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Errors in Prospective Memory
(2019)
Prospective memory is the ability to implement intentions at a later point in time in response to a specified cue. Such prospective memory tasks often occur in daily living and workplace situations. However, in contrast to retrospective memory there has been relatively little research on prospective memory. The studies by Harris (1984) and Einstein and MacDaniel (1990) served as a starting point for a now steadily growing area of research. Based on this emerging field of study this dissertation presents and connects and five journal articles, which further explore prospective memory by focusing on its potential errors.
The first article addresses the question if additional cognitive resources are needed after a prospective memory cue occurs to keep the intention active until it is implemented. The theory by Einstein, McDaniel, Williford, Pagan and Dismukes (2003), which suggested this active maintenance, could not be replicated. The second article demonstrated that interruptions between cue and the window of opportunity to implement the intention reduce prospective memory performance, especially if the interruption is tied with a change of context. Article three to five were focused on the erroneous implementation of a no longer active prospective memory task, so called commission errors. The suggested mechanism for their occurrence, the dual-mechanism account (Bugg, Scullin, & Rauvola, 2016), was not suited to explain the present results. A modification for the dual-mechanism account was formulated, which can account for prior work, as well as for the present data.
The results of all five articles also indicate that the moment of cue retrieval is even more relevant for prospective memory and its errors than previously accounted for.
The field of human-computer interaction (HCI) strives for innovative user interfaces. Innovative and novel user interfaces are a challenge for a growing population of older users and endanger older adults to be excluded from an increasingly digital world. This is because older adults often have lower cognitive abilities and little prior experiences with technology.
This thesis aims at resolving the tension between innovation and age-inclusiveness by developing user interfaces that can be used regardless of cognitive abilities and technology-dependent prior knowledge.
The method of image-schematic metaphors holds promises for innovative and age-inclusive interaction design. Image-schematic metaphors represent a form of technology-independent prior knowledge. They reveal basic mental models and can be gathered in language (e.g. bank account is container from "I put money into my bank account").
Based on a discussion of previous applications of image-schematic metaphors in HCI, the present work derives three empirical research questions regarding image-schematic metaphors for innovative and age-inclusive interaction design.
The first research question addresses the yet untested assumption that younger and older adults overlap in their technology-independent prior knowledge and, therefore, their usage of image-schematic metaphors. In study 1, a total of 41 participants described abstract concepts from the domains of online banking and everyday life. In study 2, ten contextual interviews were conducted. In both studies, younger and older adults showed a substantial overlap of 70% to 75%, indicating that also their mental models overlap substantially.
The second research question addresses the applicability and potential of image-schematic metaphors for innovative design from the perspective of designers. In study 3, 18 student design teams completed an ideation process with either an affinity diagram as the industry standard, image-schematic metaphors or both methods in combination and created paper prototypes. The image-schematic metaphor method alone, but not the combination of both methods, was readily adopted and applied just as a well as the more familiar standard method.
In study 4, professional interaction designers created prototypes either with or without image-schematic metaphors. In both studies, the method of image-schematic metaphors was perceived as applicable and creativity stimulating.
The third research question addresses whether designs that explicitly follow image-schematic metaphors are more innovative and age-inclusive regarding differences in cognitive abilities and prior technological knowledge. In two experimental studies (study 5 and 6) involving a total of 54 younger and 53 older adults, prototypes that were designed with image-schematic metaphors were perceived as more innovative compared to those who were designed without image-schematic metaphors. Moreover, the impact of prior technological knowledge on interaction was reduced for prototypes that had been designed with image-schematic metaphors. However, participants' cognitive abilities and age still influenced the interaction significantly.
The present work provides empirical as well as methodological findings that can help to promote the method of image-schematic metaphors in interaction design. As a result of these studies it can be concluded that the image-schematic metaphors are an applicable and effective method for innovative user interfaces that can be used regardless of prior technological knowledge.
Spatial presence is a state in which media users temporarily overlook the mediated nature of their experience.
This study discusses stimulus-dependent structure in spontaneous eye-blink behavior as analternative to presence selfreport measures. To this end, theories and empirical evidence on presence, spontaneous eye-blink behavior, and existing approaches for presence assessment are used to link antecedent processes of presence, especially attention, to presence and structure in blinking behavior.
