Computer-mediated Condition Research Articles

Antecedents to Trustworthiness, Satisfaction, and Potency in ad hoc Face-to-Face and Computer-Mediated Teams

This paper tests a model that links individual perceptions of mood, trust, satisfaction, and potency in face-to-face and computer-mediated teams. Results suggest that the model is valid in both conditions but that perceptions of each construct are higher in face-to-face conditions. A direct connection exists between mood and how benevolence, integrity, and ability are perceived only in the computer-mediated condition. Implications to research include an understanding that in both computer-mediated and face-to-face teams, trust operates similarly, though perceptions are lower when communication media are leaner. When using computer-mediated communication, students might benefit from face-to-face interactions before interacting online.

EFL LEARNERS' ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS OF ONLINE AND CONVENTIONAL PEER WRITTEN FEEDBACK: A TERTIARY LEVEL EXPERIENCE

The present study attempted to uncover EFL learners’ perceptions of and attitudes towards peer feedback in writing classes under conventional and computer-mediated conditions. In so doing, the participants who were university upper-intermediate literature sophomores studying in two intact classes were assigned randomly to two control (conventional) and experimental (online) peer feedback treatments. The participants of the two groups took two questionnaires at the beginning and at the end of the treatment. Some of the participants took part in follow-up interviews to disclose their perceptions, attitudes, and experiences of conventional and online peer feedback activity. The results indicated that the participants of both groups were content with their experience of peer feedback activity. They found peer feedback an acceptable activity which provided them with a non-threatening condition to exchange ideas. However, at the end of the treatment, the online group students had more positive perceptions of and attitudes towards peer feedback activity.

Examining young children’s perception toward augmented reality-infused dramatic play

Amid the increasing interest in applying augmented reality (AR) in educational settings, this study explores the design and enactment of an AR-infused robot system to enhance children’s satisfaction and sensory engagement with dramatic play activities. In particular, we conducted an exploratory study to empirically examine children’s perceptions toward the computer- and robot-mediated AR systems designed to make dramatic play activities interactive and participatory. A multi-disciplinary expert group consisting of early childhood education experts, preschool teachers, AR specialists, and robot engineers collaborated to develop a learning scenario and technological systems for dramatic play. The experiment was conducted in a kindergarten setting in Korea, with 81 children (aged 5–6 years old). The participants were placed either in the computer-mediated AR condition (n = 40) or the robot-mediated AR condition (n = 41). We administered an instrument to measure children’s perceived levels of the following variables: (a) satisfaction (i.e., interest in dramatic play & user-friendliness), (b) sensory immersion (i.e., self-engagement, environment-engagement & interaction-engagement), and (c) media recognition (i.e., collaboration with media, media function & empathy with media). Data analysis indicates that children in the robot-mediated condition showed significantly higher perceptions than those in the computer-mediated condition regarding the following aspects: interest in dramatic play (satisfaction), interactive engagement (sensory immersion), and empathy with media (media recognition). Furthermore, it was found that the younger-aged children and girls, in particular, perceived AR-infused dramatic play more positively than the older-aged children and boys, respectively. The contribution of this study is to provide empirical evidence about the affordances of robots and AR-based learning systems for young children. This remains a relatively unexplored area of research in the field of learning technologies. Implications of the current study and future research directions are also discussed.

Virtual Team Effectiveness And Sequence Of Conditions

This study examines the sequence of Group Task Pressure (GTP) and communication medium conditions on group effectiveness. It contributes to the task-technology fit research by considering the sequence of these conditions on task-technology fit related to group effectiveness. The study has value for professionals pursuing the construction and management of virtual teams. A pilot experiment was conducted using 22 subjects in eight groups with a mixed 2x2 design. Given the sample size, the study is more descriptive than inferential. The study manipulated GTP by combinations of time scarcity, reward and task complexity. The media conditions used in the study were face-to-face and synchronous computer-mediated chats. Group effectiveness was measured by the length of time groups took to complete assigned tasks. The four study conditions were: a simple task completed face-to-face, a simple task completed in a computer-mediated condition, a complex task completed in a face-to-face condition and a complex task in a computer-mediated condition. Each group was rotated through all the conditions. The sequence of communication medium conditions were significant, but not the sequence of GTP conditions. Groups starting in the face-to-face condition took less time to complete their rotation of tasks than groups starting in the computer-mediated condition. Groups starting in both the low and high GTP conditions took the same amount of time to complete the full rotation of task and conditions. Recommendations for subsequent research on group task pressure are presented.

Effects of face-to-face and computer-mediated constructive controversy on social interdependence, motivation, and achievement.

Cooperative learning capitalizes on the relational processes by which peers promote learning, yet it remains unclear whether these processes operate similarly in face-to-face and online settings. This study addresses this issue by comparing face-to-face and computer-mediated versions of constructive controversy, a cooperative learning procedure designed to create intellectual conflict among students. One hundred and one undergraduates were randomly assigned to a 1 (control: face-to-face) × 3 (medium: video, audio, text) × 2 (synchronicity: synchronous, asynchronous) experimental-control design. Cooperative perceptions declined and individualistic perceptions increased under asynchronous computer-mediated conditions, resulting in predicted declines in motivation (i.e., relatedness, interest, value) and academic achievement (i.e., completion rate). For practice, findings suggest that synchronicity but not medium plays an important role in computer-mediated constructive controversy. For theory, findings also suggest that social psychological theories based on face-to-face assumptions may need to be modified to indicate that predicted outcomes depend on synchronous social interaction.

