Wosnitza & Volet (2005)

Marold Wosnitza & Simone Volet (2005)

Origin, direction and impact of emotions in social online learning.

Learning and Instruction, 15, 449-464

Notes

· KRO - Concept of emotional arousal can be questioned

· Authors talk in terms of emotions ‘ directed at’ e.g. p456 task directed emotions, but surely using their framework the appraisal would be the causal agent. It is inherent in the description of the student reactions but it is not described in that way. Also talk in terms of emotions as a trigger.

· Multiple sources for emotion

· Interventions (teachers) depend on source and need to be able to recognize the source ( ? link to DP work)

· See individuals as p455 ‘mediating emotions’ (KRO link to frontal)

· How does conflict fit into this and in fact any work from any author about motivation? Although note authors do not talk specifically in terms of motivation

· Authors never found any evidence of positive emotions ‘ directed at’ the technology

· Claim that emoticons are common but do not evidence

· In social learning case study the participation record of others was a key factor of emotional ?arousal( KRO link to task relevance and values)

describe how within a group a group course of action is discussed; is this how emotion links to collaborative?

Concepts

Identifies the following as concepts that have developed around socio-emotional experience in online environments

· Social presence

· Sociability (Kreijns, K., Kirschner, P. A., & Jochems, W. (2002). The sociability of computer-supported collaborative learning environments. Journal of Education Technology and Society, 5(1), 8e22.)

· Social-emotional affordances Volet, S., & Wosnitza, M. (2004). Social affordances and students’ engagement in cross-national online learning: an exploratory study. Journal of Research in International Education, 3(1), 5e29.

· Distributed emotions

however

P450 ‘ mediating role of students’ appraisals of online learning activities and the process of emotion arousal remains less well known.

Emotion

Agrees that the literature on emotions is very diverse but claims that p450 ‘ but only a few of the extant theories form the basis of research on emotions related to learning ‘

Appraisal

Base their approach on appraisal theory

Frijda, N. H. (1986). The emotions. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Lazarus, R. S., & Lazarus, B. N. (1994). Passion and reason: Making sense of our emotions. New York: Oxford University Press.

Ellsworth, P. C., & Scherer, K. R. (2003). Appraisal processes in emotion. In R. J. Davidson,

H. Goldsmith, & K. R. Scherer (Eds.), Handbook of the affective sciences (pp. 572e595). New York:

Oxford University Press.

They conceptualise appraisal operating at two levels

The primary level involves an assessment of familiarity, degree of challenge, which are considered alongside relevance to personal goals and interests. More specifically things that are familiar and not too challenging do not arouse much emotion whilst the unfamiliar and challenging lead to anxiety.

(KRO but surely these only relate to the task?, technology rather than the interaction. Also Jones described in more in terms of previous experience)

The secondary level is concerned with evaluating o the appropriateness of the different courses of action available to the learner.

In this way, the emotional valence and the appraisal of action will impact on learning although students will vary as to whether any action taken stems from a positive or a negative valence.

P455 ‘ their arousal ( emotions) is an appraisal process triggered by a perceived potential harm or benefit for the learner in the learning situation’ the reason for the arousal being linked to an attribution process.

Emotion type

Get the following as a source for another approach

Pekrun, R., Goetz, T., Titz, W., & Perry, R. (2002). Academic emotions in students’ self-regulated learning and achievement: a program of qualitative and quantitative research. Educational Psychologist, 37(2), 91e105.

After a review of the various methods available an particularly the timing of data collection, they concluded that a multiple method approach is desirable

Evidence their claims about appraisal based on two case studies

1. Maths class, 8^th graders, thinking aloud and simulated recall

2. University students, online course, transcripts of CMC and questionnaire.

Based on case study 2 p457 ‘ in summary, the analysis of social online learning situations reveals a range of other directed emotions in addition to self, task, and technology directed emotions. Emotions generated in social online environments are not different in nature from those generated in face-to-face ( they didn’t convincingly evidence this claim ( ? rather assumed) therefore (thesis will question this). What is different in online learning is the fact that emotions are expressed via technology ( how? No specific information) and the disclosure of emotions is of necessity voluntary ( thesis will not make this assumption). In contrast face to face situations offer the possibility of detecting emotions through facial expression and bodily language which may not always be voluntary disclosures of emotions’

The impact of emotions on learning and the significance for teacher intervention

P458 A number of studies have shown that ‘ when education based on computer conferencing fails, it is usually because there has not been a responsible teaching presence an appropriate leadership and direction exercised ‘ ( G, A & A, 2000, p96)

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment:

computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2e3), 87e105.

