Why Behavioral Indicators May Fail to Reveal Mental States: Individual Differences in Arousal-Movement Pattern Relationships

Abstract

It is commonly assumed that behavior reflects the mental states of individuals. However, recent attempts to detect human states of mind via behavioral indicators have not always been successful; behavioral indicators may be unreliable and invalid. In this study we show that one of the common behavioral indicators, change in the overall amount of movement, correlated well with changes in the skin conductance level (SCL) at the group level, which reflects changes in arousal. At the individual level, however, changes in the SCL were related to movement patterns only in about half of the individuals. It is also noteworthy that the level of movement-SCL correlation was very highly predictable by certain social and cognitive characteristics of the individuals. Our results suggest that behavioral indicators may in many cases fail to predict mental states at the individual level.

A Dialectical Rationale for Persistent Inadequate Response

“…Theory only provides constraints. Cultural–historical researchers might study eye tracking (Korneev, Matveeva, & Akhutina, ) or skin conductance level (Toomela, Nõmm, Kõnnussaar, & Tammik, ) but purpose of these investigations remains the broader, dynamic development of higher psychological function. As noted by Veresov () “theoretical concepts are not ‘toys’ to play with by changing their contents whatever you like, they are not words with different meanings, they are heavy and powerful tools with definite and strong theoretical content.” If, as has been the case for PIR, the experiment or concept is confused with a method moving toward (not from) theory, there is no progress.…”