UT Tyler Announces New Media and Communication Research Lab

Office of Marketing and Communications

July 6, 2022

Media Contact: Beverley Golden
Senior Director of Media Relations
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.566.7303

The University of Texas at Tyler has announced the opening of a new Media and Communication Research Laboratory within the College of Arts and Sciences.

The MCRL, which officially opened earlier this year, has space to conduct different types of media and communication research studies and includes equipment for studies in media psychophysiology and neuroscience. Dr. Terry Britt, PhD, assistant professor of communication, serves as lab coordinator.

“It’s a relatively young field of research for media and mass communication but offers so much potential in exploring how our minds and bodies react to and process the media content we consume every day, from news to music to movies and television programming,” said Britt.

The special lab equipment was recently purchased from BIOPAC Systems, Inc., a Californiabased company that makes high-quality equipment for capturing and interpreting physiological signals.

Additionally, the lab currently includes modules for measuring several physiological signals, including heart rate (ECG/EKG), facial myography (fEMG), dermal response (EDA), pulse, respiration as well as limited-capacity electroencephalography (EEG). Britt hopes funding can be acquired soon to equip the lab for full-capacity EEG, conscious states measurement and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) of neural activity in the brain.

The lab also features a control room for researchers, a participant room that can be set up for everything from computer-based experiments to small focus group studies to virtual reality studies and a small private office ideal for consultation with participants or interview-based studies.

“It’s an excellent space for all types of communication research studies,” Britt said. “I’m looking forward to my department colleagues being able to use it for research studies, and I am also excited for the prospects for interdisciplinary research studies utilizing the lab and equipment there.”

Britt researches human memory content and recall connected to episodic memories of news events and various forms of entertainment media. He began training and research in media psychophysiology and media content relationships to human psychology while in the doctoral program at the University of Missouri School of Journalism from 2015-2018.

For more information about the MCRL or to inquire about upcoming study participation opportunities, contact Britt at tbritt@uttyler.edu or mcrl@uttyler.edu.

With a mission to improve educational and healthcare outcomes for East Texas and beyond, UT Tyler offers more than 80 undergraduate and graduate programs to 10,000 students. UT Tyler recently merged with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (now known as UT Tyler Health Science Center). Through its alignment with UT Tyler Health Science Center (HSC) and UT Health East Texas, UT Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national university, UT Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.