ABSTRACT
If you are still reading this book, you likely don’t have a mere passing interest in psychophysiological measures of mediated message processing. Instead, you actually want to use them yourself but may not know how to begin doing so. Furthermore, the prospect of setting up your own laboratory may seem particularly daunting psychologically; you may feel as if you need to “know more” or be more of an “expert” to even contemplate such a venture. We understand those feelings and have experienced them ourselves … each time we have taken a job at a new university or designed a new lab space. However, we found hope in reading that this petrifying phenomenon has a name: labophobia (Lang, 1994a). We were comforted to know we weren’t alone in our feelings of inferiority and we gained determination when we read about the two-step cure for labophobia. The two steps are so simple, in fact, that you will be able to complete them right after finishing this chapter. The first is to realize that every media psychophysiology researcher—even the most seemingly brilliant, insightful, and well-published— started by simply claiming a lab space where they could test their hypotheses and move the scientific endeavor forward. The second step is even easier … so easy that it may at first seem both silly and unnecessary. It’s neither. You need to make a sign. That’s right; the first tangible thing to do when setting up a psychophysiological media lab is to make a sign that reads “Laboratory.” Your lab can have a fancier name of course, and acronyms abound. We know of The PRIME Lab, The ICR Lab, The CAP Lab, The CEC Lab and The DICE Lab (see Figure 8.1). Each acronym represents the particular interests of the lab’s director and you may want to begin thinking about something catchy. But don’t get hung up and petrified over that task, too. Even if the only thing you can think up now is Professor X’s Lab, make the sign. If you can only afford to print the sign on standard-sized paper using a borrowed laser printer … make the sign. The moment you have made your sign, pause a moment and realize you have accomplished your first goal as director of your own lab. Congratulations! Now, your next goal is to find a place to hang it! Signs from some of the labs we've been associated with. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203181027/b321472b-4a6d-4254-9507-b4b2e42e3b66/content/fig8_1_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
