Research
Research Philosophy
Three large-scale questions drive my research: 1). What effect, if any, does the inclusion or exclusion of message content features, such as emotional tone, camera angles, and social cues, have on cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses? 2). Do cognitive biases and deficits, such as sports fanship and attentional deficits, affect these responses to mediated messages? 3). Does the context in which the message is consumed (e.g. with or without a peer or parent) affect these responses? Theories of communication, as well as theories drawn from the cognitive neurosciences, and social psychology, motivate this research.
I utilize several quantitative, self-reported and psychophysiological measures, such as heart rate, skin conductance, facial electromyography (EMG), electroencephalography (EEG), eye tracking, secondary task reaction times, and continuous response measures, to appropriately answer these research questions. However, some research questions necessitate the use of qualitative approaches, such as focus groups and intercept interviews, to better understand the phenomena prior to quantitative testing. My analytical approach is heavily influenced by hypothesis testing, as well as cognitive- and time series-modeling. In addition to my theoretical work, I have also published best practices for the use of scalar and psychophysiological measures within the field of communication.
You can also find my articles on my Google Scholar profile.
Publications
Fisher, J. T., Huskey, R., Keene, J. R., & Weber, R.
Annals of the International Communication Association, 2018
In a companion piece (Fisher, Keene, Huskey, & Weber, 2018), we reviewed the foundations and current state of the Limited Capacity Model of Motivated Mediated Message Processing (LC4MP). In this manuscript we return to the three areas investigated in our review: cognitive load, motivation, and memory. In each domain, we: (a) outline areas in which the LC4MP has produced unexpected or ambiguous findings; (b) look broadly at literature from biology, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience to inform and clarify definitions of key terms; (c) develop an updated, cohesive framework of assumptions and predictions of the LC4MP; and (d) propose a roadmap for testing the proposed framework. We conclude with a discussion of the LC4MP's continued relevance for understanding dynamic, interactive, multimodal communication phenomena. Read more
Fisher, J. T., Keene, J. R., Huskey, R., & Weber, R.
Annals of the International Communication Association, 2018
In the 15 years since its inception, the Limited Capacity Model of Motivated Mediated Message Processing (LC4MP) has contributed to understanding regarding the dynamics of message processing in a variety of domains. In this manuscript we outline the foundations and assumptions of the LC4MP, discussing salient research from biology, cognitive psychology, and communication upon which the model is built. We then conduct a systematic review of the LC4MP literature with a focus on three primary domains: cognitive load, motivated processing, and memory. In a companion piece (Fisher, Huskey, Keene, & Weber, 2018) we look to the future of the model, incorporating recent findings from communication and cognate fields to inform an updated suite of predictions. Read more
Moshontz, H., et al.
Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 2018
Concerns about the veracity of psychological research have been growing. Many findings in psychological science are based on studies with insufficient statistical power and nonrepresentative samples, or may otherwise be limited to specific, ungeneralizable settings or populations. Crowdsourced research, a type of large-scale collaboration in which one or more research projects are conducted across multiple lab sites, offers a pragmatic solution to these and other current methodological challenges. The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) is a distributed network of laboratories designed to enable and support crowdsourced research projects. These projects can focus on novel research questions or replicate prior research in large, diverse samples. The PSA's mission is to accelerate the accumulation of reliable and generalizable evidence in psychological science. Here, we describe the background, structure, principles, procedures, benefits, and challenges of the PSA. In contrast to other crowdsourced research networks, the PSA is ongoing (as opposed to time limited), efficient (in that structures and principles are reused for different projects), decentralized, diverse (in both subjects and researchers), and inclusive (of proposals, contributions, and other relevant input from anyone inside or outside the network). The PSA and other approaches to crowdsourced psychological science will advance understanding of mental processes and behaviors by enabling rigorous research and systematic examination of its generalizability. Read more
Bowman, N. D., & Keene, J. R.
Communication Research Reports, 2018
The open science movement, although not new to social science broadly, has gained momentum recently within communication science. In response, journals in our field have begun encouraging open science practices, from data and materials sharing to submitting preregistered research reports. However, this momentum has also led to some confusion over what is and is not considered open science and what the value of open sciences practices is. In this editorial we lay out an onion model of open science that describes increasing levels of transparency and suggests how open science practices can be understood less as a revolutionary concept but more as a logical extension of some of the historical pillars of scientific norms. Through this model, we provide tangible steps for how scholars may begin thinking about how to introduce open science practices into their current and future empirical efforts. Read more
Keene, J. R., Berke, C. K., Shoenberger, H., & Bolls, P. D.
