The Electronically Activated Recorder
(EAR)
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DOWNLOADS FOR THE NEW iEAR APP *
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The EAR constitutes the heart of
my research program. It is a new tool for sampling behavioral data in
naturalistic settings. James
Pennebaker and I developed the method at the
University of Texas at Austin at the end of the last century. Since then it
has undergone a series of technical metamorphoses and is now available in a completely
revised third generation version. The rapid progress
in micro technology has made the EAR change its appearance a number of times
(check out the EAR family tree), yet the
basic methodological ingredients have remained the same: A micro recording
device (first a tape recorder, then a digital voice recorder, now a Pocket
PC) is programmed to periodically record brief snippets of ambient sounds.
Participants wear the EAR (on a belt or in a purse) while going about their
normal lives. In its default sampling strategy, the EAR yields about 70
samples of a person's acoustic social environment per person per day (i.e.,
about 35 minutes of ambient sounds). The power of the EAR
lies in collecting authentic real-life observation data. The vividness of the
captured ambient sounds is impressive. In preserving a high degree of
naturalism and authenticity at the level of the raw data, the EAR can almost
be considered an ethnographic method. Due to its sampling however, it
allows for nomothetic as well as idiographic analyses. With its systematic
recording pattern, the EAR provides a representative acoustic log of a
person's day as it naturally unfolds. Due to its fine meshed sampling (~ 5
data points per hour), it can reliably capture even
low-frequency behaviors such as arguments, self-talk, or laughter.
Because the EAR operates unobtrusively and imperceptibly, measurement induced
intrusions are minimal. From a conceptual
perspective, the strength of the EAR lies in its ability to provide
researchers with an observer's point of view on the participants' spontaneous
behaviors. Whereas traditional experience
sampling techniques that prompt participants several times a day to
report on their momentary activities document many aspects of daily life
reliably and accurately, the EAR captures daily life from the perspective
(the ear) of an unobtrusive bystander. In not relying on the self as
informant, the EAR bypasses potential limitations and biases in participants'
information processing making the method particularly suited for capturing
aspects of social life that normally go unnoticed (e.g., subtle interaction
preferences or linguistic styles). An
other
important advantage of the method comes with the fact that it is an archival
method. The EAR produces rich permanent records of people's daily lives that
are readily available for other researchers and questions that go beyond the
investigator's original interest. It is conceivable and desirable that other
researchers within and outside of psychology become interested in analyzing
the EAR records using their -- maybe very different -- interpretative lenses.
In fact, other research labs have already contacted us and requested EAR data
to test to what extent their theories account for aspects of people's
naturally occurring social lives. Click here for the EAR family tree (first, second,
and third generation of EAR systems). Click here for some
"Action Shots" with the PocketEAR Click here for some "Action Shots" with
the former Digital EAR. Click here for some EAR sound bites. Original EAR
Publication: EAR Method Publications: Mehl, M. R., Robbins, M. L.,
& Deters, g. F. (in press). Naturalistic observation of health-relevant
social processes: The Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) methodology in
psychosomatics. Psychosomatic Medicine. Mehl, M. R. & Robbins, M. L.
(2012). Naturalistic observation sampling: The Electronically Activated
Recorder (EAR). In M. R. Mehl & T. S. Conner
(Eds.), Handbook of research methods
for studying daily life. New York, NY: Guilford Press. Mehl, M. R. (2009). Naturalistic observation
of daily behavior in personality psychology [Comment on Furr's
target article]. European Journal of Personality, 23, 414-416. [pdf] Mehl, M. R. (2007). Eavesdropping
on health: A naturalistic observation approach for social-health research. Social
and Personality Psychology Compass, 1, 359-380. [pdf] Mehl, M. R., & Holleran, S. E. (2007). An empirical analysis of the
obtrusiveness of and participants' compliance with the Electronically
Activated Recorder (EAR). European Journal of Psychological Assessment,
23, 248-257.[pdf] Empirical EAR
Publications: Rachel L. Tomko,
R. L., Brown, W. C., Tragesser, S. L., Wood, P. K.,
Mehl, M. R., & Trull,
T. J. (2012). Social context of anger in Borderline Personality Disorder and
Depressive Disorders: Findings from a naturalistic observation study. Journal of Personality Disorders. [pdf] Augustine, A. A., Mehl, M. R., & Larsen, R. J., (2011). A positivity
bias in written and spoken English, and its moderation by personality and
gender. Social Psychology and
Personality Science. [pdf] Holleran, S. E., Whitehead, J., Schmader, T., & Mehl, M. R.
(2011). Talking shop and shooting the breeze: A study of workplace
conversations and job disengagement among STEM faculty. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2, 65-71. [pdf] Robbins, M. L., Focella, E. S., Kasle, S., Weihs, K. L., Lopez, A. M., & Mehl,
M. R., (2011). Naturalistically observed swearing, emotional support and
depressive symptoms in women coping with illness. Health Psychology, 30, 789-792.
[pdf] Robbins, M. L., Mehl, M. R., Holleran, S. E.,
& Kasle, S. (2011). Naturalistically observed
sighing and depression in rheumatoid arthritis patients: A preliminary study.
Health Psychology, 30, 129-133. [pdf] Holtzman, N. S., Vazire,
S., & Mehl, M. R. (2010). Sounds like a
narcissist: Behavioral manifestations of narcissism in everyday life. Journal of Research in Personality, 44, 478-484.
[pdf] Mehl, M. R., Vazire,
S., Holleran, S. E., & Clark, C. S. (2010).
Eavesdropping on happiness: Well-being is related to having less small talk
and more substantive conversations. Psychological Science, 21,
539-541. [pdf]
[suppl]
Holleran, S. E., Mehl,
M. R., & Levitt, S. (2009). Eavesdropping on social life: The accuracy of
stranger ratings of daily behavior from thin slices of natural conversations.
Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 660-672. [pdf] Ramirez-Esparza, N., Mehl, M. R., Alvarez Bermudez, J., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2009). Are Mexicans more or less
sociable than Americans? Insights from a naturalistic observation study. Journal
of Research in Personality, 43, 1-7. [pdf] Hasler, B., Mehl,
M. R., Bootzin, R., & Vazire,
S. (2008). Preliminary evidence of diurnal rhythms in everyday behaviors
associated with positive affect. Journal of Research in Personality, 42,
1537-1546. [pdf] Vazire, S., & Mehl, M. R. (2008). Knowing me, knowing you: The relative
accuracy and unique predictive validity of self- and other ratings of daily
behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1202-1216.
[pdf] Mehl, M. R., Vazire,
S., Ramirez-Esparza, N., Slatcher, R. B., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2007). Are women really more talkative
than men? Science, 317, 82. [link] Mehl, M. R. (2006). The lay
assessment of sub-clinical depression in daily life. Psychological
Assessment, 18, 340-345. [pdf] Mehl, M. R., Gosling, S. D.,
& Pennebaker, J. W. (2006). Personality in its
natural habitat: Manifestations and implicit folk theories of personality in
daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 862-877.
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