Three experiments in different media environments relate three different methods for quantification of stimulus-dependent structure to an established presence scale. The results are not conclusive, but raise questions on presence and its measurement, and advance the understanding of stimulus-dependent structure in spontaneous eye-blink behavior.
Due to the complexityof research objects, theoretical concepts, and stimuli in media research, researchers in psychology and communications presumably need sophisticated measures beyond self-report scales to answer research questions on media use processes. The present study evaluates stimulus-dependent structure in spontaneous eye-blink behavior as an objective, corroborative measure for the media use phenomenon of spatial presence. To this end, a mixed methods approach is used in an experimental setting to collect, combine, analyze, and interpret data from standardized participant self-report, observation of participant behavior, and content analysis of the media stimulus. T-pattern detection is used to analyze stimulus-dependent blinking behavior, and this structural data is then contrasted with self-report data. The combined results show that behavioral indicators yield the predicted results, while self-report data shows unpredicted results that are not predicted by the underlying theory. The use of a mixed methods approach offered insights that support further theory development and theory testing beyond a traditional, mono-method experimental approach.
Mobile health interventions (i.e., “apps”) are used to address mental health and are an increasingly popular method available to both individuals and organizations to manage workplace stress. However, at present, there is a lack of research on the effectiveness of mobile health interventions in counteracting or improving stress-related health problems, particularly in naturalistic, non-clinical settings. This project aimed at validating a mobile health intervention (which is theoretically grounded in the Job Demands-Resources Model) in preventing and managing stress at work. Within the mobile health intervention, employees make an evidence-based, personalized, psycho-educational journey to build further resources, and thus, reduce stress. A large-scale longitudinal randomized control trial, conducted with six European companies over 6 weeks using four measurement points, examined indicators of mental health via measures of stress, wellbeing, resilience, and sleep. The data were analyzed by means of hierarchical multilevel models for repeated measures, including both self-report measures and user behavior metrics from the app. The results (n = 532) suggest that using the mobile health intervention (vs. waitlist control group) significantly improved stress and wellbeing over time. Higher engagement in the intervention increased the beneficial effects. Additionally, use of the sleep tracking function led to an improvement in sleeping troubles. The intervention had no effects on measures of physical health or social community at work. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed, focusing on benefits and challenges of using technological solutions for organizations to support individuals’ mental health in the workplace.
Social robots are becoming increasingly prevalent in everyday life and sex robots are a sub-category of especially high public interest and controversy. Starting from the concept of the otaku, a term from Japanese youth culture that describes secluded persons with a high affinity for fictional manga characters, we examine individual differences behind sex robot appeal (anime and manga fandom, interest in Japanese culture, preference for indoor activities, shyness). In an online-experiment, 261 participants read one out of three randomly assigned descriptions of future technologies (sex robot, nursing robot, genetically modified organism) and reported on their overall evaluation, eeriness, and contact/purchase intentions. Higher anime and manga fandom was associated with higher appeal for all three future technologies. For our male subsample, sex robots and GMOs stood out as shyness yielded a particularly strong relationship to contact/purchase intentions for these new technologies.
The name is the game: nicknames as predictors of personality and mating strategy in online dating
(2019)
Objective: We investigated the communicative function of online dating nicknames. Our aim was to assess if it is possible to correctly guess personality traits of a user simply by reading his/her nickname.
Method: We had 69 nickname users (average age: 33.59 years, 36 female) complete questionnaires assessing their personality (Big 5 + narcissism) and mating strategy (short- vs. long-term). We then checked (using a total of 638 participants, average age: 26.83 years, 355 female), whether personality and mating strategy of the nickname users could be assessed correctly based only on the nickname. We also captured the motivation to contact the user behind a nickname and looked at linguistic features of the nicknames.
Results: We found that personality and mating strategy could be inferred from a nickname. Furthermore, going by trends, women were better at intersexual personality judgments, whereas men were better in intrasexual judgements. We also found several correlates of the motivation to contact the person behind the nickname. Among other factors, long nicknames seemed to deter people from contacting the nickname user.
