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Human Computer Interaction Meets Psychophysiology: A Critical Perspective

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Book cover Symbiotic Interaction (Symbiotic 2015)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 9359))

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Abstract

Human computer interaction (HCI) groups are more and more often exploring the utility of new, lower cost electroencephalography (EEG) interfaces for assessing user engagement and experience as well as for directly controlling computers. While the potential benefits of using EEG are considerable, we argue that research is easily driven by what we term naïve neurorealism. That is, data obtained with psychophysiological devices have poor reliability and uncertain validity, making inferences on mental states difficult. This means that unless sufficient care is taken to address the inherent shortcomings, the contributions of psychophysiological human computer interaction are limited to their novelty value rather than bringing scientific advance. Here, we outline the nature and severity of the reliability and validity problems and give practical suggestions for HCI researchers and reviewers on the way forward, and which obstacles to avoid. We hope that this critical perspective helps to promote good practice in the emerging field of psychophysiology in HCI.

This work was partly supported by TEKES (Re:Know 2, decision 5159/31/2014).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland

    Michiel M. Spapé, Marco Filetti, Manuel J. A. Eugster & Niklas Ravaja

  2. Department of Computer Science, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland

    Manuel J. A. Eugster

  3. Department of Computer Science, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Giulio Jacucci

  4. Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Niklas Ravaja

Authors
  1. Michiel M. Spapé
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  2. Marco Filetti
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  3. Manuel J. A. Eugster
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  4. Giulio Jacucci
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Correspondence to Michiel M. Spapé .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sekr. MAR 4-3, Rm 4.041, TU Berlin, Berlin, Berlin

    Benjamin Blankertz

  2. Dept of Computer Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki

    Giulio Jacucci

  3. Università di Padova, Padua

    Luciano Gamberini

  4. Università di Padova, Padua

    Anna Spagnolli

  5. Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths University, London

    Jonathan Freeman

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Spapé, M.M., Filetti, M., Eugster, M.J.A., Jacucci, G., Ravaja, N. (2015). Human Computer Interaction Meets Psychophysiology: A Critical Perspective. In: Blankertz, B., Jacucci, G., Gamberini, L., Spagnolli, A., Freeman, J. (eds) Symbiotic Interaction. Symbiotic 2015. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9359. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24917-9_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24917-9_16

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