Zarb School of Business

Behavioral Research in Business Laboratory

This state-of-the-art, 1,556-square-foot facility enables us to conduct sophisticated, multidisciplinary behavioral research.

The space includes two lab rooms, an observation room, a focus group discussion room, a waiting room, and three rooms to conduct in-depth interviews. The lab is equipped with 27 workstations (22 in lab rooms and five in the observation room) along with cameras and audio/video equipment to record from every workstation and conference/meeting room.

The lab contains advanced analytical hardware and software to design and conduct complex research studies and analyze the data. It features hardware and software to record and analyze eye movements (eye tracking), facial expressions, voice and text, biometric responses including heart rate, body temperature acceleration, and skin conductance, etc., and response time. The two lab rooms and the conference room have advanced environmental controls (lighting and temperature) so that studies could be conducted under controlled conditions.

Facilities
 

The Behavioral Research in Business Laboratory contains two behavioral lab rooms, an observation room, a conference room, and three individual interview rooms. It also includes a waiting room with a TV monitor and eight chairs for subjects while they wait for their study to begin.

Behavioral Lab Rooms
 

 

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Our two lab rooms are used to conduct behavioral research studies. The rooms have 22 stations in total. Each is equipped with a PC containing the latest hardware and software, including screen-capture and eye-tracking technology and a camera to record the participant seated at the station. The rooms also contain separate lighting and temperature controls.


Observation Room
 

This room sits in the middle of two lab rooms and has one-way glass windows so that the researcher(s) in the observation room can see the events that are happening in the two lab rooms. Several computers control equipment in the labs and contain a two-way communication system to speak with participants in the lab rooms, among other technology.

 

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Interview Rooms
 

 

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The lab includes three individual interview rooms containing small tables and chairs. The rooms are used for one-on-one and small-group meetings, discussions, or interviews. The rooms are equipped with PTZ cameras to record proceedings. Cameras can be controlled from the observation room.

Technology Resources

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Facial recognition software on screen
  • Noldus Face Reader is a complete facial expression recognition software. It can be used to automatically analyze six basic facial expressions through objective and unobtrusive observations. It also calculates gaze direction, head orientation, and person characteristics.
  • Noldus Observer XT is a professional and user-friendly software package for the collection, analysis, and presentation of observational data. In the lab it can also be used to record videos using any of the installed cameras and it controls other experimental hardware/software.
  • Noldus Media Recorder is a flexible audio and video recording software that can easily record the same scene from different angles, in sync. This software can record from any four cameras in the lab at the same time.
  • Noldus Viso is software used to record (audio and video) sessions from all installed cameras in behavioral lab rooms. These recordings can be used to do a wide range of analysis to gain insights into human behavior.
  • Tobii Pro Glasses 2 are wearable eye-tracker devices designed to capture natural viewing behavior in real-world environments.
  • Tobii Pro X3-120 is a screen-based eye-tracking system that allows us to see exactly where people are looking. It is designed for detailed research into the timing and duration of fixations.
  • Tobii Pro Studio and Tobii Pro Lab software packages work with Tobii hardware to design studies, carry out eye-tracking studies, and analyze data.
  • Empatica E4 wristband is a wearable wireless device designed for continuous, real-time data acquisition about biometric parameters. It contains four sensors:
    1. Photoplethysmography (PPG) to provide blood volume pulse, from which heart rate, heart rate variability, and other cardiovascular features may be derived.
    2. Electrodermal activity (EDA) used to measure sympathetic nervous system arousal and to derive features related to stress, engagement, and excitement.
    3. 3-axis accelerometer to capture motion-based activity.
    4. Infrared thermopile for reading skin temperature.
  • Biopac MP 160 and Bionomadix PPG and EDA system, which includes Bionamodix pulse transducer and the Acqknowledge software package to gather skin conductance and pulse/heart rate data.
  • Noldus portable lab, which is set up to carry out a wide range of behavioral studies (consisting of two laptop computers and a camera for on-site video recordings.
  • SONA systems software package for scheduling lab studies.
  • NVivo Plus software, a comprehensive software package to store, organize, and analyze qualitative and mixed methods data.
  • Media Lab, a comprehensive software package to design and carryout a wide arrange of complex experimental studies. It has powerful multimedia capabilities and offers full randomization capabilities.
  • DirectRT software allows study of response time with great precision (resolution of one millisecond) in synchronization with screen displays.

Contact Us

Director of Research

Dr. Andrea Pittarello
Behavioral Research in Business Lab
Room 420 Guthart Hall
Frank G. Zarb School of Business
148 Hofstra University
Hempstead, NY 11549

Phone: 516-463-6176

Lab Director

Dr. Anil Mathur
Behavioral Research in Business Lab
Room 442 Guthart Hall
Frank G. Zarb School of Business
148 Hofstra University
Hempstead, NY 11549

Phone: 516-463-5706