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Institute
Affective states in the context of learning and achievement can influence the learning process essentially. The impact of affective states can be both directly on the learning performance and indirectly mediated via, for example, motivational processes. Positive activating affect is often associated with increased memory skills as well as advantages in creative problem solving. Negative activating affect on the other hand is regarded to impair learning outcomes because of promoting task-irrelevant thinking. While these relationships were found to be relatively stable in correlation studies, causal relationships have been examined rarely so far. This dissertation aims to investigate the effects of positive and negative affective states in multimedia learning settings and to identify potential moderating factors. Therefore, three experimental empirical studies on university students were conducted. In Experiment 1, N = 57 university students were randomly allocated to either a positive or negative affect induction group. Affects were elicited using short film clips. After a 20-minute learning phase in a hypertext-based multimedia learning environment on “functional neuroanatomy” the learners’ knowledge as well as transfer performance were measured. It was assumed that inducing positive activating affect should enhance learning performance. Eliciting negative activating affect on the other hand should impair learning performance. However, it was found that the induction of negative activating affect prior to the learning phase resulted in slight deteriorations in knowledge. Contrary to the assumptions, inducing positive activating affect before the learning phase did not improve learning performance. Experiment 2 induced positive activating affect directly during learning. To induce affective states during the entire duration of the learning phase, Experiment 2 used an emotional design paradigm. Therefore, N = 111 university students were randomly assigned to learn either in an affect inducing multimedia learning environment (use of warm colours and round shapes) or an affectively neutral counterpart (using shades of grey and angular shapes) on the same topic as in Experiment 1. Again, knowledge as well as transfer performance were measured after learning for 20 minutes. In addition, positive and negative affective states were measured before and after learning. Complex interaction patterns between the treatment and initial affective states were found. Specifically, learners with high levels of positive affect before learning showed better transfer performance when they learned in the affect inducing learning environment. Regarding knowledge, those participants who reported high levels of negative activating affect prior to the learning period performed worse. However, the effect on knowledge did not occur for those students learning in the affect inducing learning environment. For knowledge, the treatment therefore protected against poorer performance due to high levels of negative affective states. Results of Experiment 2 showed that the induction of positive activating affect influenced learning performance positively when taking into account affective states prior to the learning phase. In order to confirm these interaction effects, a conceptual replication of the previous experiment was conducted in Experiment 3. Experiment 3 largely retained the former study design, but changed the learning materials and tests used. Analogous to Experiment 2, N = 145 university students learning for 20 minutes in either an affect inducing or an affectively neutral multimedia learning environment on “eukaryotic cell”. To strengthen the treatment, Experiment 3 also used anthropomorphic design elements to induce affective states next to warm colours and round shapes. Moreover, in order to assess the change in affective states more exactly, an additional measurement of positive and negative affective states after half of the learning time was inserted. Knowledge and transfer were assessed again to measure learning performance. The learners’ memory skills were used as an additional learning outcome. To control the influence of potential confounding variables, the participants’ general and current achievement motivation as well as interest, and emotion regulation skills were measured. Contrary to the assumptions, Experiment 3 could not confirm the interaction effects of Experiment 2. Instead, there was a significant impact of positive activating affect prior to the learning phase on transfer, irrespective of the learners’ group affiliation. This effect was further independent of the control variables that were measured. Nevertheless, the results of Experiment 3 fit into the picture of findings regarding “emotional design” in hypermedia learning settings. To date, the few publications that have used this approach propose heterogeneous results, even when using identical materials and procedures.
Costly signaling with mobile devices: An evolutionary psychological perspective on smartphones
(2016)
In the last decade, mobile device ownership has largely increased. In particular, smartphone ownership is constantly rising (A. Smith, 2015; Statista, 2016a), and there is a real hype for luxury brand smartphones (Griffin, 2015). These observations raise the question of which functions smartphones serve in addition to their original purposes of making and receiving calls, searching for information, and organizing. Beyond these obvious functions, studies suggest that smartphones express fashion, lifestyle, and one’s economic status (e.g., Bødker et al., 2009; Statista, 2016b; Vanden Abeele, Antheunis, & Schouten, 2014). Specifically, individuals seem to purchase and use conspicuous luxury brand smartphones to display and enhance status (D. Kim et al., 2014; Müller-Lietzkow et al., 2014; Suki, 2013). But how does owning a conspicuous, high-status smartphone contribute to status, and which benefits may these status boosts provide to their owners? From an evolutionary perspective, status carries a lot of advantages, particularly for males; high status grants them priority access to resources and correlates with their mating success (van Vugt & Tybur, 2016). In this sense, research suggests that men conspicuously display their cell phones to attract mates and to distinguish themselves from rivals (Lycett & Dunbar, 2000). In a similar vein, evolutionarily informed studies on conspicuous consumption indicate that the purchase and display of conspicuous luxuries (including mobile phones and smartphones) relate to a man’s interest in uncommitted sexual relationships and enhance his desirability as a short-term mate (Hennighausen & Schwab, 2014; Saad, 2013; Sundie et al., 2011). Drawing on these findings, this doctoral dissertation investigated how a man is perceived given that he is an owner of a high-status (vs. nonconspicuous, low-status) smartphone as a romantic partner and male rival. This was done in three experiments. In addition, it was examined how male conspicuous consumption of smartphones interacted with further traits that signal a man’s mate quality, namely facial attractiveness (Studies 1 and 2) and social dominance (Study 3). Study 1 revealed that men and women perceived a male owner of a conspicuous smartphone as a less desirable long-term mate and as more inclined toward short-term mating. Study 2 replicated these results and showed that men and women assigned traits that are associated with short-term mating (e.g., low loyalty, interest in flirts, availability of tangible resources) to a male owner of a conspicuous smartphone and perceived him as a stronger male rival and mate poacher, and less as a friend. The results of Study 2 further suggested that specifically more attractive men might benefit from owning a conspicuous smartphone in a short-term mating context and might be hence considered as stronger male rivals. Study 3 partially replicated the findings of Studies 1 and 2 pertaining to the effects of owning a conspicuous smartphone. Study 3 did not show different effects of conspicuous consumption of smartphones on perceptions of a man dependent on the level of his social dominance.
To conclude, the findings of this doctoral dissertation suggest that owning a conspicuous, high-status smartphone might not only serve proximate functions (e.g., making and receiving calls, organization) but also ultimate functions, which relate to mating and reproduction. The results indicate that owning a conspicuous smartphone might yield benefits for men in a short-term rather than in a long-term mating context. Furthermore, more attractive men appear to benefit more from owning a conspicuous smartphone than less attractive men. These findings provide further insights into the motivations that underlie men’s purchases and displays of conspicuous, high-status smartphones from luxury brands that reach beyond the proximate causes frequently described in media and consumer psychological research. By applying an evolutionary perspective, this doctoral dissertation demonstrates the power and utility of this research paradigm for media psychological research and shows how combining a proximate and ultimate perspective adds to a more profound understanding of smartphone phenomena.