Conclusions: Findings display that humans are capable of making accurate personality judgements in computer-mediated communication by means of even small cues like nicknames.
In der vorliegenden experimentellen Studie wurde die visuelle Aufmerksamkeit von Anästhesisten während der Einleitung einer Allgemeinanästhesie in Abhängigkeit von ihrer Erfahrung mithilfe eines mobilen Eye-Tracking-Gerätes untersucht. 12 Assistenten mit durchschnittlich 1,3 Jahren klinischer Erfahrung und ebenfalls 12 Fachärzte mit durchschnittlich circa 10 Jahren klinischer Erfahrung nahmen an der Studie teil. Ebenso wurde der simulierte Fall mit der Anästhesieeinleitung am Patienten verglichen. Beide Anästhesisten-Gruppen führten mit der Eye-Tracking-Brille jeweils eine Einleitung so-wohl an einem Simulator im Simulationsraum als auch am Patienten im Einleitungsraum vor dem OP-Saal durch. Diese Brille zeichnete dabei Daten zu Fixationspunkten und Blickbewegungen der Probanden auf. Angelehnt an Schulz et al.21 wurden 24 Areas of Interest definiert und diese den Gruppen „manuelle Tätigkeiten“, „Überwachung“ und „weitere Beobachtungspunkte“ zugeordnet. Als abhängige Variable für die statistische Auswertung wurde die relative Verweildauer in Prozent genutzt und eine multivariate ANOVA gerechnet.
Es ergab sich im Wesentlichen kein signifikanter Effekt des Faktors Erfahrung. Die Assistenten verteilten ihre visuelle Aufmerksamkeit nicht signifikant anders als die erfahreneren Anästhesisten und verhielten sich folglich in Bezug darauf weitgehend gleich. Der Erwerb dieses Verhaltens findet demnach anscheinend schon sehr früh statt, sodass mit 1,3 Jahren Erfahrung in dieser Hinsicht kein Unterschied zu deutlich mehr Erfahrung auftritt. Ein halbstandardisiertes Interview stützt diese Annahme. Der Faktor Umgebung beeinflusste aber signifikant das Verhalten der Anästhesisten. In der Simula-tion widmeten beide Gruppen sowohl der „Überwachung“ insgesamt als auch „manu-ellen Tätigkeiten“ während der Vorbereitungsphase mehr visuelle Aufmerksamkeit als in der Narkoseeinleitung am Patienten. Das ist einerseits mit den Einschränkungen der Simulationspuppe zu erklären und liegt andererseits wahrscheinlich an der ungewohn-ten Umgebung und der unbekannten Pflegekraft, sodass die Anästhesisten das Material länger kontrollierten. Folglich schauten beide Gruppen während der Narkoseeinleitung am Patienten häufiger auf „weitere Beobachtungspunkte“, was auch durch die höhere Komplexität und Störanfälligkeit dieser Situation schlüssig wirkt.
Optimierungsmöglichkeiten der Bedingungen im Simulationsraum werden angespro-chen, Anschlussstudien vorgeschlagen. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass der Einsatz eines Eye-Tracking-Gerätes auch während der hochsensiblen Einleitung einer Allgemein-anästhesie am Patienten problemlos möglich ist. Darüber hinaus liefert die Studie nun eine stark standardisierte Versuchsmethode, welche für weitere Forschungsfragen sehr empfohlen werden kann.
