The SPGS Experimental Lab
Located at Arizona State University
Welcome to the SPGS Experimental Lab at Arizona State University. This research facility is located on the 6th floor of Lattie F. Coor Hall.
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The space is designed to facilitate the research of faculty and students from a variety of areas within the political science discipline. The Lab is comprised of:
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An experimental laboratory designed to accommodate up to 30 individuals at a time.
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Equipment which includes 30 laptops and 20 tablets that can be utilized for data collection as well as for presentation of experimental stimuli, such as political debates, political advertisements, newspaper articles, etc. The Lab is also equipped with headphones, privacy dividers, iMotions software, and MAXQDA software.
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We invite you to explore the exciting research taking place in the SPGS Experimental Lab at Arizona State University. Information for researchers and students/study participants is also available by visiting the individual links at the top of this page.
Meet the Team
The SPGS Experimental Laboratory consists of a diverse team of researchers and staff. The work of professors, graduate and undergraduate students help to make the Lab a success.
Dr. Kim Fridkin
Lab Director
Foundation Professor
Kim Fridkin began teaching at Arizona State University in 1989 after receiving her bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan. She has contributed articles to the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Politics, and the Journal of Politics. She is the co-author of Taking Aim at Attack Advertising: Understanding the Impact of Negative Campaigning in U.S. Senate Races (Oxford University Press, 2019), co-author of The Changing Face of Representation: The Gender of U.S. Senators and Constituent Communications (University of Michigan, 2014), co-author of No-Holds Barred: Negative Campaigning in U.S. Senate Campaigns (Prentice Hall, 2004), co-author of The Spectacle of U.S. Senate Campaigns (Princeton University Press, 1999), and the author of The Political Consequences of Being a Woman (Columbia University Press, 1996). Professor Fridkin's current research interests are negative campaigning, women and politics, and senate elections.
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Trudy Horsting holds a BA in Political Science and a BA in Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication from James Madison University as well as a MA in Political Science from Arizona State University. She is currently a fifth year PhD Candidate at Arizona State University studying American Politics. Her dissertation examines how informal rhetoric on Twitter has the potential to influence actions and perceptions during crisis. Trudy’s other research interests surround political communication, public opinion, political behavior, and women in politics.
Anastasia Brown is a third year PhD student majoring in American Politics with a comparative minor. Anastasia moved from Chicago, IL to pursue her passions in political science research. Her research interests include women in politics, campaigns and elections, media effects and populism. In her free time she enjoys hiking and playing guitar.​
Lab Volunteers
In addition to our primary staff, the Lab is reliant on the hard work and dedication of our volunteers. Each year, between 2-8 undergraduate students, Junior Fellows, and graduate students work in the Lab. Our Lab team plays an integral part in piloting experiments, running in-person studies, and ensuring the smooth functioning of the Lab.
Objective
The first goal of the SPGS Experimental Lab is educational. The discipline of Political Science is built on previous research and findings. In order to allow students the best opportunity to learn about research first hand, students are required to participate in research directly or to read and write about published research findings. By participating in the experiments, students will see the research process from an inside perspective and have the ability to ask questions about the research process.
The second goal of the SPGSExperimental Lab is scientific. Political science is a vastly expanding and evolving field, with many questions remaining unanswered. Through the Experimental Lab, faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students in the political science program are conducting cutting edge research that benefits their own research agenda as well as helping to shape current and future developments in the field of Political Science.
Through participation in the Experimental Lab, students are contributing directly to the development of the science they are studying. By reviewing and writing a report on experimental research in political science (the alternative activity created for students who don't wish to participate in a study), students are able to examine the finished product of research.
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Capabilities
The School of Politics and Global Studies Experimental Lab provides researchers the capability to conduct various forms of experimental research.
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SPGS Experimental Lab
The SPGS Experimental Lab on the 6th floor of Coor Hall is designed to accommodate up to 30 individuals at a time. Removable partitions offer researchers the flexibility to run up to 30 subjects simultaneously.
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This lab is equipped with 30 laptop computers. There are partitions available for each computer. There are also 20 tablet computers available for use. Headphones are also available.
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The lab also may be used for focus groups thanks to flexible furniture allowing for unique room configurations.
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The SPGS Experimental Lab also has iMotions capability, allowing researchers to use facial recognition software via web cameras to analyze emotional responses to stimuli.
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Additionally, MAXQDA software is available for researchers to utilize to analyze findings.
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Reception/Waiting Area
The Laboratory also includes a reception/waiting area on the 6th floor of Coor Hall.
iMotions Software
iMotions Software is one of the highlights of the SPGS Experimental Lab. Researchers using our Lab have the option to utilize iMotions Facial Expression Analysis (FEA) in their studies to capture the emotions participants experience in response to stimuli.
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For example, when someone is happy their cheeks raise, their lips move apart, and their lip corners lift up. Some facial expressions are easily visible to the naked eye (macro expressions). But other expressions are more difficult for a human to detect. This is where iMotions software comes into play.
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In political science, this software may be used to assess how respondents feel about political campaign advertisements, public service announcements, campaign logos, or candidate's appearances, among other things.
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One study conducted in our Lab demonstrated that there are significant differences between self-reported measures of emotions and emotional expressions documented by the iMotions software. Specifically, the iMotions software was better able to distinguish between different emotions and generate better predictions for the primary dependent variables in the study (Fridkin et al., 2021).
iMotions Example:
The Impact of Emotional Responses to Public Service Announcements: The Case of Gun Violence in Schools
We examine how people’s emotional reactions to gun violence public service announcements (PSAs) influence information acquisition, policy preferences, and political engagement. Utilizing a non-student sample of more than 100 participants, we look people’s emotional reactions (i.e., anger, sadness, contempt, and fear) to two Sandy Hook Promise PSAs. We assess people’s emotional reactions by relying on two complimentary measures: the traditional self-report measures as well as facial expression analysis. We demonstrate that when people are feeling sad after watching the Sandy Hook Promise PSAs, they are significantly more likely to retain information from a news article about school violence. Furthermore, feelings of contempt and fear lead people to seek out additional information about gun violence. In addition, we find when people feel anger, contempt, and fear after watching the PSAs, they change their views of gun policies. Finally, fear and contempt increase people’s likelihood of becoming politically mobilized.
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