title: Sinuosity and the Affect Grid: a method for adjusting repeated mood scores.
abstract: Sinuosity is a measure of how much a travelled pathway deviates from a straight line. In this paper, sinuosity is applied to the measurement of mood. The Affect Grid is a mood scale that requires participants to place a mark on a 9 x 9 grid to indicate their current mood. The grid has two dimensions: pleasure-displeasure (horizontal) and arousal-sleepiness (vertical). In studies where repeated measurements are required, some participants may exaggerate their mood shifts due to faulty interpretation of the scale or a feeling of social obligation to the experimenter. A new equation is proposed, based on the sinuosity measure in hydrology, a measure of the meandering of rivers. The equation takes into account an individual's presumed tendency to exaggerate and meander to correct the score and reduce outliers. The usefulness of the equation is demonstrated by applying it to Affect Grid data from another study.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. yvanrussell@gmail.com
authors.forename: Yvan I
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: Fernand
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gobet
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D001143:Arousal; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012894:Sleep Stages