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Biosensing: A Critical Reflection on Doing Memory Research Through the Body

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Doing Memory Research

Abstract

Biosensors, as biologically inspired technologies that quantify bodily response, can be used to infer emotional response. Consequently, biosensing provides an opportunity to move beyond traditional enquiries and investigate experiences at the level of the body. It is well acknowledged that the processes of memory and emotion are deeply entwined at an embodied level. Indeed, memories are emotionally charged and able to stir physiological response. Reflecting upon a recent study using these technologies, this chapter discusses the use of biosensors in memory research by deliberating the ethical and practical considerations of their use. It is argued that the use of biosensors in memory research has the capacity to uncover new knowledges but not whole empirical truths.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) is when the government acquires land without the owner’s consent for a given scheme, such as a new road or building estate. A CPO is only approved when the proposal is in the community’s best interest or financially important.

  2. 2.

    It has also been shown in this volume by Shanti Sumartojo in her discussion of people’s attunement their surroundings and the memory sites.

  3. 3.

    The ANS is an unconsciously activated nervous system that regulates bodily reactions. There are two major branches of the ANS: the parasympathetic nervous and the sympathetic nervous systems, where the former generates the ‘rest-and-digest’ or ‘feed-or-breed’ responses and the latter is responsible for ‘flight-or-fight’ (Gabella 2001).

  4. 4.

    All participants have been given a pseudonym to maintain their confidentially and anonymity.

  5. 5.

    An increase in skin temperature can also indicate a state of anger.

  6. 6.

    The Bourn is a small river that flows through the centre of Bournville .

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Acknowledgements

Thank you to Jessica Pykett, Phil Jones, and Peter Kraftl for their comments and feedback on this chapter. This work was funded as part of a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council ES/J50001X/1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Tess Osborne

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  1. Tess Osborne
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Correspondence to Tess Osborne .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Danielle Drozdzewski

  2. University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Carolyn Birdsall

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Osborne, T. (2019). Biosensing: A Critical Reflection on Doing Memory Research Through the Body. In: Drozdzewski, D., Birdsall, C. (eds) Doing Memory Research. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1411-7_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1411-7_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-1410-0

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