Self Assessment Manikin (SAM)
Background
The Self Assessment Manikin (SAM) Pictorial Rating Scale is a non-verbal self-assessment tool that uses picture anchors instead of verbal ones to capture a person's affective reaction to presented stimuli. The scale was developed by Margaret Bradley and Peter Lang in 1994 and is widely used in psychology and marketing research because its visual nature bypasses language barriers and it is quick to administer.
SAM focuses on assessing a person's emotional reaction to each presented stimulus on three dimensions:
- Valence (Pleasure): Measures how positive or negative an emotion is. The manikins range from a frowning, unhappy face to a smiling, happy face.
- Arousal: Measures the intensity of excitement a person feels. It ranges from a relaxed, sleepy-looking manikin (low arousal) to an excited, wide-eyed manikin with a "starburst" on its chest (high arousal).
- Dominance (Control): Measures the degree of control the person feels over the situation. It is represented by the size of the manikin, ranging from a very small figure (feeling submissive or controlled) to a very large figure (feeling in control or powerful).
Millisecond's SAM script provides a template for a computerized assessment of people's affective reactions to eight visual images taken from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). The template can easily be updated to run a different set of images.
Task Procedure
After learning about the three rating scales (valence, arousal, dominance), participants are shown 8 images, one at a time. Each image is accompanied by three scales with 9 anchors each (five of these anchors are manikins with 4 empty anchors that allow for intermediate assessments). Participants have to select at least one response on each scale before they can submit their responses. Selected anchors are highlighted in yellow. Responses can be changed until the 'Submit' button is pressed and a new image appears.
What it Measures
The Self Assessment Manikin (SAM) measures emotional judgments using non-verbal scale anchors
Psychological domains
- Emotions: Complex, intense, and relatively short-lived psychological and physiological states in response to internal or external events.
Main Performance Metrics
- Rating: Number from 1 to 9 on each of the three rating scales
Psychiatric Conditions
SAM rating scales are used in the following areas:
- Anxiety and Phobias
- Psychopathology
- Pain Management
- Advertising
The Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) is a non-verbal pictorial assessment measuring the pleasure, arousal, and dominance associated with a person's affective reaction to stimuli.
References
Search Google Scholar for peer-reviewed, published research using the Inquisit Self Assessment Manikin (SAM).
Bradley, M. & Lang, P.J. (1994). Measuring Emotion: The Self-Assessment Manikin and The Semantic Differential. J. Behav. Ther. Exp. Psychiat, 25, 49-59.