Mood-Reports and the College Natural Setting: A Day in the Lives of Three Roommates under Academic Pressure

A technique is described for obtaining samples of overt and convert behavior in free-ranging Ss. The technique is illustrated with a study of three college roommates during a day just prior to a winter examination period. The Mood Adjective Check List was used as the measure of covert response and showed differences among the three Ss ( p = .01), which were meaningfully related to information obtained in earlier 3-hr. interviews. Some possibilities for using the mood-sampling technique in developing multi-level records of the temporal organization of human behavior are discussed.