The Disclosure-Intimacy Link in Computer-Mediated Communication: An Attributional Extension of the Hyperpersonal Model

The present research investigated whether the attribution process through which people explain self-disclosures differs in text-based computer-mediated interactions versus face to face, and whether differences in causal attributions account for the increased intimacy frequently observed in mediated communication. In the experiment participants were randomly assigned to a face-to-face or computer-mediated interaction with a confederate who made either high- or low-intimacy self-disclosures. Results indicated that computer-mediated interactions intensified the association between disclosure and intimacy relative to face-to-face interactions, and this intensification effect was fully mediated by increased interpersonal (relationship) attributions observed in the computer-mediated condition. The article presents an attributional extension of the hyperpersonal model (Walther, 1996) by demonstrating the role of causal attributions in interpersonal intensification processes in text-based computer-mediated interactions.

Does ‘cyber-conformity’ vary cross-culturally? Exploring the effect of culture and communication medium on social conformity

Previous research has established that individuals from collectivistic cultures tend to conform more than their counterparts from individualistic cultures do [Bond, R., & Smith, P.B. (1996). Culture and conformity: A meta-analysis of studies using Asch's (1952b, 1956) line judgment task. Psychological Bulletin 119(1) 111-137]. However, there is presently a dearth of research exploring the degree to which this kind of cross-cultural difference is also present in computer-mediated communication (CMC) contexts where group members are never met face-to-face (f-t-f). A normative social influence paradigm of line-length judgment (based on Asch [Asch, S.E., (1955). Opinions and social pressure. Scientific American 193(5) 31-35]) was employed to investigate the effects of communication medium (f-t-f against CMC) and culture (participants from individualistic cultures against those from collectivist cultures). A communication typexculture interaction was found, in which the expected cultural differences were demonstrated only in the face-to-face conditions, being absent in computer-mediated conditions.

Differences between computer-mediated and face-to-face communication in a collaborative fiction project

In this paper we examine collaborative fiction writing in a face-to-face setting and in a computer-mediated environment (online chat). To understand the role of social presence in online collaborative work, participants were placed either in a high collaboration task that involved working toward a common storyline or a low collaboration task that involved working toward individual storylines. For the high collaboration task, although face-to-face was perceived as more convenient than computer-mediated communication, this preference did not translate into any difference in terms of the number of idea units generated. For the low collaboration task, where teammates pursued independent storylines, computer-mediated communication was preferred over face-to-face communication. Despite this preference for computer-mediated communication over face-to-face communication in the low collaboration task, participants in the face-to-face condition generated more idea units than those in the computer-mediated condition. These findings are examined within the framework of interactivity and social presence.

Distributed teamwork: The impact of communication media on influence and decision quality

Differences in individual influence and decision quality across communication media were examined. Two competing hypotheses were contrasted. One hypothesis suggested that changes in influence across media may be due to a reduction in evaluation apprehension. If the evaluation apprehension hypothesis is correct, participants who dominate face-to-face conversations would maintain their level of influence across media conditions, while less dominating individuals would exert greater influence over less immediate types of media (telephone, computer) than face-to-face. Alternatively, changes in influence may be due to a free riding effect. If the free riding hypothesis was true, dominating members would reduce their level of influence over less immediate media, while less dominating members would maintain their level of influence across media conditions. Decision quality was predicted to depend on the effect of communication media on influence. Sixty-four introductory psychology students, grouped in pairs, performed 3 survival tasks on 3 different communication media (i.e., face-to-face, telephone, computer). The results showed that influence for dominating participants remained stable across the 3 media conditions. Less dominating participants, on the other hand, had higher levels of influence in the telephone and computer conditions than in the face-to-face condition. Influence for less dominating participants, however, did not differ between telephone and computer-mediated conditions. Furthermore, quality of decision did not differ across communication media. These findings indicate that media differences may be more complex than previous models suggest. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Distributed teamwork: The impact of communication media on influence and decision quality

Differences in individual influence and decision quality across communication media were examined. Two competing hypotheses were contrasted. One hypothesis suggested that changes in influence across media may be due to a reduction in evaluation apprehension. If the evaluation apprehension hypothesis is correct, participants who dominate face-to-face conversations would maintain their level of influence across media conditions, while less dominating individuals would exert greater influence over less immediate types of media (telephone, computer) than face-to-face. Alternatively, changes in influence may be due to a free riding effect. If the free riding hypothesis was true, dominating members would reduce their level of influence over less immediate media, while less dominating members would maintain their level of influence across media conditions. Decision quality was predicted to depend on the effect of communication media on influence. Sixty-four introductory psychology students, grouped in pairs, performed 3 survival tasks on 3 different communication media (i.e., face-to-face, telephone, computer). The results showed that influence for dominating participants remained stable across the 3 media conditions. Less dominating participants, on the other hand, had higher levels of influence in the telephone and computer conditions than in the face-to-face condition. Influence for less dominating participants, however, did not differ between telephone and computer-mediated conditions. Furthermore, quality of decision did not differ across communication media. These findings indicate that media differences may be more complex than previous models suggest. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.