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ABSTRACT
Researchers have investigated the impact of social presence and avatars across various contexts. While many studies highlight the positive outcomes associated with increased social presence for students, prior research has not delved into how heightened presence may affect students exhibiting traits of neurodiversity. This study (N = 291) assesses participants' perceptions of avatars in terms of anthropomorphism and two presence categories: other-copresence and self-copresence. Additionally, the study explores the moderating role of neurodiversity traits, specifically attention switching and attention to detail, on perceptions of self-copresence. The analysis reveals that more anthropomorphic avatars enhance perceptions of other-copresence. However, moderation analysis indicates that individuals struggling with attention-switching experience reduced self-copresence when other-copresence is higher.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 I. Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman, Grade Level: Tracking Online Education in the United States (Babson Park, MA: Babson Survey Research Group, February 2015).
2 Ibid.
3 Alendra Lyons, Stephen Reysen, and Lindsey Pierce, “Video Lecture Format, Student Technological Efficacy, and Social Presence in Online Courses,” Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012): 181–6; Chun-Wang Wei, Nian-Shing Chen, and Kinshuk, “A Model for Social Presence in Online Classrooms,” Educational Technology Research and Development 60 (2012): 529–45; Jihyun Kim, Kellym Merrill Jr, Kun Xu, and Stephanie Kelly, “Perceived Credibility of an AI Instructor in Online Education: The Role of Social Presence and Voice Features,” Computers in Human Behavior 136 (2022): 107383; Miriam Weinel et al., “A Closer Look on Social Presence as a Causing Factor in Computer-Mediated Collaboration,” Computers in Human Behavior 27 (2011): 513–21.
4 John Short, Ederyn Williams, and Bruce Christie, The Social Psychology of Telecommunications (London: Wiley, 1976).
5 Kristine L. Nowak, James Watt, and Joseph B. Walther, “Computer-Mediated Teamwork and the Efficiency Framework: Exploring the Influence of Synchrony and Cues on Media Satisfaction and Outcome Success,” Computers in Human Behavior 25 (2009): 1108–19.
6 Wei, Chen, and Kinshuk, “Model for Social Presence”.
7 Weinel et al., “Closer Look on Social Presence”.
8 Lyons, Reysen, and Pierce, “Video Lecture Format”; Jennifer C. Richardson et al., “Social Presence in Relation to Students’ Satisfaction and Learning in the Online Environment: A Meta-Analysis,” Computers in Human Behavior 71 (2017): 402–17; Karen Swan and Li Fang Shih, “On the Nature and Development of Social Presence in Online Course Discussions,” Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 9 (2005): 115–36.
9 Richardson et al., “Social Presence in Relation”; Swan and Shih, “Nature and Development of Social Presence”.
10 Deanne Clouder et al., “Neurodiversity in Higher Education: A Narrative Synthesis,” Higher Education 80, no. 4 (2020): 757–78; Marco Pino and Luigina Mortari, “The Inclusion of Students with Dyslexia in Higher Education: A Systematic Review using Narrative Synthesis”. Dyslexia 20, no. 4 (2014): 346–69.
11 Clouder et al., “Neurodiversity in Higher Education”.
12 Judy Singer, “Why Can’t You Be Normal for Once in Your Life?” In Disability Discourse, eds. Mairian Corker, & Sally French (Open University Press, 1999).
13 Thomas Armstrong, “First, Discover Their Strengths,” Educational Leadership 70, no. 2 (2012): 10–6.
14 Baumer Nicloe & Frueh Julia. 2021. “What is Neurodversity?” Harvard Health (blog). Harvard Health Publishing. November 23. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/what-is-neurodiversity-202111232645.
15 May, Rinehart, Wilding, & Cornish. “Attention and Basic Literacy and Numeracy in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A One-Year Follow-up Study,” Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders 9. (2015): 193–201. http://dx.doi.org/j.rasd.2014.10.010.
16 Eric Taylor, “Clinical Foundations of Hyperactivity Research,” Behavioural Brain Research 94, no. 1 (1998): 11–24.
17 Lonnie Zwaigenbaum et al., “Behavioral Manifestations of Autism in the First Year of Life,” International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience 23, no. 2–3 (2005): 143–52.
18 Patricia H. Miller, Theories of Developmental Psychology (New York: Worth Publishers, 2011); William J. McGuire, “Theory of the Structure of Human Thought.” In Theories of Cognitive Consistency: A Sourcebook eds. Robert P. Abelson et al. (Chicago: Rand-McNally, 1968), 140–62.