The process of emotion arousal is triggered by an activity that presents different degrees of challenge or familiarity to the learner and also difference degrees of relevance .

sw

Authors claim that appraisal and emotional arousal processes be used as conceptual tools to illustrate the impact of emotions on the individual students learning process.

The authors provide two case studies that ‘s stress the importance of teachers’ understanding the processes that trigger negative emotions in order to intervene effectively’

But

‘if emotions are not spontaneously disclosed, as is necessary in online learning ( a point the thesis will consider without making prior assumption) , teachers are unable to appreciate their significance on the learning process. Teachers also need to understand the full complexity, as evidenced from empirical work of the impact of student’s emotions on their motivation and further work.

Authors review of method

Considered in terms of a distinction between methods that collect evidence during learning and those that collect after.

(1) survey , specifically of emotions ( Pekrun paper) Emotions bring draw attention to the problematic nature of disclosure particularly when emotional experience is salient. Process of emotional experience is not revealed ( KRO ?process of empathizing with the experience revealed by the DP work ) KRO retrospective and therefore surely involves attribution

(2) observation

(i) Facial expression - FACs – ( details on this method from old notes ). For online it would require video recording ( with the attendant problems of that method)

(ii) Content analysis , inobtrusive, but maybe privacy issues. Inference and interpretation although methodologies have been developed

(3) emotion diary

(4) simulated recall – present some record of the learning process (KRO not available as a continuous record it can be challenging . For group work there are complex issues, particularly ethical

(5) Practitioner records

P454 ‘overall the methods that are applicable to social online learning provide only limited (KRO for thesis one aim is to extend these) access to the complex set of emotions experienced during the learning process.’ Each of these methods has limitations. When used in combination these methods provide a more comprehensive picture of the emotion arousal process and its impact on the learning process ( actually it doesn’t, as described, tell you anything about the learning process)

Illocutionary force

Eli Dresner & Susan C. Herring

Functions of the Nonverbal in CMC: Emoticons and Illocutionary Force

Communication Theory, 20,3 249-268

What is an emoticon?

Note the definitions that follow will be critiqued later on

P250 ‘prototypical emoticons are facial expressions’ ‘They are construed as indicators of affective states, the purpose of which is to convey non-linguistic information’

Authors claim that the term ‘emoticon’ misrepresents.Authors claim that the 1y function is not to convey emotion but rather pragmatic meaning, and this function needs to be understood in linguistic, rather than extralinguistic terms’

Emoticons as emotion icons

Rezabek and Cochenour (1998,p201) definition ‘ visual cues formed from ordinary typographical symbols that when read sideways represents feelings or emotions’

Assumptions of emoticons as indicators of emotion is reflected in research questions.

e.g.

Walther & D’Addario (2001)

P251 ‘how the affective value of emoticons combines with linguistic messages to which they are attached’. When pointed in the opposite direction the linguistic part has greater effect. Any negativity (language or emotion) had a negative effect on the overall assessment of the message whereas the same did not hold for positive. ‘Study does not go beyond the question of whether emoticons modulate affect’.

Provin et al (2007) take emoticons as emotional indicators for granted. Studies asynchronous message board.‘emoticons hardly ever interrupt the phrase structure of typed messages, just as laughter rarely interrupts spoken phrases’

Gender (page 252 for refs)

Gender female use more than males

Wolf (2000) men use to express sarcasm

Critique

Many of the emoticons are not confined to depicting a single emotion e.g. joke emoticon but joking can be associated with a range of emotions e.g either happiness or being sad.

Emoticons express not only emotions but other things as well.

A related deficiency ‘ that it depicts the contributions of emoticons to CMI as independent of language’ rather than contributing to - p253 ‘ –indeed, provide a vital cue as to how to interpret- the linguistic content of messages.When used this way, emoticons seem to be part of the text, on a par with punctuation marks, which can also signal sarcasm.The current construal of emoticons seems not to be able to accommodate this aspect of their use’

What is required is a theoretical framework that situates emoticons ( or, rather, some of their uses) between the extremes of nonlanguage and language. ‘The authors suggest that speech acts can provide such a framework.

Speech act and pragmatic force

Speech act (J.L.Austin (1962) How to do things with words.

253 ‘ when one produces an utterance, one typically performs concomitant acts of three types’

• locutionary – basic production of a linguistic expression, with a given stntactic structure and a literal meaning.

