Faculty Research Labs
Alcohol / Media Laboratory
Leslie Snyder Room 106 Phone 860-486-5349
With funding from the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, we are examining the effects of alcohol advertising on youth. Dr. Snyder, Dr. Hamilton, and graduate students are also working on meta-analyses of communication campaigns.
Emotional Communication Laboratory
Ross Buck
The Emotion Communication Research Laboratory does research on the role of emotion in communication, including studying relationships between emotional arousal, experience, expression, and communication. Particular foci include (a) fMRI brain responses and empathy (b) Emotional expression and communication in patient samples (schizophrenia, cancer, brain-damaged, autism, behaviorally-disordered). (c) Relationships between emotion and reason in persuasion, with particular reference to political and safe sex communication; (d) the nature of "higher level" social, cognitive, and moral emotions and their role in communication. The Laboratory is equipped for digital video, video editing and special effects, polygraph and blood-pressure measurement, and computer-based event recording/audience analysis.
Ethnic and Women Audiences Lab and Field
Diana Rios Phone 860-486-3187
Brown & Black Communication - News; Audiences; Cross-cultural.
The U.S. Latina/o Audience - Media Uses and Grats.; Functions of Telenovelas/Soap Operas; Politics.
Women at the Movies - U.S. Southwest and New England field research probes media’s role in beauty and identity construction during Good Neighbor Policy era.
Human-Computer Interaction Lab
Kristine Nowak Room 110 Phone 860-486-0554
The human computer interaction lab at the University of Connecticut is focused on how the interface influences person perception and people's perceptions of the media.
See http://www.coms.uconn.edu/HCILab/ for more information and recent publications.
Website:Human-Computer Interaction Lab
Media Effects Lab
Kirstie Farrar Room 107
Melissa Tafoya
The Relational Communication Laboratory (RCL) conducts research on a wide variety of topics related to communication processes and effects in personal and family relationships. Currently, the RCL focuses on three lines of interpersonal communication research: 1) how genetic and/or biological factors influence interactions and quality of family relationships; 2) the impact of different family structures on specific family relationships; 3) how personal and relationships characteristics, contextual factors, communicative behaviors, and biological/genetic factors contributes to the development, quality and outcome of personal relationships throughout the life course. To focus on these lines of research, the RCL is equipped for perceptual, behavioral, and physiological human communication research. The major aim of the RCL is to foster research that is meaningful and relevant to daily life and to promote innovative, interdisciplinary research and training. Feel free to contact Dr. Melissa Tafoya if you would like further information on the RCL’s research activities. | 
University of Connecticut |