Politics and the Life Sciences, 2017
Recent research has revealed the complex origins of political identification and the possible effects of this identification on social and political behavior. This article reports the results of a structural equation analysis of national survey data that attempts to replicate the finding that an individual's negativity bias predicts conservative ideology. The analysis employs the Motivational Activation Measure (MAM) as an index of an individual's positivity offset and negativity bias. In addition, information-seeking behavior is assessed in relation to traditional and interactive media sources of political information. Results show that although MAM does not consistently predict political identification, it can be used to predict extremeness of political views. Specifically, high negativity bias was associated with extreme conservatism, whereas low negativity bias was associated with extreme liberalism. In addition, political identification was found to moderate the relationship between motivational traits and information-seeking behavior. Read more
Keene, J. R., Lang, A., & Loof, T.
Media Psychology, 2017
Social media is becoming one of the most common deployment methods for antidrug and risk message campaigns. This is largely due to the low cost and high distribution that social media affords. This article argues that the social media approach to antidrug messaging also results in greater attention to the message over time. This article reports results from a study that examined how the combination of a short gain-or-loss framed text message interacts with a subsequent pleasant or unpleasant antidrug video message to influence motivational activation and information processing. Based on previous work investigating how different emotional trajectories in public service announcements (PSAs) elicit different patterns of motivational activation and cognitive processing, it was predicted, and found, that emotionally incongruent combinations of the text frame and video content resulted in the coactivation of the motivational systems. Placing a gain frame before a video message affects the overall processing of the subsequent message such that even an unpleasant message is rated more positively and results in a pattern of resource availability more like what we see for pleasant messages. Motivational activation and the subsequent effects on cognitive and emotional reactions are discussed within the context of multi-modal anti-drug campaigns. Read more
Hohman, Z. P., Keene, J. R., Harris, B. N., Niedbala, E., & Berke, C. K.
Prevention Science, 2017
For the current study, we developed and tested a biopsychological model to combine research on psychological tension, the Limited Capacity Model of Motivated Mediated Message Processing, and the endocrine system to predict and understand how people process anti-drug PSAs. We predicted that co-presentation of pleasant and unpleasant information, vs. solely pleasant or unpleasant, will trigger evaluative tension about the target behavior in persuasive messages and result in a biological response (increase in cortisol, alpha amylase, and heart rate). In experiment 1, we assessed the impact of co-presentation of pleasant and unpleasant information in persuasive messages on evaluative tension (conceptualized as attitude ambivalence), in experiment 2, we explored the impact of co-presentation on endocrine system responses (salivary cortisol and alpha amylase), and in experiment 3, we assessed the impact of co-presentation on heart rate. Across all experiments, we demonstrated that co-presentation of pleasant and unpleasant information, vs. solely pleasant or unpleasant, in persuasive communications leads to increases in attitude ambivalence, salivary cortisol, salivary alpha amylase, and heart rate. Taken together, the results support the initial paths of our biopsychological model of persuasive message processing and indicate that including both pleasant and unpleasant information in a message impacts the viewer. We predict that increases in evaluative tension and biological responses will aid in memory and cognitive processing of the message. However, future research is needed to test that hypothesis. Read more
Keene, J. R., Clayton, R., Berke, C. K., Loof, T., & Bolls, P. D.
Communication Research Reports, 2017
The measurement of an individual's heart rate has many relevant theoretical implications for communication research. However, there are reasons to believe that the most common way of reporting cardiac response, beats per minute (BPM) might not be appropriate for all methodological situations. This article presents an overview of the historical use of cardiac activity within communication research, and provides a summary of the current conceptualizations of attention and resource allocation. To fully understand the difference between BPM and interbeat interval (IBI) an alternate method for reporting cardiac response, a comparative analysis was performed on a data set from a previously published study. This article concludes with a set of suggestions that researchers may want to consider when utilizing BPM or IBI within communication research. Read more
Keene, J. R., Berke, C. K., & Nutting, B. H.
