Exploring Affective Dimension Perception from Bodily Expressions and Electrodermal Activity in Paramedic Simulation Training

Abstract

Paramedics are often involved in varied and complex, emotionally provoking emergency calls which can result in difficulty controlling their affective experience. As a result, their internal physiological state may “leak” out through their external visual and auditory behaviors which can affect patient care. This research aims to identify how this ‘leakage’ may be perceived by observers, what commonalities exist in how the affective dimensions seem to be expressed through the body and the relationship between these dimensions and trainees' electrodermal activity (EDA). We conducted a preliminary study with a small set of knowledgeable observers to continuously rate trainees' valence, arousal and dominance from behavioral data in thin slices of simulation videos. We analyzed the relationship between trainees' EDA and observers' independent ratings. Our findings show a significant agreement on and correlation between the observers' ratings for all dimensions and preliminary modeling indicates a significant relationship.