The establishment of the CHEN Lab
While psychology is often associated with well-known psychologists like Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler, or traditional theories exploring the workings of the mind from different angles (such as Cognitive Psychology and Social Psychology), Professor Pin-Hao (Andy) CHEN of NTU's Department of Psychology has pioneered a new research path.
Having noticed the increasingly diverse and complex nature of human interactions in our technology-driven age while studying psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth College in 2015, Prof. Chen realized that studying mental functions of individual minds alone was insufficient to address the rapid changes in our world. As a result, he turned his attention to the study of "interactive minds," exploring how multiple individuals influence each other's minds during interactions and how these interactions lead to changes in their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Upon returning to Taiwan, Professor Chen joined NTU and established the Computational Human-sociocultural Experimental Neuroscience Lab (CHEN Lab), where he continued his research and delved deeper into the field of interactive minds. Using computational methods to quantitatively analyze human interactions, he explores how different types of interactions affect people's mental states, aiming to develop more effective communication strategies, improve teamwork, and even provide new methods for psychotherapy.
CHEN Lab's Three Major Research Directions, Unraveling the Mysteries of Human Interaction
Prof. Pin-Hao Chen's laboratory operates on a core principle: combining the mindset of a psychologist with the problem-solving abilities of an engineer. Unlike traditional psychologists who attempt to simplify the human mind and behavior through theories and laws, Prof. Chen believes that since psychological processes and emotional experiences are complex and variable, they should be approached with complexity. Researchers should adopt a flexible mindset and leverage the advancements in computational science to employ real-time measurements of interactive behaviors and big data analysis to answer complex questions that were previously unanswerable.
In interpersonal interactions, nonverbal behaviors such as subtle facial expressions and body language are crucial signals that go beyond language. Unlike traditional methods of manual observation and recording, the CHEN Lab utilizes advanced equipment to capture these signals and convert them into quantifiable data, allowing psychologists to analyze human psychological states more objectively and accurately. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the influence between interactive minds, the CHEN Lab collects multimodal data (including verbal data, nonverbal data, and brain neural response data) through novel equipment such as 3D-printed helmets, physiological signal collectors, high-performance computers, and magnetic resonance imaging scanners. By integrating this data, researchers can delve deeper into the complex mechanisms of interpersonal interactions.
CHEN Lab's Three Major Research Themes
1. Computational Social and Affective Neuroscience: Unraveling the complexity of psychology and emotion using computational science.
- Employing neurometrics to investigate complex psychological constructs.
- Utilizing Hidden Markov Models to explore the dynamic transitions of emotional states within the brain.
- Decoding emotional experiences through neuroimaging, and understanding how individual differences in anxiety states influence one's perception of the world.
2. Interacting Minds and Collective Minds: Exploring the complexity of interacting minds.
- Clinical interactions: Examining how nonverbal behaviors influence the doctor-patient therapeutic relationship and its impact on treatment outcomes.
- Social influence: Investigating how social psychological factors (e.g., attitudes, social background, cultural norms) shape shared experiences during interactions.
- Social networks: Utilizing social network analysis to understand the formation of collective reputations within diverse social groups.
3. Social Relationships and Well-being: Exploring how social relationships influence mental health.
- Studying the cultural adaptation and integration of immigrants.
- Investigating what social or psychological factors influence ones’ life satisfaction in different social groups.
- Developing predictive models to examine the impact of social diversity and relational quality on well-being.
CHEN Lab's International Collaborations and Academic Accomplishments
CHEN Lab has been actively engaged in international collaborations, partnering with top universities and experts from the United States to explore cutting-edge fields such as computational psychology, computational social neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and human-computer interaction. Major collaborators include:
- Prof. Luke Chang (Dartmouth College): Prof. Chen's postdoctoral advisor, an expert in behavioral economics and computational social neuroscience.
- Prof. Eshin Jolly (University of California, San Diego): Skilled in using various computational methods to study the mechanisms of interacting minds.
- Prof. Dominic Fareri (Adelphi University): An expert in social neuroscience and neuroeconomics.
- Prof. Mauricio Delgado (Rutgers University): An expert in social and emotional neuroscience.
Prof. Pin-Hao Chen, a licensed clinical psychologist, developed a keen interest in the nuances of "clinical interactions" during his clinical psychology training. As a result, one of the key research highlights of the CHEN Lab is the exploration of the placebo effect, specifically investigating how interactions between doctors and patients influence the efficacy of placebos. Previous research has shown that when a prescribing physician believes they are administering an effective drug, but the patient is actually receiving a placebo, the therapeutic benefits are greater compared to when the physician is aware of administering a placebo. This phenomenon suggests that a physician's belief in a medication can subtly influence a patient's subjective experience. To elucidate the underlying interactive mind mechanisms, Prof. Chen has designed a rigorous experiment.
In this experiment, Prof. Chen randomly assigned 194 students, 97 to each role of "doctor" and "patient". In the first phase, participants playing the role of "doctors" entered a simulated clinic and personally tested two visually similar ointments: Thermedol, claimed to have analgesic effects (but was actually tinted Vaseline), and Vaseline (a placebo). The "doctors" experienced Thermedol as having a better pain-relieving effect. In the second phase, participants playing the role of "patients" entered the simulated clinic. Without providing any information about the medications, the "doctors" applied both Vaseline and Thermedol to the "patients" who then received a thermal pain stimulus. The results showed that the "patients" perceived Thermedol as having a better pain-relieving effect compared to Vaseline.