19 Ibid.
20 Roy Lachman, Janet L. Lachman, and Earl C. Butterfield, Cognitive Psychology and Information Processing: An Introduction (New York: Psychology Press, 1979).
21 Gnanathusharan Rajendran et al., “Investigating Multitasking in High-Functioning Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders Using the Virtual Errands Task,” Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 41, no. 11 (December 2010): 1445–54; Taylor, “Clinical Foundations Hyperactivity”.
22 Cartwright, Kelly B. “Insights from Cognitive Neuroscience: The Importance of Executive Function for Early Reading Development and Education.” Early Education & Development 23, no. 1 (2012): 24–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2011.615025. Clark, Caron AC, Verena E. Pritchard, and Lianne J. Woodward. “Preschool Executive Functioning Abilities Predict Early Mathematics Achievement.” Developmental Psychology 46, no. 5 (2010): 1176. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019672. Steele, Ann, Annette Karmiloff-Smith, Kim Cornish, and Gaia Scerif. “The Multiple Subfunctions of Attention: Differential Developmental Gateways to Literacy and Numeracy.” Child Development 83, no. 6 (2012): 2028–2041. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01809.x. May, Rinehart, Wilding, & Cornish. “Attention and Basic Literacy and Numeracy in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A One-year Follow-up Study,” Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders 9. (2015): 193–201. http://dx.doi.org/j.rasd.2014.10.010.
23 Matthew Lombard and Kun Xu, “Social Responses to Media Technologies in the 21st Century: The Media are Social Actors Paradigm,” Human-Machine Communication 2 (2021): 29–55; Clifford Nass, Jonathan Steuer, and Ellen R. Tauber, “Computers are Social Actors,” Human Factors in Computing Systems 24 (1994): 72–8; Kristine L. Nowak and Christian Rauh, “Choose Your ‘Buddy Icon’ Carefully: The Influence of Avatar Androgyny, Anthropomorphism and Credibility in Online Interactions”. Computers in Human Behavior 24, No. 4 (2008): 1473–93.
24 Yasuhiro Katagiri, Clifford Nass, and Yugo Takeuchi. “Cross-Cultural Studies of the Computers are Social Actors Paradigm: The Case of Reciprocity.” In Usability Evaluation and Interface Design: Cognitive Engineering, Intelligent Agents, and Virtual Reality, ed. Michael J. Smith, Richard John Koubek, Gavriel Salvendy, and Don Harris (Philadelphia: Routledge, 2001): 1558–62.
25 Ibid.
26 Andrew Gambino, Jesse Fox, and Rabindra A. Ratan, “Building a Stronger CASA: Extending the Computers are Social Actors Paradigm,” Human-Machine Communication 1, no. 1 (2020): 71–86. https://doi.org/10.20658/hmc.1.5.
27 Gambino, Fox, and Ratan, “Building a Stronger CASA”; Lombard and Xu, “Social Responses”.
28 Reginald, B. Adams Jr., Daniel N. Albohn, and Kestutis Kveraga. “Social Vision: Applying a Social-Functional Approach to Face and Expression Perceptions,” Current Directions in Psychological Science 26, no. 3 (June 2017): 243–248. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417706392
29 Lombard and Xu, “Social Responses”; Nass, Steuer, and Tauber, “Computers are Social Actors,”; Clifford Nass and Youngme Moon, “Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers.” Journal of Social Issues 56, no. 1 (2000): 81–103. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00153
30 Lombard and Xu, “Social Responses”.
31 Lombard and Xu, “Social Responses.” 32.
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33 Kohske Takahashi and Katsumi Wantanabe, “Gaze Cueing by Pareidolia Faces,” i-Perception 4, no 8 (October 2013): 490–92. https://doi.org/10.1068/i0617sas
34 Lombard and Xu, “Social Responses,” 33.
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36 Walters, Koay, Syrdal, Dautenhahn, Boekhorst. “Preferences and Perceptions of Robot”.
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38 Lyons, Reysen, and Pierce, “Video Lecture Format”; Wei, Chen, and Kinshuk, “Model for Social Presence”; Weinel et al., “Closer Look on Social Presence”.