Intuitive Benutzung wird in dieser Arbeit definiert als das Ausmaß, mit dem ein Produkt mental effizient und effektiv genutzt wird, was mit einem starken metakognitiven Gefühl von Flüssigkeit einhergeht. Aktuelle Methoden verfügen nicht über eine ausreichend hohe zeitliche Anwendungseffizienz, um im Industrieprojekt 3D-GUIde effektiv zur Evaluation von Interaktionspatterns für 3D-Creation-Oriented-User-Interfaces (3D-CUIs) eingesetzt werden zu können. Diese Interaktionspatterns beschreiben strukturiert, wie 3D-CUIs als User Interfaces zur Erstellung von dreidimensionalen Inhalten gestaltet werden müssen, um intuitive Benutzung zu unterstützen. In dieser Arbeit werden daher zwei neue Evaluationsmethoden vorgeschlagen: 1) IntuiBeat-F als formative Evaluationsmethode und 2) IntuiBeat-S als summative Evaluationsmethode. Basierend auf Default-Interventionist-Theorien und bestehenden Definitionen intuitiver Benutzung werden die mentale Beanspruchung als zentrales objektives, das metakognitive Gefühl von Flüssigkeit als zentrales subjektives und die Effektivität als zentrales pragmatisches mit intuitiver Benutzung assoziiertes Merkmal identifiziert. Die Evaluation intuitiver Benutzung mithilfe von IntuiBeat-F und IntuiBeat-S ist vielversprechend, da es sich bei beiden Methoden um Inhibition basierende Rhythmuszweitaufgaben handelt und diese somit mentale Beanspruchung objektiv erfassen können. Das Potential beider Methoden wird im Hinblick auf vorherige Forschungsarbeiten zur zeitlich effizienten Evaluation von 3D-CUIs aus der Mensch-Computer-Interaktion und der Psychologie diskutiert. Aus dieser Diskussion werden empirische Forschungsfragen abgeleitet. Die erste Forschungsfrage untersucht die wissenschaftliche Güte von IntuiBeat-S. Im ersten, zweiten und dritten Experiment werden Paare von 3D-CUIs miteinander summativ verglichen (d.h. weniger vs. stärker intuitiv benutzbare User Interfaces). Dabei wird die wissenschaftliche Güte von IntuiBeat-S hinsichtlich der Hauptgütekriterien Objektivität, Reliabilität und Validität beurteilt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass IntuiBeat-S eine hohe wissenschaftliche Güte bei der summativen Evaluation besitzt. Zudem macht es bei der Anwendung von IntuiBeat-S keinen Unterschied, ob der Rhythmus über die Ferse oder den Fußballen eingeben wird, und ob als Stichproben Studierende mit höherer oder geringerer Vorerfahrung bezüglich der Nutzung von 3D-CUIs verwendet werden. Die zweite Forschungsfrage untersucht die wissenschaftliche Güte von IntuiBeat-F. Im vierten, fünften, sechsten und siebten Experiment werden 3D-CUIs einzeln formativ evaluiert (d.h. entweder ein weniger oder stärker intuitiv benutzbares User Interface). Dabei wird die wissenschaftliche Güte von IntuiBeat-F hinsichtlich der Hauptgütekriterien Gründlichkeit, Gültigkeit und Zuverlässigkeit beurteilt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass IntuiBeat-F eine hohe wissenschaftliche Güte bei der formativen Evaluation besitzt. Diese liegt bei strikter Anwendung der Methode (d.h. Berücksichtigung ausschließlich mit der Methode entdeckter Nutzungsprobleme) zwar höher, ist aber bei wenig strikter Anwendung der Methode (d.h. Berücksichtigung auch unabhängig von der Methode entdeckter Nutzungsprobleme) noch ausreichend hoch. Jedoch konnte erst die Entwicklung und Einführung einer zusätzlichen Analysesoftware im Zuge des sechsten und siebten Experiments die wissenschaftliche Güte von IntuiBeat-F hinsichtlich aller drei Hauptgütekriterien demonstrieren, da ohne deren Unterstützung IntuiBeat-F vom Evaluator nicht ausreichend gründlich angewendet wird. Die dritte Forschungsfrage untersucht, wie hoch die zeitliche Anwendungseffizienz beider Methoden als wichtiger Aspekt praktischer Güte im Vergleich zu bereits vorhandenen Evaluationsmethoden für intuitive Benutzung ist. Bezüglich der summativen Evaluation wird im zweiten Experiment eine höhere zeitliche Anwendungseffizienz von IntuiBeat-S im Vergleich zum aktuellen summativen Benchmark, der CHAI-Methode, sowohl bei der Evaluation von weniger als auch bei der von stärker intuitiv benutzbaren 3D-CUIs demonstriert. Auch bezüglich der formativen Evaluation konnten die Ergebnisse der letzten vier Experimente zeigen, dass die zeitliche Anwendungseffizienz von IntuiBeat-F im Vergleich zum aktuellen formativen Benchmark, dem Nutzertest mit retrospektivem Think-Aloud- Protokoll, sowohl bei der Evaluation von weniger als auch stärker intuitiv benutzbaren 3D-CUIs höher liegt. Dieser Unterschied bleibt bestehend, egal ob eine zusätzliche Analysesoftware vom Evaluator verwendet wird oder nicht. Als Ergebnis aller Experimente lässt sich feststellen, dass die wissenschaftliche Güte und die zeitliche Anwendungseffizienz beider Methoden zur Evaluation intuitiver Benutzung von 3D-CUIs mehr als zufriedenstellend beurteilt werden kann. Die Arbeit wird mit einer Diskussion des geleisteten Forschungsbeitrags geschlossen. Dabei werden Anregungen für künftige Forschung aus theoretischer (z.B. Berücksichtigung des Gefühls von Flüssigkeit bei der Evaluation), praktischer (z.B. Untersuchung der Anwendbarkeit beider Methoden in anderen Domänen) und methodischer (z.B. Beurteilung der praktischen Güte beider Methoden anhand anderer Kriterien) Perspektive gegeben.
