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How and why affective and reactive virtual agents will bring new insights on social cognitive disorders in schizophrenia? An illustration with a virtual card game paradigm.

ABSTRACT: In recent decades, many studies have shown that schizophrenia is associated with severe social cognitive impairments affecting key components, such as the recognition of emotions, theory of mind, attributional style, and metacognition. Most studies investigated each construct separately, precluding analysis of the interactive and immersive nature of real-life situation. Specialized batteries of tests are under investigation to assess social cognition, which is thought now as a link between neurocognitive disorders and impaired functioning. However, this link accounts for a limited part of the variance of real-life functioning. To fill this gap, advances in virtual reality and affective computing have made it possible to carry out experimental investigations of naturalistic social cognition, in controlled conditions, with good reproducibility. This approach is illustrated with the description of a new paradigm based on an original virtual card game in which subjects interpret emotional displays from a female virtual agent, and decipher her helping intentions. Independent variables concerning emotional expression in terms of valence and intensity were manipulated. We show how several useful dependant variables, ranging from classic experimental psychology data to metacognition or subjective experiences records, may be extracted from a single experiment. Methodological issues about the immersion into a simulated intersubjective situation are considered. The example of this new flexible experimental setting, with regards to the many constructs recognized in social neurosciences, constitutes a rationale for focusing on this potential intermediate link between standardized tests and real-life functioning, and also for using it as an innovative media for cognitive remediation.

SUBMITTER: Oker A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4378306 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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How and why affective and reactive virtual agents will bring new insights on social cognitive disorders in schizophrenia? An illustration with a virtual card game paradigm.

Oker Ali A Prigent Elise E Courgeon Matthieu M Eyharabide Victoria V Urbach Mathieu M Bazin Nadine N Amorim Michel-Ange MA Passerieux Christine C Martin Jean-Claude JC Brunet-Gouet Eric E

Frontiers in human neuroscience 20150330

In recent decades, many studies have shown that schizophrenia is associated with severe social cognitive impairments affecting key components, such as the recognition of emotions, theory of mind, attributional style, and metacognition. Most studies investigated each construct separately, precluding analysis of the interactive and immersive nature of real-life situation. Specialized batteries of tests are under investigation to assess social cognition, which is thought now as a link between neuro ...[more]

PMID: 25870549

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Project description:Although research on learning strategies has contributed to improving learners’ performance, most studies only described the characteristics of learners. These approaches have focused on inter-individual differences and their correlations, making it difficult to examine the process of selecting learning strategies in individuals. To examine the correlations within individual learners, such as the variables that influence the use of a strategy by a specific learner, two surveys were conducted in this study. Perceived cost and perceived benefit of using each strategy as the influential variables on choosing a strategy were adopted with reference to decision-making research. Perceived cost consisted of the time perspective for learning outcomes by the learning strategy and the method of learning strategy implementation. In Study 1, cognitive strategies that have a direct impact on the acquisition of learning content were measured, and metacognitive strategies that monitor and regulate one’s own learning behavior were examined in Study 2. The variables were treated for each individual to calculate intra-class and within-person correlations, although data were collected using a typical questionnaire survey in learning strategy studies. Hierarchical Bayesian modeling was conducted with use of the learning strategy as the objective variable and the perceived costs and benefits as explanatory variables. The analysis revealed that, in terms of cognitive strategies (Study 1), learners avoided using learning strategies perceived to have a high cost in the short term; however, they used cognitive strategies regardless of the circumstances. Furthermore, regarding metacognitive strategies (Study 2), students avoided using learning strategies that they perceived as costly to use in the short term and used them only when they suited the circumstances. On the other hand, in metacognitive strategies (Study 2), students avoided using learning strategies that they perceived as costly to use for the next test and use as appropriate for the situation. Focusing on within-individual variance and correlation made the interpretation of factors that influence the choice of learning strategies more intuitive and provided more suggestions for educational practice.

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Dataset Information

How and why affective and reactive virtual agents will bring new insights on social cognitive disorders in schizophrenia? An illustration with a virtual card game paradigm.

Publications

How and why affective and reactive virtual agents will bring new insights on social cognitive disorders in schizophrenia? An illustration with a virtual card game paradigm.

Similar Datasets

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