EDA & EMG

EDA (skin response) lets us see how strongly a person is emotionally responding to a linguistic input, while EMG (facial muscle movement) lets us see which emotion they are feeling.

The case study linked below examines the emotional impact of reading an ironic vs a literal comment, as well as the additional influence of including an emoticon in the message.

Download the case study below for more details:

Case Study

The Emotional Impact of Written Irony 

The BioSemi ActiveTwo system allows us to monitor a variety of psychophysiological factors - things like skin-response (‘electro-dermal activity’ or EDA) and muscle movements in the face (‘electroencephalography’ or EMG).

EDA lets us see how strongly a person is emotionally responding to a linguistic input, while EMG lets us see which emotion they are feeling:

• Are they smiling? :)
• Or frowning? >:(
• When are they smiling?
• Does that ‘clever’ sarcastic comment amuse you, or make you angry?

All of this allows us to investigate the emotional impact of language.