39 Short, Williams, and Christie, The Social Psychology of Telecommunications.
40 Lyons, Reysen, and Pierce, “Video Lecture Format”; Kristine L., Nowak, Mark A. Hamilton, and Chelsea C. Hammond, “The Effect of Image Features on Judgments of Homophily, Credibility, and Intention to Use as Avatars in Feature Interactions,” Media Psychology 12, no. 1 (2009): 50–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213260802669433; Richardson et al., “Social Presence in Relation”; Swan and Shih, “Nature and Development of Social Presence”; Wei, Chen, and Kinshuk, “Model for Social Presence”; Weinel et al., “Closer Look on Social Presence”.
41 Yu Chun Kuo, et al., “Interaction, Internet Self-Efficacy, and Self-Regulated Learning as Predictors of Student Satisfaction in Online Education Courses,” The Internet and Higher Education 20, no. 1 (January 2014): 35–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2013.10.001; Lombard and Xu, “Social Responses”; Gary R. Pike, “The Relationship Between Perceived Learning and Satisfaction with College: An Alternative View,” Research in Higher Education 34, no. 1 (February 1993): 23–40; Jalynn Roberts and Ronald Styron, “Student Satisfaction and Persistence: Factors Vital to Student Retention,” Research in Higher Education 50, no. 6 (September 2009): 1–18. Laurie A. Schreiner and Denise D. Nelson, “The Contribution of Student Satisfaction to Persistence,” Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice 15, no. 1 (2013): 73–111. https://doi.org/10.2190/CS.15.1.f.
42 Kristine L. Nowak and Frank Biocca, “The Effect of Agency and Anthropomorphism on Users’ Sense of Telepresence, Copresence, and Social Presence in Virtual Environments,” Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 12, no. 5 (2003): 481–94. https://doi.org/10.1162/105474603322761289. Nowak, Hamilton, and Hammond. “The Effect of Image Features”.
43 Sherryn Evans, et al., “Facilitators’ Teaching and Social Presence in Online Asynchronous Interprofessional Education Discussion,” Journal of Interprofessional Care 34, no. 4 (July 2020): 435–443. https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820.2019.1622517.
44 Reeves and Nass, The Media Equation; Nowak and Rauh, “Choose Your ‘Buddy Icon’ Carefully”.
45 Reeves and Nass, The Media Equation, 5.
46 Kristine L. Nowak and Jesse Fox, “Avatars and Computer-Mediated Communication: A Review of the Definitions, Uses, and Effects of Digital Representations,” Review of Communication Research 6, no. 1 (January 2018): 30–53. https://doi.org/10.12840/issn.2255-4165.2018.06.01.015.
47 Ibid.
48 Frank Biocca, Chad Harms, and Judee K. Burgoon, “Toward a More Robust Theory and Measure of Social Presence: Review and Suggested Criteria,” Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments 12, no. 5 (2003): 456–80. https://doi.org/10.1162/105474603322761270; Ben Kehrwald, “Understanding Social Presence in Text-Based Online Learning Environments,” Distance Education 29, no. 1 (May 2008): 89–106. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587910802004860; Nowak and Biocca. “The Effect of Agency”; Eunmo Sung and Richard E. Mayer, “Five Facets of Social Presence in Online Distance Education,” Computers in Human Behavior 28, no. 5 (April 2012): 1738–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.04.014.
49 Biocca, Harms, and Burgoon, “Toward a More Robust Theory”; Ben Kehrwald, “Understanding Social Presence”; Kristine L. Nowak, “Defining and Differentiating Copresence, Social Presence and Presence as Transportation,” Paper presented at Presence Conference, Philadelphia, PA, May 2001; Sung and Mayer, “Five Facets of Social Presence”.
50 Nowak and Biocca. “The Effect of Agency”.
51 Nowak, “Defining and Differentiating Copresence”.
52 Nowak, Watt, and Walther, “Computer mediated teamwork”.
53 Yu Chun Kuo, et al. “Interaction, Internet Self-Efficacy, and Self-Regulated Learning as Predictors of Student Satisfaction in Online Education Courses”, Lombard and Xu, “Social Responses” Pike, “The Relationship Between Perceived Learning and Satisfaction with College: An Alternative View”, Roberts and Styron, “Student Satisfaction and Persistence: Factors Vital to Student Retention,” Schreiner and Nelson, “The Contribution of Student Satisfaction to Persistence”.
54 Miller, Theories of developmental psychology; Robert S. Siegler and Martha Wagner Alibali. Children’s Thinking. 4th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2005).