The impact of stories in their ability to shape our view on the world has long been a central topic in communication science and media psychology. While reading a book or watching a movie, we are transported into story worlds and we identify with depicted protagonists. Several studies showed that high levels of transportation lead to greater story-consistent beliefs. Similar effects were found for identification. However, much less is known how and in which direction stories could affect the self. Five experimental studies were conducted and summarized in three manuscripts. Manuscript #1 explored the moderating role of transportation that could shift one’s self-perception towards traits of a depicted story character (assimilation) or away from him/her (contrast). Manuscript #2 focused on downward social comparisons with a protagonist and possible contrast effects on participants’ self-perception in relation to others, their motives and behavior. Thereby, the mediating role of transportation and identification were investigated. Finally, upward social comparison with a protagonist and related emotions (e.g., envy) that mediate possible effects on one’s self perception and behavioral intentions were investigated in manuscript #3.
This dissertation project contributes to the literature on stories and the self. Consistent with previous work, assimilation effects were found for highly transported recipients. However, stories might also elicit contrast effects on recipients’ selves and behavioral intentions that are opposite to a depicted character. Extending prior research, there were evidence that transportation and envy are important process variables explaining assimilation vs. contrast effects.
The rising use of new media has given rise to public discussions about their possible negative consequences. The social sciences have answered these concerns, providing many studies investigating different media types (e.g., social media, video games) and different related variables (e.g., psychological well-being, academic achievement). Within this big body of research, some research results have confirmed negative associations with frequent media use; other studies have found no or even positive relationships. With heterogeneous results, it is difficult to obtain a clear picture of the relationships and causalities of new media. The method of meta-analysis allows a synthesis of all existing data, providing an overall effect size as well as moderator and mediator analyses which might explain the heterogeneity. Three manuscripts present meta-analytic evidence related to a) the relationship between social media use and academic achievement, b) the relationship between video gaming and overweight, and c) the relationship between social media and psychological correlates. Manuscript #1 found small relationships which depend on the usage pattern of social media. The relationship is positive, as long as social media use is related to school. Manuscript #2 showed that children’s and adolescents’ video gaming is independent from their body mass, while adults who play more have a higher body mass. Manuscript #3 summarized existing meta-analytic evidence that links social media with psychological wellbeing, academic achievement, and narcissism with small to moderate effect sizes. All three manuscripts underscore the potential of meta-analyses to synthesize previous research and to identify moderators. Although meta-analyses are not necessarily superior to other approaches because of their limitations (e.g. limited information or quality of primary studies) they are very promising for media psychology. Meta-analyses can reduce complexity and might be helpful for the communication of research results to the general public.
