Abstract
Anchored in social agency theory, recent research has emphasized the importance of anthropomorphic interface agents’ voice to impact learning-related outcomes. Nevertheless, literature on human social models suggests that the appearance of an interface agent may have important implications for its ability to influence attitudes and self-efficacy. Therefore, we hypothesized that visual presence of the interface agent would result in more positive attitudes toward engineering and greater self-efficacy than the presence of a human voice alone. In accordance to our hypothesis, results revealed that participants who interacted with the visible agents reported significantly greater utility for engineering, greater self-efficacy, and greater interest in engineering related fields than those who interacted with a human voice. Thus, the current work indicates the importance of anthropomorphic agent’s visibility in changing attitudes and beliefs.
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Rosenberg-Kima, R.B., Baylor, A.L., Plant, E.A., Doerr, C.E. (2007). The Importance of Interface Agent Visual Presence: Voice Alone Is Less Effective in Impacting Young Women’s Attitudes Toward Engineering. In: de Kort, Y., IJsselsteijn, W., Midden, C., Eggen, B., Fogg, B.J. (eds) Persuasive Technology. PERSUASIVE 2007. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4744. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-77006-0_27
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-77006-0_27
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