• illocutionary – intended action performed through the locution – the speech act carried out by the speaker ‘by producing the utterance, the speaker may be asserting a claim, asking a question, making a promise etc

then organised by other workers (p254 for refs) into 5 categories

assertive e.g. statements

commisive e.g. promises

directive acts e.g. commands

expressive e.g. emotions

declarative

• perlocutionary ‘an action performed through an utterance that depends for its identity not only on the speaker’s intentions but rather also on the effect of the utterance on its audience’ e.g. persuading

Are illocutionary acts conventional in nature?

Convention

P254 Austen & Searle and also Dummett ‘ producing an utterance with a certain force isrule-governed’ therefore conventional and depends on a process of socialisation.

Others disagree

Intention

Davidson (1984) ‘views neither literal meaning not force as essentially conventional. What is necessary for speech is only that a hearer be able to interpret a speaker, and this, in principle can be achieved without shared conventions. It is only required that each interpreter be able to make an adequate ascription of content ( be it semantic or illocutionary0 to the other’s utterances on the basis of observing his linguistic or nonlinguistic behaviour.(Dresner, 2006) or considerations of relevance .i.e. the ability of the spoken to discern intentions.

“Sperber & Wilson / note that conventional and intentional approaches to illocutionary force are not inconsistent with each other, but rather can be combined.’

Sentential moods and speech acts ( but note, many examples where sentential mood is absent therefore indicative that speech acts do not consistently rely on it)

English speakers typically use sentinel mood as follows

Indicative to make assertions

Imperative to issue commands

Interrogative to ask questions

Leads to the next question

P255

Is typographic indication of force possible?

Question mark ? is coupled with interogative mood

exclamation mark is more heterogenous and is associated with commands, protests, and other speech acts that can be considered forceful or emphatic’ “ However, as in the case of the relation between mood and force, punctuation marks are not always as numerous as types of speech acts, nor are they correlated in a strict rule like fashion with the speech acts as they indicate.

The argument at the centre of this paper about the communicative functions of emoticons: from emotion to illocutionary force.

That emoticons ‘help convey the speech act performed through the production of the utterance. These uses of emoticons neither contribute to the propositional content ( the locution) of the language used nor are they just and extralinguistic communication channel indicating emotion.Rather, they help convey an important aspect of the linguistic utterance they are attached to: What the user intends by what he or she types’

Gives an example of using a wink emoticon ‘p257 ‘ This usage neither expresses emotion nor does it mimic a physical wink; its sole function seems to be to indicate the utterance’s intended illocutionary force; which it does though mitigation of face threat’‘that the utterance is intended as one kind of speech act, rather than another’ . Another example -using a smiley to suggest that a prior description of circumstance is not complaining but describing a situation.

To summarise

P259

Emoticons ( whether stand alone or appearing on the same line) can express

• Emotional expressions

• Conventionalized (nonemotional) facial expressions

• Contextually dependent illocutionary force

Depending on the producer’s communicative intent.

Discussion

1. Thinking in terms of bodily gestures as well as facial expression

P260

McNeill (2005,p4) writes “ it is profoundly an error to think of gesture as a code or ‘body language’ separate from spoken language…. [G]estures are part of language’ The meaning expressed by gestures are conventualised to varying degrees, like those expressed by emoticons.Moreover, Kendon (1995) claims that some gestures function as illocutionary speech acts, making visible the implications of what is being said. Our account of emoticons resonates with this outlook and may be viewed as lending support to it, by pointing to expressions of (facial) bodily movement in text.

The authors point out that this account does not rule out an iconic mapping between the function of emoticons and some bodily and facial movements.

2. there is a loose connection between emoticons and the speech acts they sometimes help to carry out.

‘- such that there appears to be no simple one-to-one mapping between any of the commonly used emoticons discussed in this article and a particular illocutionary force- as in accord with the general discussion of textual markers and speech acts presented in an earlier section’

‘In all cases, contextual interpretation is involved, which the textual markers contribute to rather than making redundant’ ‘However all the usage as illustrated in the article ‘ convey a nuance of playfulness9cf Danet,2001), even the fron. This appears to be an illocutionary force that maps onto emoticon use in general, indicating that the speech act performed is not intended to be taken entirely seriously’ Context is essentiual for interpretation.