Pictures in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stream are better remembered when they are simultaneously presented with targets of an unrelated detection task than when they are presented with distractors. However, it is unclear whether this so-called “attentional boost effect” depends on the intentionality of encoding. While there are studies suggesting that the attentional boost effect even occurs when encoding is incidental, there are several methodological issues with these studies, which may have undermined the incidental encoding instructions. The present study (N = 141) investigated the role of the intentionality of encoding with an improved experimental design. Specifically, to prevent a spill-over of intentional resources to the pictures in the RSVP stream, the speed of the stream was increased (to four pictures per second) and each picture was presented only once during the course of the experiment. An attentional boost effect was only found when encoding was intentional but not when encoding was incidental. Interestingly, memory performance for incidentally encoded pictures was nevertheless substantially above chance, independently of whether images were presented with search-relevant targets or distractors. These results suggest that the attentional boost effect is a memory advantage that occurs only under intentional encoding conditions, and that perceptual long-term memory representations are formed as a natural product of perception, independently of the presence of behaviorally relevant events.
Computer games are highly immersive, engaging, and motivating learning environments. By providing a tutorial at the start of a new game, players learn the basics of the game's underlying principles as well as practice how to successfully play the game. During the actual gameplay, players repetitively apply this knowledge, thus improving it due to repetition. Computer games also challenge players with a constant stream of new challenges which increase in difficulty over time. As a result, computer games even require players to transfer their knowledge to master these new challenges. A computer game consists of several game mechanics. Game mechanics are the rules of a computer game and encode the game's underlying principles. They create the virtual environments, generate a game's challenges and allow players to interact with the game. Game mechanics also can encode real world knowledge. This knowledge may be acquired by players via gameplay. However, the actual process of knowledge encoding and knowledge learning using game mechanics has not been thoroughly defined, yet. This thesis therefore proposes a theoretical model to define the knowledge learning using game mechanics: the Gamified Knowledge Encoding. The model is applied to design a serious game for affine transformations, i.e., GEtiT, and to predict the learning outcome of playing a computer game that encodes orbital mechanics in its game mechanics, i.e., Kerbal Space Program. To assess the effects of different visualization technologies on the overall learning outcome, GEtiT visualizes the gameplay in desktop-3D and immersive virtual reality. The model's applicability for effective game design as well as GEtiT's overall design are evaluated in a usability study. The learning outcome of playing GEtiT and Kerbal Space Program is assessed in four additional user studies. The studies' results validate the use of the Gamified Knowledge Encoding for the purpose of developing effective serious games and to predict the learning outcome of existing serious games. GEtiT and Kerbal Space Program yield a similar training effect but a higher motivation to tackle the assignments in comparison to a traditional learning method. In conclusion, this thesis expands the understanding of using game mechanics for an effective learning of knowledge. The presented results are of high importance for researches, educators, and developers as they also provide guidelines for the development of effective serious games.
The combination of globalization and digitalization emphasizes the importance of media-related and intercultural competencies of teacher educators and preservice teachers. This article reports on the initial prototypical implementation of a pedagogical concept to foster such competencies of preservice teachers. The proposed pedagogical concept utilizes a social virtual reality (VR) framework since related work on the characteristics of VR has indicated that this medium is particularly well suited for intercultural professional development processes. The development is integrated into a larger design-based research approach that develops a theory-guided and empirically grounded professional development concept for teacher educators with a special focus on teacher educator technology competencies (TETC8). TETCs provide a suitable competence framework capable of aligning requirements for both media-related and intercultural competencies. In an exploratory study with student teachers, we designed, implemented, and evaluated a pedagogical concept. Reflection reports were qualitatively analyzed to gain insights into factors that facilitate or hinder the implementation of the immersive learning scenario as well as into the participants’ evaluation of their learning experience. The results show that our proposed pedagogical concept is particularly suitable for promoting the experience of social presence, agency, and empathy in the group.
Conversational agents and smart speakers have grown in popularity offering a variety of options for use, which are available through intuitive speech operation. In contrast to the standard dyad of a single user and a device, voice-controlled operations can be observed by further attendees resulting in new, more social usage scenarios. Referring to the concept of ‘media equation’ and to research on the idea of ‘computers as social actors,’ which describes the potential of technology to trigger emotional reactions in users, this paper asks for the capacity of smart speakers to elicit empathy in observers of interactions. In a 2 × 2 online experiment, 140 participants watched a video of a man talking to an Amazon Echo either rudely or neutrally (factor 1), addressing it as ‘Alexa’ or ‘Computer’ (factor 2). Controlling for participants’ trait empathy, the rude treatment results in participants’ significantly higher ratings of empathy with the device, compared to the neutral treatment. The form of address had no significant effect. Results were independent of the participants’ gender and usage experience indicating a rather universal effect, which confirms the basic idea of the media equation. Implications for users, developers and researchers were discussed in the light of (future) omnipresent voice-based technology interaction scenarios.
