Lab Five: EMG and Facial Analysis (During Jokes and Problems)

Apparatus
Two Coulbourne bioamplifiers will amplify the signals to be displayed on the Windows 2000 computer.

Procedure
Select a subject. Please read the instructions only if you are to be an experimenter. If you are to be the subject stop reading at this point.

Attach the EMG electrodes (Andreassi, 1995) over the left corrugator muscle
between the eyebrows and the left zygomatic muscle on the. Place the ground electrode on the mastoid bone behind the ear. Note the computer created subject (above, DiMarco, 1994) is showing both corrugation and smiling which is unusual.

Take the subject to the "subject's room". position the subject so that you can see his or her facial expression on the monitor.

Begin recording MARK THE RECORD and take a 2 min baseline. Begin the telling the jokes. After the jokes MARK THE RECORD and take another 2 min. baseline, MARK THE RECORD again and begin giving the problems. MARK THE RECORD FOR EACH ANSWER. After the problems MARK THE RECORD and take another 2 min baseline.

Materials

Some jokes (Emmanuele, Dale & Klions, 1997);

1. Message on the computer: When this computer breaks down it has a sophisticated series of diagnostic messages to aid in its repair. The most frequent message is "Please slaughter a goat and place the entrails on the keyboard at midnight"

2. What one computer said to another computer:" I believe in safe networking so no interfacing without a buffer."

3. A computer repair person was asked what was in a computer repair kit. " Everything I need to fix a computer, the eye of a newt and the toe of a frog "

4. The grey haired professor said " computers are great for remembering phone numbers but I find it hard to scratch the numbers into the plastic screen."

5. How can you tell when a student from that unamed group has been using the computer for word processing? From the white-out on the screen.

6. how is a program like a nose? Sometimes in runs and sometimes it blows.

7. What is the last stage of computer anxiety? Terminal illness.

8. How many psychology professors does it take to fix a computer? Hey I don't know its never been done before.

9. What is the worst way to hunt elephants? -On the assumption that elephants are just like field mice but they have deeper voices.

10. How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? One but it really has to want to change.

Some Problems (Dale, 1994)

1. If it takes 96 hours for 8 people to do a job how many people would be needed to complete the job in half a day. (64)

2. If a person drives 500 miles in 25 hours how fast was he or she going? (20 mph)

3. If an item on sale is reduced by 25% and is listed as costing $300.00 how much was the full price? (400)

4. How far is it from Montreal to London? (accept 1500-3000)

5. How many senators are there in the US Senate? (100)

6. Which is the Northernmost state in the Union? (Alaska)

7. Which is the most southern state? (Hawaii)

8. Which is the easternmost state (Alaska is said to actually cross the dateline)

9. Which is the most western state (Alaska)

10. Who is your state senator? (Specter and Santorum).
 
 

Fig 2

Corrugator Activity During a Problem. Channel 1 shows a second timing pulse. Channel 2 shows EMG for a corrugator placement. Channel 3 shows EMG for a Zygomatic placement. Channel 3 is an event marker.
 
 

Fig 3

Zygomatic Activity During a joke. Channel 1 shows a second timing pulse. Channel 2 shows EMG for a corrugator placement. Channel 3 shows EMG for a Zygomatic placement. Channel 3 is an event marker.

LAB QUESTIONS:

1. Do the EMG responses correlate with facial action?
a. can you see subtle EMG and no facial action?

2. Do subjects smile more with jokes or problems?

3. Do subjects corrugate more with jokes or problems?

4. Why do Allegheny men make so few facial actions as compared to Allegheny women?
 
 
 
 

REFERENCES

Andreassi, J. L. (2000). Psychophysiology Human Behavior & Physiological Response.Hillsdale, New Jersey: Earlbaum

Dale, J. A. (1994). Unpublished problems. Meadville, Penna.: Allegheny College.

DiMarco, V. (1994). Vince@whatinst.cuc.ab.ca.

Emanuelle, S., Dale, J. A., & Klions, H.L.. (1997). Problem solving and humor as a function of computer anxiety. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 84,147-156.

Fridlund, A.J., Schwartz, G.E., & Fowler, S.C. (1984). Pattern recognition of selfreported emotional state from multiple-site facial EMG activity during affective imagery. Psychophysiology, 21, 622-637.

For additional Reading:

Cacioppo, J.T., Martzke, J.S., Petty, R.E., Tassinary, L.G. (1988). Specific forms of facial EMG response index emotions during an interview. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(4), 592-600.