This research found that a physician's nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions, have a profound impact on patient treatment outcomes. By equipping doctors with recording devices to capture facial expressions throughout the treatment process, the study revealed that subtle changes in a doctor's facial expressions while applying different ointments, as well as their level of confidence in the medication, can be transmitted to patients through nonverbal communication, directly influencing their expectations of the treatment's effectiveness. This study demonstrates that in interpersonal interactions, the messages conveyed through nonverbal communication are as contagious as verbal language, significantly influencing our cognition and behavior as we both send and receive information.
Another experiment traces back to the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan in 2021. Prof. Chen astutely observed that even when people were confined to their homes, they could still feel a pervasive atmosphere of fear through media reports, leading to a collective fear response among the population. To verify this phenomenon, he designed a unique "remote experiment."
The research team recruited two groups of participants who watched the same COVID-19 related videos during the peak of the pandemic lockdown and after the lockdown, respectively. By analyzing the participants' facial expressions while watching the videos, researchers found that participants were more likely to experience negative emotions such as fear and sadness during the peak of the pandemic. These negative emotions were also more likely to resonate and be reflected in their facial expressions during the pandemic lockdown period. This study demonstrates that human emotions are strongly influenced by the social environment, and that the spread of fear during a crisis may help to increase collective crisis awareness and promote social cooperation to address challenges together.
CHEN Lab's Strategy for Cultivating Cross-disciplinary Talents
Unlike most labs with a relatively homogeneous composition of members, the CHEN Lab stands out for its diversity and fosters a vibrant interdisciplinary environment. Students from a wide range of disciplines, including psychology, physics, veterinary medicine, foreign languages, computer science, business administration, information management, history, medicine, life sciences, bioenvironmental systems engineering, and mechanical engineering, are drawn to join the lab. Within the CHEN Lab, these students engage in cross-disciplinary exchanges and discussions, exploring problems from diverse perspectives, and collaborating to find solutions. They learn to transcend disciplinary boundaries and approach problems in innovative ways.
Through the research methods and skills acquired in the CHEN Lab, as well as the research achievements, students not only broaden their knowledge but also cultivate independent thinking. They learn to apply what they have learned to their respective fields, addressing real-world challenges in their professional domains. For instance, Hsin-Lien Sophie Hsieh, a fourth-year veterinary medicine student, mentioned that she joined the CHEN Lab after participating in the Neurobiology and Cognitive Science Program. Intrigued by animal behavior, she, under the guidance of Prof. Chen and senior lab members, learned how to quantify interactive behaviors using artificial intelligence and developed logical thinking and data analysis skills. These abilities have not only benefited her veterinary studies but have also transformed her way of thinking in daily life, enabling her to analyze the world around her in a more scientific and rational manner.
In today's rapidly changing world, the boundaries between different academic disciplines are becoming increasingly blurred. Recognizing this, Prof. Chen aims to create an open and free academic environment at the CHEN Lab where students can freely explore and learn across disciplines. He cultivates students' keen observation skills, critical thinking abilities, and interdisciplinary integration capabilities to equip them for complex and dynamic challenges. Prof. Chen also expects students to possess data science literacy, enabling them to analyze vast amounts of data, extract valuable insights, and apply their research findings to solve real-world problems. By doing so, students can adapt to the rapidly changing societal needs and closely integrate academic research with societal demands.
Beyond rigorous scientific training, the lab also emphasizes the cultivation of students' communication and collaboration skills, empowering them to make a significant impact in both academia and industry. Feng-Chun Ben Chou, a physics graduate now pursuing a Ph.D. in psychology, is one of the outstanding talents nurtured by the CHEN Lab. He expressed that the lab's research is novel and interesting, allowing him to delve into the mysteries of the human mind and social interactions, and apply his research to real-life scenarios, which he finds deeply meaningful. In the lab, he leads his juniors in research, developing leadership and communication skills. By participating in multiple research projects, he has built a solid foundation in academia. His growth trajectory serves as an excellent example of the CHEN Lab's commitment to cultivating cross-disciplinary talent.
The Future Development and Vision of the CHEN Lab
In today's academic landscape, interdisciplinary research has become indispensable. CHEN Lab, renowned for its cross-disciplinary research, is highly popular among undergraduate students. However, the graduate programs at National Taiwan University still have relatively distinct disciplinary boundaries, preventing students from different academic backgrounds from pursuing master's or doctoral studies in the CHEN Lab due to the current institutional constraints. Prof. Chen therefore hopes that the university will actively promote cross-disciplinary master's programs, providing students with diverse and flexible academic pathways. This will foster the cultivation of a larger pool of advanced talents with cross-disciplinary research capabilities, enabling Taiwan to address the various challenges it faces in this rapidly changing era.
Additionally, while the field of interactive minds and brains has rapidly developed in the United States, it is still in its infancy in Asia. Prof. Chen envisions the CHEN Lab as a research hub for interactive minds and brains in Asia, actively promoting academic exchange and collaboration within the region. He aims to establish an academic network tailored for Asian research, fostering close cooperation between Taiwan and other related laboratories across Asia. Through this network, the CHEN Lab will serve as a bridge, connecting research efforts across Asia to jointly advance the development of interactive minds and brains. Prof. Chen further aspires to make the CHEN Lab a leader in this research field in Asia, establishing it as a model for computational interactive minds and brains, and leading Asia to the international stage in this field.
Prof.Chen with students from CHEN Lab