Mindfulness is considered an important factor of an individual's subjective well-being. Consequently, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) has investigated approaches that strengthen mindfulness, i.e., by inventing multimedia technologies to support mindfulness meditation. These approaches often use smartphones, tablets, or consumer-grade desktop systems to allow everyday usage in users' private lives or in the scope of organized therapies. Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality (VR, AR, MR; in short: XR) significantly extend the design space for such approaches. XR covers a wide range of potential sensory stimulation, perceptive and cognitive manipulations, content presentation, interaction, and agency. These facilities are linked to typical XR-specific perceptions that are conceptually closely related to mindfulness research, such as (virtual) presence and (virtual) embodiment. However, a successful exploitation of XR that strengthens mindfulness requires a systematic analysis of the potential interrelation and influencing mechanisms between XR technology, its properties, factors, and phenomena and existing models and theories of the construct of mindfulness. This article reports such a systematic analysis of XR-related research from HCI and life sciences to determine the extent to which existing research frameworks on HCI and mindfulness can be applied to XR technologies, the potential of XR technologies to support mindfulness, and open research gaps. Fifty papers of ACM Digital Library and National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine (PubMed) with and without empirical efficacy evaluation were included in our analysis. The results reveal that at the current time, empirical research on XR-based mindfulness support mainly focuses on therapy and therapeutic outcomes. Furthermore, most of the currently investigated XR-supported mindfulness interactions are limited to vocally guided meditations within nature-inspired virtual environments. While an analysis of empirical research on those systems did not reveal differences in mindfulness compared to non-mediated mindfulness practices, various design proposals illustrate that XR has the potential to provide interactive and body-based innovations for mindfulness practice. We propose a structured approach for future work to specify and further explore the potential of XR as mindfulness-support. The resulting framework provides design guidelines for XR-based mindfulness support based on the elements and psychological mechanisms of XR interactions.
We investigated the accuracy of gender stereotypes regarding digital game genre preferences. In Study 1, 484 female and male participants rated their preference for 17 game genres (gender differences). In Study 2, another sample of 226 participants rated the extent to which the same genres were presumably preferred by women or men (gender stereotypes). We then compared the results of both studies in order to determine the accuracy of the gender stereotypes. Study 1 revealed actual gender differences for most genres—mostly of moderate size. Study 2 revealed substantial gender stereotypes about genre preferences. When comparing the results from both studies, we found that gender stereotypes were accurate in direction for most genres. However, they were, to some degree, inaccurate in size: For most genres, gender stereotypes overestimated the actual gender difference with a moderate mean effect size.
Manifestations of aggressive driving, such as tailgating, speeding, or swearing, are not trivial offenses but are serious problems with hazardous consequences—for the offender as well as the target of aggression. Aggression on the road erases the joy of driving, affects heart health, causes traffic jams, and increases the risk of traffic accidents. This work is aimed at developing a technology-driven solution to mitigate aggressive driving according to the principles of Persuasive Technology. Persuasive Technology is a scientific field dealing with computerized software or information systems that are designed to reinforce, change, or shape attitudes, behaviors, or both without using coercion or deception.
Against this background, the Driving Feedback Avatar (DFA) was developed through this work. The system is a visual in-car interface that provides the driver with feedback on aggressive driving. The main element is an abstract avatar displayed in the vehicle. The feedback is transmitted through the emotional state of this avatar, i.e., if the driver behaves aggressively, the avatar becomes increasingly angry (negative feedback). If no aggressive action occurs, the avatar is more relaxed (positive feedback). In addition, directly after an aggressive action is recognized by the system, the display is flashing briefly to give the driver an instant feedback on his action.