3. What factors condition the use of emoticons and the ways in which they are used?

Emoticons are native to CMC.‘Technological factors influence the extent to which emoticons are used and which ones are used in different CMC modes’ ‘more pertinent to synchronous’ i.e as shorthand.

4 p261 ‘Our analysis of emoticons as illocutionary force markers can shed light on a fourth issue: The apparent paradox that emoticons mimic often nonintentional facial expressions, although they are intentionally produced. In Goffman’s (1959) terms, facial expressions are expressions given off rather than expressions given. Emoticons, in contrast, are always produced consciously and intentionally, on a par with other aspects of writing. The use of emoticons as emotion indicators seems difficult to explain in this respect.Nonintentional ‘expression given off’ is usually taken to be a more reliable cue to interpreting other people’s emotive states than intentional ‘expression given. It follows that the representation of a bodily channel that in some cases involves involuntary expression in the intention-governed domain of textual expression should be detrimental to its perceived value as an indicator of emotion, and the apparent success of this representation is left unaccounted for’.

‘The construal of emoticons as indicators of illocutionary force partially obviates this paradox’ ‘Force is fully within the domain of the intentional’

KRO an emoticon in CMC need not actually mirror a users facial expression.

Questions that arise

P262

• How are emoticons connected to the illocutionary force they express?

• What justifies a claim that a given emoticon indicates that a certain illocutionary act is performed?

‘The use of emoticons as indicators of illocutionary force appears to comprise both conventional and nonconventional aspects’ ‘”On the conventional side the conventions are ……..borrowed from f-to-f, as well as conventions that evolve within CMC contexts’ see Penas & Hancock, 2006 for the conventions of an online gaming community’

Some unconventional use can be attributed to the producers’s intention. Eg producing a smile after listing hardships.This of course relies on the reader making an interpretation that matches the intention i.e. whether or not they are persuaded.

Conclusion

P263

3 functions of emoticons identified.

• emotion mapped directly onto facial expression

• non emotional meaning, mapped conventionally onto facial expression

• illocutionary force indicators that do not map conventionally onto facial expression

What is the balance between them?

Are there technological, cultural and /or situated “ – are there others? Authors see opportunity for much more empirical work.

Check use in DZX222 against Searle taxonomy

Raises the question of

“What is the range of speech acts performed with the help of emoticons and how ( and to what extent) are the acts correlated with the indicators?

e.g. ‘are specific emoticons used for some types of taxonomy and not others? Are there success conditions that are particular to CMC contexts?

P264 “use of emoticons as indicators of illocutionary force can be viewed as an expansion of text in the same way that, for example, question marks or exclamation marks are.

Parks,1993 for a history of punctuation – these marks ‘were late additions to text, that their early uses were not subject to widely agreed upon conventions; and that marks used to day are a subset of a larger class of punctuation marks.’

Markman & Oshima (2007) – punctuation is the 1y function of emoticons, based on an analysis of their placement

(KRO – emoticon use involves a translation process ? mob use influences)

Searle, J. (1969) Speech acts: An essay in philosophy of language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Searle, J. (1979) Expression and meaning . Studeis in the theory of speech acts.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Emotion in CMC Review article (Derks et al, 2008)

The role of emotion in computer-mediated communication: A review

Derks, D., Fischer, A.H., and Bos, A. (2008)

Computers in Human Behaviour, Vol 24, Issue 3, 766-785.

Method

Reviewed Psychoinfo, Medline Google scholar & professional network.

Key terms; emoticons, flaming, unihibited behaviour, anonymity, emotion and mood in combination with CMC, F2F, social sharing, internet, onlinbe, self disclosure, anonymity, gender differences, display rules, mimicry and anonymity.

Studies with a social interaction setting; restricted to text based CMC.

Romantic relationships and non English language papers were excluded

Definition of emotion communication:

the recognition , expression and sharing of emotions or moods between two or more individuals. Explicit emotion communication involves references to discrete emotions through verbal labels ( I am very angry) appraisals ( this is scary) and tendencies to act ( I would like to hit you) or emblems ( emoticons). Implicit emotional communication includes the emotional style of the message, as can be inferred from the degree of personal involvement, self disclosure, language use, etc.

Comparing FtoF and CMC for emotions, sociality the most important aspect to consider.

First

Literature review in terms of social presence

1. The difference is the impact of context on social presence (sociality).( Short, Williams & Christie, 1976).

2. Manstead (in press) proposes 2 dimensions; the physical and the social.

The physical means there is no bodily contact and no visibility.

The lack of visibility links to the social to contribute to a reduced relational salience.

