Two years into the program and I am having my confirmation of candidature seminar on August 7, 2013!! Both excited and anxious to be defending my confirmation for the school of Information Systems panel and advisory. Here is the abstract, if interested… 

Keywords: affective information retrieval, affective search, neuro-information science, web search performance, affective information behavior, EEG in information retrieval, emotional design

ABSTRACT

In the past decade, the affective component of information retrieval system design has increasingly become an essential part of research in information retrieval. Expressions such as “pleasurable engineering” or “emotional design” have become the driving factors in information design, where these expressions have also been extended to information retrieval system design (Nahl & Bilal, 2007). These emerging expressions indicate the important role of emotions in human-computer-interaction.

Information retrieval processes entail complicated cognitive processes. These sophisticated processes are composed of not only human cognitive processes but also human emotion responses (Picard, 2001) where these responses entail physiological as well as neurological reactions. In order to understand the role of affective responses in information retrieval, more specifically within search process, researchers need to investigate these interactions from multiple perspectives (Scherer, 2005).  However, our understanding of how emotions affect information retrieval, as revealed in search performance, is limited (Nahl & Bilal, 2007).

There is a gap in the current body of knowledge on the effect of physiological and neurological emotion responses on information retrieval, more specifically on web search processes and performance. This research aims to examine causal relationship, if any, between dimensions of human emotions and web search performance. Specifically, I intend to contribute to affective web search studies by applying emerging and cutting edge research technologies in the field of neuro-information science (Gwizdka, 2012)—such as electroencephalography (EEG)—thereby increasing our understanding of affective search and improving information systems design practices. By addressing this gap, I intend to make a significant contribution towards the specific fields of affective search and neuro-information science.