55 Elisabeth L. Hill, “Evaluating the Theory of Executive Dysfunction in Autism,” Developmental Review 24, no. 2 (2004): 189–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2004.01.001; Rajendran et al., “Investigating Multitasking”.
56 Nowak and Biocca, “The Effect of Agency”; Nowak and Rauh, “Choose Your ‘Buddy Icon’ Carefully”.
57 Nowak, Hamilton, & Hammond. “The Effect of Image Features;” Nowak and Fox. “Avatars and Computer–Mediated Communication”.
58 Kerry Chávez and Kristina M.W. Mitchell, “Exploring Bias in Student Evaluations: Gender, Race, and Ethnicity,” PS: Political Science & Politics, 53, no. 2 (2020): 270–274.
59 Brenda Lynn Rourke and Rory McGloin, “A Different Take on the Big Bang Theory: Examining the Influence of Asperger Traits on the Perception and Attributional Confidence of a Fictional TV Character Portraying Characteristics of Asperger Syndrome,” Atlantic Journal of Communication 27, no. 2 (February 2019): 1–12.
60 Nowak, Watt, and Walther, “Computer Mediated Teamwork”.
61 Nowak and Biocca. “The Effect of Agency”.
62 Nowak, Watt, and Walther, “Computer Mediated Teamwork”.
63 Junco, Reynol. “In-class multitasking and academic performance.” Computers in Human Behavior 28, no. 6 (2012): 2236–2243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.06.031; Tabachnick, Barbara G., Linda S. Fidell, and Jodie B. Ullman. Using multivariate statistics. Vol. 6. Boston: Pearson, 2013.
64 Short, Williams, and Christie, The Social Psychology of Telecommunications.
65 I. Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman, Grade Level: Tracking Online Education in the United States (Babson Park, MA: Babson Survey Research Group, February 2015). Alendra Lyons, Stephen Reysen, and Lindsey Pierce, “Video Lecture Format, Student Technological Efficacy, and Social Presence in Online Courses,” Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012): 181–6; Chun-Wang Wei, Nian-Shing Chen, and Kinshuk, “A Model for Social Presence in Online Classrooms,” Educational Technology Research and Development 60 (2012): 529–45; Jihyun Kim, Kellym Merrill Jr, Kun Xu, and Stephanie Kelly, “Perceived Credibility of an AI Instructor in Online Education: The Role of Social Presence and Voice Features,” Computers in Human Behavior 136 (2022): 107383; Miriam Weinel et al., “A Closer Look on Social Presence as a Causing Factor in Computer-Mediated Collaboration,” Computers in Human Behavior 27 (2011): 513–21.
66 Colleen McClain, Emily A. Vogels, Andrew Perrin, Stella Sechopoulos & Lee Rainie, “The Internet and the Pandemic”, Pew Research Center, 2021.
67 Stacy Jo Dixon, Online communication change during COVID-19 in U.S. 2020, 2022, Statista.
68 Alendra Lyons, Stephen Reysen, and Lindsey Pierce, “Video Lecture Format, Student Technological Efficacy, and Social Presence in Online Courses,” Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012): 181–6; Chun-Wang Wei, Nian-Shing Chen, and Kinshuk, “A Model for Social Presence in Online Classrooms,” Educational Technology Research and Development 60 (2012): 529–45; Jihyun Kim, Kellym Merrill Jr, Kun Xu, and Stephanie Kelly, “Perceived Credibility of an AI Instructor in Online Education: The Role of Social Presence and Voice Features,” Computers in Human Behavior 136 (2022): 107383; Miriam Weinel et al., “A Closer Look on Social Presence as a Causing Factor in Computer-Mediated Collaboration,” Computers in Human Behavior 27 (2011): 513–21.
69 Ibid.
70 Ibid.
71 Ibid.
72 Ibid.
73 Brenda Lynn Rourke, “Autism and Avatars: An Investigation into the Unique Effects of Avatar Anthropomorphism on Instructor Satisfaction for People on the Autism Spectrum,” (Ph.D. diss., University of Connecticut, 2020).
74 Ibid.
75 Rourke, “Autism and Avatars: An Investigation into the Unique Effects of Avatar Anthropomorphism on Instructor Satisfaction for People on the Autism Spectrum”.
76 Thomas Armstrong, “First, Discover Their Strengths”.
77 Nowak and Biocca. “The Effect of Agency”.