International Journal of Sport Communication, 2017
This study, based on previous work, investigated the interaction of camera angle, arousing content, and an individual's general and school-specific fanship on the cognitive processing of and emotional reactions to sport communication from a top-down and bottom-up perspective. Cognitive processing was defined as the resources available for encoding and was indexed using secondary-task reaction times, and self-reported positivity, negativity, and arousal were also measured as an index of emotional reactions. Results indicate that general and school-specific fanship have differential effects on cognitive processing and emotional reactions. In addition, in a replication of previous work, it would appear that different camera angles do not have different effects on cognitive processing. The implications of the top-down and bottom-up approach for the sport communication experience are discussed for both sport researchers and sport communication practitioners. Read more
Rasmussen, E. E., Keene, J. R., Berke, C. K., Densley, R. L., & Loof, T.
Communication Monographs, 2016
This study explores the relationship between parental coviewing and children's psychophysiological responses to television exposure within a framework of social facilitation. A total of 88 children aged 6-13 years and one of each of their parents participated in a 2 (presence or absence of the parent) x 2 (exciting or non-exciting TV content) between-subjects experiment. Results indicated that the presence of a coviewing parent was associated with an increase in children's arousal (higher skin conductance levels) and cognitive resource allocation (lower heart rate), especially for younger children who came from homes where parental coviewing was a relatively frequent activity. These findings suggest that the mere presence of a coviewing parent is sufficient to alter children's processing of television messages. Read more
Keene, J. R., & Lang, A.
Communication Monographs, 2016
This manuscript, based upon previous work related to the dynamic processing of emotional trajectories, investigated how variable trajectories of emotional content can elicit motivational activation over time. Specifically, five emotional trajectories were examined: pleasant, unpleasant, pleasant and unpleasant simultaneously, pleasant leading to unpleasant, and unpleasant leading to pleasant. The resources available for encoding were indexed via secondary task reaction times, and memory was assessed via audio and video recognition. The results indicated that audio recognition improves as activation increases in the appetitive system while visual recognition improves as activation in the aversive system increases. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of communication theory and practice. Read more
Potter, R. F., & Keene, J. R.
International Journal of Sport Communication, 2012
An experiment investigates the impact of fan identification on the cognitive and emotional processing of sports-related news media. Two coaches were featured; one conceptualized as negatively valenced the other positively. Participants completed a fan identification scale before stimuli presentation. While watching the press conferences, heart rate, skin conductance, and corrugator muscle activity were recorded as indices of cognitive resource allocation, emotional arousal, and aversive motivation activation respectively. Self-report measures were collected after each stimulus. Results show that highly identified fans process sports-related news content differently than moderate fans, allocating more cognitive resources and exhibiting greater aversive reactions to the negatively valenced coach. Comparisons between the self-report and psychophysiology data suggest that the latter may be less susceptible to social desirability response bias when emotional reaction to sports messages are concerned. Read more
Cummins, R. G., Keene, J. R., & Nutting. B. H.
Mass Communication & Society, 2012
Although scholars have generated much research examining enjoyment of mediated sports, much of it has failed to explore how visual production elements shape viewer response. This study examines the impact of one increasingly common technique, subjective camera, on viewer arousal and enjoyment of game play. Participants viewed multiple plays from a college football game that varied in excitatory potential as well as viewing angle. Game play viewed via subjective camera elicited a greater sense of presence in the mediated environment and elicited more frequent arousal responses compared to traditional sideline perspectives of game play. However, the impact of viewing angle on enjoyment as well as self-reported arousal was dependent upon the exciting or dull nature of game play. Invoking the dynamics of excitation transfer theory, we discuss the potential explanations for this relationship as well as its implications for sports broadcasters. Read more
Keene, J. R., & Cummins, R. G.
Journal of Sports Media, 2009
Although research has examined how commentators shape perceptions of mediated sports, the area of commentator credibility remains unexplored. Using an experimental design, this study examined the effects of commentators' previous athletic experience on the perceived credibility of sports broadcasters and viewers' evaluations of game play. Results showed that experience impacts viewers' perceptions of credibility such that commentators without experience were viewed as least credible and their games were rated as less exciting and enjoyable. Read more
Conference Presentations
Coming soon! A full list can be found in the CV linked above.
OSF