ABSTRACT
The previous six chapters of this book have provided knowledge of how psychophysiological measures can be an exciting addition to the media psychology researcher’s toolbox for investigating mental processes engaged during media use. We have discussed well established psychophysiological indicators of cognitive and emotional processing as well as measures that have yet to be extensively applied in media psychology research but have tremendous potential to significantly increase our understanding of how the mind processes mediated messages. The goal of this chapter is to place psychophysiological measures of cognitive and emotional processing of mediated messages in the proper perspective by discussing the connection between physiological indicators of mental processes engaged during media use and other measures that provide valuable self-report and behavioral data. We begin by discussing how media psychology researchers can gain a proper perspective of the need for data obtained from multiple measures of mediated message processing. Relationships between psychophysiological and other measures of mediated message processing will then be discussed. This chapter concludes with a review of specific self-report and behavioral measures of mediated message processing, many of which were first covered in Annie Lang’s (1994b) foundational book, Measuring psychological responses to media. This chapter expands upon and updates that resource by explicitly discussing important methodological issues that must be considered when studying mediated message processing through a combination of psychophysiological and self-report measures. The seminal volume edited by Lang, however, should be considered an important resource in the library of any media psychology researcher.
