible in traditional lab studies. More importantly, the collaborative aspect of working with Mediaprobe’s team, with their expertise in this type of technology and real-world applications, has also broadened my perspective on the potential impact and relevance of my research.


7. What insights have you gained about the commercial applications of your findings?
Our research comparing psychophysiological responses in controlled laboratory settings with those in naturalistic, large-scale environments has revealed several key insights with significant commercial potential. A particularly noteworthy finding is the consistent electrodermal activity (EDA) observed when participants viewed the same emotional video content across both settings.
This consistency has direct implications for advertising and marketing, for instance. The fact that the core physiological response to emotional stimuli, such as advertisements, appears similar whether viewed in a controlled lab or in the more complex home environment strengthens the validity of using ecologically sound methodologies for initial impact assessment. Furthermore, our naturalistic approach allows us to delve deeper into how real-world viewing contexts – like co-viewing with family or the specific program content surrounding an ad – might subtly modulate these responses. This nuanced understanding can be invaluable for developing more effective ad placement and audience targeting strategies, ultimately optimizing advertising spend and engagement.


8. How do you envision integrating Mediaprobe’s technology into future studies or real-world solutions?
Building on our current findings regarding the consistency of EDA responses, I plan to leverage Mediaprobe’s methodology to explore the nuances of these responses across more diverse real-world contexts. A prime example of this is my PhD project, which aims to achieve a highly ecological simulation of in-game football gambling by bringing a lab-simulated experience directly to people’s homes.
This research is driven by the critical understanding that while gambling is a recreational activity for many, it can lead to severe negative consequences for a subset of individuals, impacting their health, relationships, and financial stability. Indeed, problem gambling is associated with mental and physical health issues, and alarmingly, with suicidal ideation and attempts. Emerging research suggests that the dynamic nature of in-play sports betting may heighten the risk of these harms, and the development of serious gambling problems compared to traditional forms of gambling.
A growing body of evidence indicates that emotions play a significant role in the initiation and maintenance of gambling behavior. However, the precise mechanisms underlying this intricate relationship remain largely unexplored. My PhD project seeks to elucidate this connection in both controlled laboratory settings and the complexities of real-life environments. By employing Mediaprobe’s approach, we aim to identify the immediate emotional cues and psychophysiological markers, such as EDA phasic response, that precede gambling decisions. This dual-environment approach will allow us to compare the intensity and patterns of emotional responses in a controlled simulation versus the unpredictable context of at-home sports betting.
This in-depth investigation into the emotional underpinnings of gambling behavior in an ecologically valid setting represents just one potential avenue for integrating Mediaprobe’s technology. The ability to capture continuous, real-time psychophysiological data in naturalistic environments opens a wide range of possibilities for future research across various domains, offering a more nuanced and applicable understanding of human emotional responses in the complexities of everyday life.


9. How can these findings help Mediaprobe refine its Emotional Impact Score (EIS) for ad placement or campaign optimization?
Our findings on the consistency of EDA responses to emotional video content across both controlled lab and large-scale home environments suggest that the core physiological arousal captured in a lab setting is a robust indicator of real-world impact. This could validate the foundational metrics of the current EIS.