Learning in Affectively Intense Virtual Environments - LITE

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2. METHOD
2.1. PARTICIPANTS
The participants were 30 subjects selected from the University of Missouri –
Rolla mostly recruited from an undergraduate class in Web Development and Design,
rewarded by extra credit. Twenty two participants completed the entire experiment. Five
participants did not complete the experiment due to equipment failure and three
participants did not complete due to VR sickness.
2.2. MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT
2.2.1. Measures (Questionnaire items are included in Appendix A & B).
Individual Difference measures included Affective Intensity and Immersive Tendency
(gender was also recorded). The virtual reality experience measures included galvanic
skin response (GSR) and the Presence Questionnaire. The learning outcomes metric was
based on the dead correct count and the injured correct count after the participant had
completed the inspection of the actual computer science building at the University of
Missouri – Rolla (see procedure). Following is a discussion of each measure in more
detail.
Immersive Tendency (Witmer & Singer, 1998): Immersive tendency is the
psychological state characterized by perceiving oneself to be enveloped by, included in,
and interacting with an environment that provides a continuous stream of stimuli and
experiences. The general capability or tendency of individuals to be immersed in the
environments is measured by the 29 item immersive tendency questionnaire. The scale
consists of three subscales: Involvement, Games and Focus. Subscale Involvement deals
with the tendency to be involved in activities and it consists of 7 items. Subscale Focus
consists of 7 items and deals with the tendency to maintain focus on current activities.
Subscale Games determines the tendency to play video games and the degree of
involvement in them.
Affective Intensity (Larsen & Diener, 1987): Affect Intensity is defined as the
stable individual differences in the strength with which individuals experience their
emotions. Affect Intensity is generally measured using the 40 item Affect Intensity