Five empirical studies were carried out as part of the human-centered design process of the DFA. They were aimed at understanding the user and the use context of the future system, ideating system ideas, and evaluating a system prototype. The initial research question was about the triggers of aggressive driving. In a driver study on a public road, 34 participants reported their emotions and their triggers while they were driving (study 1). The second research question asked for interventions to cope with aggression in everyday life. For this purpose, 15 experts dealing with the treatment of aggressive individuals were interviewed (study 2). In total, 75 triggers of aggressive driving and 34 anti-aggression interventions were identified. Inspired by these findings, 108 participants generated more than 100 ideas of how to mitigate aggressive driving using technology in a series of ideation workshops (study 3). Based on these ideas, the concept of the DFA was elaborated on. In an online survey, the concept was evaluated by 1,047 German respondents to get a first assessment of its perception (study 4). Later on, the DFA was implemented into a prototype and evaluated in an experimental driving study with 32 participants, focusing on the system’s effectiveness (study 5). The DFA had only weak and, in part, unexpected effects on aggressive driving that require a deeper discussion.
With the DFA, this work has shown that there is room to change aggressive driving through Persuasive Technology. However, this is a very sensitive issue with special requirements regarding the design of avatar-based feedback systems in the context of aggressive driving. Moreover, this work makes a significant contribution through the number of empirical insights gained on the problem of aggressive driving and wants to encourage future research and design activities in this regard.
Hintergrundmusik wird in verschiedenen audiovisuellen Medienformaten häufig und meist mit einer ganz bestimmten Intention eingesetzt. Ziel dieser Dissertation war es, durch eine umfangreiche Aufarbeitung bisheriger Forschung Faktoren zu ermitteln und empirisch zu testen, die beeinflussen, dass Hintergrundmusik in audiovisuellen Medienformaten prognostizierbar die ihr zugesprochenen Funktionen erfüllt. Als interdisziplinärer Forschungsgegenstand bedarf Hintergrundmusik eines möglichst ausgewogenen Blickwinkels, der Musik- und Medienkontext-Spezifika (und deren potentielle Interaktionen) gleichermaßen berücksichtigt. Um Hintergrundmusik als komplexem audiovisuellen Stimulus in empirischer Forschung gerecht zu werden, spielen zudem auch praktische Implikationen eine große Rolle. Diese Herausforderungen berücksichtigend wurde die Wirksamkeit von Hintergrundmusik in fünf Studien im Kontext von drei verschiedenen Medienformaten untersucht. Da Werbung, Film und informationsvermittelnde Medienformate (wie Dokumentationen und TV-Magazine) die drei Kernfunktionen von Medien – Persuasion, Unterhaltung und Information – repräsentieren, sollte auf Grundlage dieses Dreiklangs die Bandbreite potenzieller Wirkungen von effektiv eingesetzter Musik und von Faktoren, die ihre Wirkung beeinflussen, möglichst umfassend (wenn auch sicher nicht vollständig) abgebildet werden. Über alle Medienformate hinweg kann als wichtiger, die Wirksamkeit von Hintergrundmusik verstärkender Einflussfaktor eine Kongruenz, d.h. eine intuitiv wahrgenommene Passung von Musik und Medienkontext ausgemacht werden, die durch eine sorgfältige Abstimmung der Spezifika von Musik und Medienformat auf emotionaler, auf assoziativer und auf struktureller Ebene erreicht werden kann. Findet diese Anwendung, kann Musik systematisch die Wirksamkeit von Werbespots steigern (Studie 1 und 2), gezielt Bedeutung vermitteln und dadurch die Wahrnehmung und Interpretation von (deutungsoffenen) Filmszenen prägen (Studie 3 und 4) oder unter bestimmten Bedingungen das persuasive Potenzial eines informationsvermittelnden Medienformats steigern und so die Meinungsbildung der Rezipierenden (zumindest kurzfristig) beeinflussen (Studie 5). Die Arbeit verdeutlicht, wie mittels interdisziplinärer Perspektivierung und der Beachtung praktischer Implikationen bereits etabliertes Wissen verstetigt und neue Erkenntnisse zur Verwendung und Wirkung von Hintergrundmusik für Wissenschaft und Medienpraxis abgeleitet werden können – inklusive eines Ausblicks auf daraus resultierende Potenziale für zukünftige Forschung.