Date of Award

1-1-2018

Language

English

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

College/School/Department

Department of Psychology

Program

Clinical Psychology

Content Description

1 online resource (ii, 41 pages) : illustrations (some color)

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

James F Boswell

Committee Members

Elana Gordis

Keywords

Psychotherapy process, Research methods, Sociometric Badge, Technology, Psychotherapy, Recording instruments

Subject Categories

Clinical Psychology

Abstract

Psychotherapy process research methods often require extensive time and resources. Technology innovations have the potential to increase the efficiency of data collection and processing. A technology with potential applications for psychotherapy research is the Sociometric Badge (SB), which is a portable, palm-sized device that can simultaneously record session audio and data on social signals (e.g., speech patterns, body movement) in real-time and in varied contexts. This pilot study examined the feasibility and acceptance of these assessment devices in comparison with traditional audio recording equipment. Undergraduate students (N = 308; Mage = 19.16 years [SD = 1.4]; 50.3% female) were randomly placed into 154 dyads, in order to mimic a psychotherapy dyad. Each dyad was randomly assigned to either a SB condition (n = 75 dyads) or a standard recording device condition (n = 79 dyads), and was instructed to engage in distinct conversation tasks. At the end of the interactions, participants completed self-report items that assessed their perceived relationship quality with their partner and experience of the respective recording device. Between-condition tests were performed with HLM and MANOVA. As hypothesized, study condition was not a significant predictor of perceived relationship quality. Similarly, device satisfaction generally did not differ between conditions. However, participants in the audio recorder condition reported more awareness of the device than those in the SB condition. These findings reveal comparable acceptability and feasibility of SBs to traditional audio recorders in a simulated psychotherapeutic dialogue. Results suggest that these devices may be suitable for research in an authentic psychotherapy setting.

Download

Share

COinS