Eliot Smith Lab
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

Virtual Reality Research

The Smith lab uses virtual reality technology (also termed immersive virtual environment technology) to design and conduct studies testing the ideas of situated/embodied cognition. Research participants wear “VR” goggles and view computer-generated scenes that may include other individuals, spaces, or objects, and they are able to move around and interact with the persons and objects in that virtual space. We have been using this method, for example, to study how pairs of individuals can cooperate in a task that can only be performed successfully when two people coordinate their actions.

Related Readings:

• Blascovich, J., Loomis, J., Beall, A., Swinth, K., Hoyt, C., & Bailenson, J. (2002). Immersive virtual environment technology as a research tool for social psychology. Psychological Inquiry, 13, 103-125.

Current Projects:

• If a virtual person synchronizes with (or mimics) your movements, do you like that person better? Are you more open to social influence from his opinions?
• If a virtual person representing you (i.e., whose movements are controlled by you, whose visual perspective you take) is approached or touched by another person in virtual space, will you like that person better?

Multi-Agent Modeling

Most social and psychological phenomena occur not as the result of isolated decisions by individuals, but rather as the result of repeated interactions between multiple individuals over time. Yet the theory-building and modeling techniques most commonly used in social psychology are less than ideal for understanding such dynamic and interactive processes. We have been using an alternative approach to theory-building, agent-based modeling (ABM), which involves the simulation of large numbers of autonomous agents that interact over time with each other and with a simulated environment, and the observation of emergent patterns from their interactions. We believe that the ABM approach is better able than prevailing approaches in our field, variable-based modeling (VBM) techniques such as causal modeling, to capture the types of complex, dynamic, interactive processes that are so important in the social world.

Related Readings:

• Smith, E. R., & Conrey, F. R. (2007). Agent-based modeling: A new approach for theory-building in social psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11, 87-104. [PDF]
• Mason, W. A., Conrey, F. R., & Smith, E. R. (2007). Situating social influence processes: Dynamic, multidirectional flows of influence within social networks. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11, 279-300. [PDF]

Current Projects:

• What patterns emerge when people influence each other with each individual as both a source and a recipient of influence, and influence extends over time?
• It is estimated that as much as 50% of the information that we exchange in daily conversation is information about other people. How do these flows of social information influence our impressions of other people and our behavior toward them? As a special case, how does socially transmitted information (i.e., gossip) influence our choices and evaluations of other people as potential dates and romantic partners?