The impact of Feedback Tone, Grammatical Person and Presentation Mode on Performance and Preference in a Computer-based Learning Task.

摘要

Politeness is a part of student-tutor interactions and research in affectivecomputing has shown that this social convention may also be applicable when a computerplays the role of tutor. This study sought to build on previous work that examined theeffect of the politeness of computer feedback through the application of social andcognitive theories. Employing a mixed-factor design, a sample of 150 college studentscompleted a multiple cue probability learning task (MCPL) on a computer that providedfeedback phrased in one of three different tonal styles (joint-goal, student-goal and baldon-record). Feedback tone was a within-subjects factor. Subjects received feedback aseither text or as audio. Audio feedback was a between-subjects factor and was deliveredin one of four different modes male/female human voice or a male/female synthesizedvoice. The study found gender differences in tone preference as well as a possible impactof the Tone x Mode interaction on learning. Specifically, men were more likely thanwomen to prefer the student-goal style feedback prompts. It is hoped that this researchcan provide additional insight to designers of learning applications when they aredesigning the feedback mechanisms that these systems should employ.