Last Tuesday the
multiplatform storytelling class listened to Assistant Professor Dr. Brandon
Nutting speak on the laboratory under the Al Neuharth Media Center building.
Well the lab is not technically under the building, but it’s in the basement.
It’s referred to as the Communication Media Psychology and Related Effects lab.
When Nutting first came to the University of South Dakota there was no laboratory
to do quantitative research in, and he worked to change that.
It’s
only been two years since the lab has been running. It currently has eight
undergraduates, three graduates, and a student in a doctorate program working on
the team. They spend the fall semester working on research topics and discovering
what they should do their testing on. In the spring they have to collect data,
and the summer is used to write papers.
“When
I came here we didn’t have the lab, so we were what I call data poor, so we
didn’t have a lot of stuff to write yet,” says Nutting.
He
also says that after these two years the team is now data rich and need to
start writing papers. These papers can get published nationally, and the
university has had the opportunity to send students to conferences. Charlie
Dalldorf is an undergraduate and has worked with Nutting for three years. He
was able to go to Seattle over the summer and partake in a conference where
professors asked him about doctorate programs, and he hasn’t event gotten his
Bachelors yet.
The
lab takes part in studies that are original. These studies include partnering
with the South Dakota Center for Cancer Control and Prevention.
“We
are working on putting together a comprehensive website for anyone to find
information on clinical trials. All of the hospital chains have come together
saying their main goal for the next five years is to increase the amount of
people that are enrolled in clinical trials,” says Nutting.
The
team is working to persuade people to participate in trials through messages
they are conducting. The Cancer Control Center is looking for ways to help
prevent families members from getting cancer and to find early signs through
trials. They are also setting aside $10,000 for its participants.
Nutting
says they also test subject’s physiological responses to mediated messages. He
says when it comes to physiological response the body cannot lie which helps in
getting hard exact answers for research. The team looks at facials and heart
rates which are involuntary responses. These responses cannot be changed no
matter how hard a person tries. This is beneficial in finding answers Nutting
says.
The
subjects that are used are recruited through the SONA system. Most subjects are
undergraduates of the university except for the ones who are used in the cancer
trials. Those subjects range throughout the state.
Nutting
says expenses are not high for the laboratory since they already have the
equipment. However, he hopes to see functional magnetic resonance imaging used
in the lab which is similar to an MRI, but it’s for the brain. Eye tracking is
expected to be used by the laboratory team in the near future. Nutting says the
program is expanding which would allow for an undergraduate and graduate
program, but he doesn’t expect a doctoral program at the university.