Furthermore the other person may be unknown and together with reduced salience it increases anonymity of the situation . i.e. visibility and knowing the person are additive when it comes to the social presence equation.

Derks et al : What does this mean for emotional experience?

• bodily contact - probably more relevant to intimate relationships
• visibility -implications for the decoding and recognition of others' emotions, also the expression of one's own emotion is less visible

3. interaction between social norms & social presence ( Potmes, Spears etc)

No social cues at the outset, SIDE sees this as significant for increasing ingroup identity ( ? therefore salience of the situation) but social cues tend to 'leak out' .

KRO what is the implication of this - ? need to view from a developmental perspective.

Three points of focus for the literature review and as far as possible compared f-to-f and CMC

1. Emotion talk as part of content
2. expression of emotion
3. recognition of emotion ( but little research)

1. Emotion as part of content

f-to-f

need to talk about emotions - social sharing- a general manifestation of f-to-f ( Christophe & Rime, 1997) , the more intense the feeling the more inclined to talk about the event.

once exposed to social sharing it is then common to share with a third person i.e. non anonymity of source

'in a met-analytic review, Collins & Miller (1994) found that people who engage in intimate disclosures tend to be liked more than those who disclose less' i.e. sharing emotions is a useful tool. Disclosing emotions 'healthy and good for well being'

CMC

use of MSN (KRO and & ? facebook)

online dating

CMC mediated therapies

studies of self disclosure

(Savicki (1991), Savicki & Kelly (2000), Herring. Men ignore socio-emotional, they are more task orientated and less satisfied with the medium. Women in female only groups self disclose and attempt to reduce tension . I statements & directly addressing group members more likely More likely to thank, appreciate and apologise and be upset by violations of politeness. Men ignore socio-emotional, more task orientated and less satisfied with the medium.)

2. Expression of emotion

F-to-f

studies into the effect of co-presence

Fridlund compared

a) f-to-f

b) imaginary present

c) alone

There was more smiling in conditions a) and b) than c). More likely to cry when alone.

display rules and the identity of interactants

Hess, Fischer . power relations and the activation of different display rules. Social position prescribes what emotions to display.

relationships - friendships accentuate facial expression i.e. relationships as a mediator of expression. (KRO anonymity and stranger may operate together in CMC)

gender - some evidence for gender differences in display rules

CMC ( almost total focus on flaming!)

Siegel et al (1986) compared groups engaged on identical tasks. Flaming was more common in CMC. No difference between synchronous and asynchronous CMC.

3. recognition of emotion

lack of visibility therefore no NVC.

Function of NVC in f-to-f

• reduce ambiguity
• tone down or intensify emotional expression ( Lee & Wagner)
• animate and/or clarify interaction
• elicit mimicry - particularly important for establishing positive relationships

Comparing f-to-f and CMC

Sasaki & Ohbuchi (1999)

compared interaction via CMC and f-to-f ( vocal)

The task was to interact with a confederate in two hypothetical conflict situations in which confederate had to accept an unreasonable request. Didn't see each other in either situation. Confederates voice manipulated to produce either a positive or a negative tone. P's asked to rate emotions and intentions of the confederate. Emotions equally intense for each ' in vocal condition, however, angry emotions and perceived negative intents prompted aggressive responses, whilst such effects were absent in CMC' , p8.

Consider whether lack of NVC in CMC can lead to either over estimation or underestimation of emotional state and therefore inappropriate reactions or judgements of others.

CMC

emoticons

like NVC can serve to accentuate, emphasise, clarify.

Derks et al (2007) manipulated the social context of chat ( task or socio-emotional) and valence ( positive or negative) . Ps could respond with text, emoticon or a combination. Social contexts tended to attract emoticons. Positive emotions in contexts with positive valence negative emoticons in contexts with negative valence.

BUT

when task orientated Ps used the least number of emoticons p9 ' individuals have to be more accurate, they have more explaining to do, and if possible, they are required to present alternatives.

AND

use of emoticons is deliberate ( voluntary)

Authors concludes that absence of NVC is taken over. p10. individuals more explicitly describe or label their emotions in CMC compared to F2F. There is no research in which this is directly compared, however.

Authors claim that MIMICRY cannot be achieved in CMC KRO but presentational style may be a way.

Questions

Is emotional embodiment reduced in CMC?

Is emotional reaction easier to control in CMC?

Is spontaneity reduced ( i.e. asynchronous -time to reflect)