Zugl.: Bochum, Univ., Diss., 2008

Diese Dissertation enthält eine theoretische und empirische Untersuchung der Gestaltung interaktiver Lernmedien. Interaktivität wird hierbei breit definiert und umfasst sowohl minimal interaktive Benutzersteuerungen, die Lernenden eine Änderung der Darstellung von Lerninhalten erlauben, bis hin zu voll immersiven Umgebungen in der virtuellen Realität. Theoretisch ist die Dissertation auf den Modellen der Cognitive Load Theory und dem Ansatz der Embodied Cognition verankert. Der Ansatz der Cognitive Load Theory rät zu einem Instruktionsdesign bei dem die kognitive Belastung innerhalb einer Lernaufgabe begrenzt wird, jedoch stellt Forschung im Paradigma der Embodied Cognition zumeist die Vorteile von Aktivität für kognitive Prozesse heraus. Die Kapitel dieser Dissertation zielen darauf ab, diese zwei scheinbar widersprüchlichen Ansätze miteinander zu versöhnen. Kapitel 1 bietet einen Überblick über die Inhalte dieser Dissertation und beschreibt die Implikationen der Resultate. In Kapitel 2 wird ein weitreichender Überblick über Forschung zu Embodied Cognition im Bereich des Lernens (auch bekannt als Embodied Learning) präsentiert und eine Taxonomie des Embodied Learning wird beschrieben. Ein wichtiger Beitrag von Kapitel 2 ist die Betrachtung, dass eine Gestaltung von interaktiven Lernumgebungen, die nicht gegen die Grundsätze der Cognitive Load Theory verstoßen, möglich ist. Kapitel 3 leistet eine Reflexion über Detailfragen zur Messung der kognitiven Belastung bei Aufgaben, in denen körperliche Faktoren oder Interaktivität eine Rolle spielen. Eine wichtige Behauptung aus Kapitel 3 besteht darin, dass es Unterschiede hinsichtlich der Passung verschiedener Messinstrumente der kognitiven Belastung für Aufgaben mit einem unterschiedlichen Lehransatz geben könnte. Die Passung verschiedener Fragebogeninstrumente zur Erfassung der (extrinsischen) kognitiven Belastung wird in Kapitel 4 empirisch evaluiert. In zwei Experimenten wurde die extrinsische Belastung (d.h. jene kognitive Belastung, die aus der Umsetzung einer Lernaufgabe herrührt) mit zwei verschiedenen Fragebogeninstrumenten gemessen. Die Versuchspersonen nutzten dabei entweder eine nicht-interaktive oder eine interaktive Implementation von Lernaufgaben zur Anatomie. Bei einem der Experimente stellte sich heraus, dass der gemessene Unterschied in der extrinsischen Belastung zwischen den beiden Versionen bei einem der Fragebögen hoch und bei dem anderen gering ausfiel. Basierend auf diesem Ergebnis wird in dem Kapitel empfohlen, die extrinsische Belastung nicht als einen einheitlichen Begriff, sondern als eine Ansammlung unterschiedlicher Belastungsarten zu betrachten. Darüber hinaus werden in den drei Experimenten in Kapitel 4 Hypothesen hinsichtlich der Gestaltung von Lerntests für Medien aufgestellt, die interaktive Komponenten verwenden. Zum Abschluss zielt Kapitel 5 darauf ab, allgemeine Empfehlungen zur Verbesserung von Forschung im Paradigma der Embodied Cognition zu formulieren und greift dabei auf die Taxonomie aus Kapitel 2 zurück. Insgesamt betrachtet verwendet diese Dissertation die Ansätze der Embodied Cognition und der Cognitive Load Theory um die Theorien gegenseitig anzuregen und um Ansätze zur Überarbeitung beider Theorien zu bieten. / This dissertation presents a theoretical and empirical investigation of the design of interactive learning media. Interactivity is understood in a broad sense, ranging from minimally interactive user controls allowing learners to change the display of learning contents up to fully immersive virtual reality environments. Theoretically, this dissertation is grounded in the models of cognitive load theory and embodied cognition. Cognitive load theory advises instructional designers to limit the cognitive load involved in a learning task, but embodied cognition research usually focuses on the benefits of activity for cognitive processes. The chapters in this dissertation aim to bridge the gap between these two seemingly contradicting approaches. Chapter 1 offers an overview of the contents of this dissertation and describes the implications of the results. In Chapter 2, an extended overview of embodiment research in the field of learning (also referred to as embodied learning) is presented and a taxonomy of embodied learning is outlined. Chapter 2 highlights that there may be ways of designing interactive learning settings while not infringing upon the principles of cognitive load theory. Chapter 3 affords a reflection on the intricacies of measuring cognitive load in tasks that involve embodiment or interactivity. An important assertion of Chapter 3 is that there may be differences in the suitability of different cognitive load measurement instruments for tasks differing in their instructional approach. The suitability of different cognitive load survey instruments for measuring (extraneous) cognitive load is empirically evaluated in Chapter 4. In two experiments, extraneous load (i.e., cognitive load brought about by the implementation of a learning task) was measured using two different cognitive load surveys. Participants either used a noninteractive or an interactive implementation of anatomy learning tasks. In one experiment, the difference in extraneous load between the two versions was high for one survey and low for another survey. Based on this result, the chapter recommends to view extraneous load not as a uniform concept, but rather as a collection of different load types. Moreover, the three studies in Chapter 4 test hypotheses concerning the design of tests for media using interactive learning components. Finally, Chapter 5 intends to formulate general recommendations for advancing embodied cognition research, thereby drawing on the taxonomy of Chapter 2. In sum, this dissertation uses embodied cognition and cognitive load theory to inform each other and to provide a starting point for upgrades for both theories.

Univ., Diss.--Erlangen-Nürnberg, 2003. / Literaturverz. S. 345 - 377.

In psychological research, many questionnaires use verbal response scales with vague linguistic terms (e.g., frequency expressions). The words’ meanings can be formalized and evaluated using fuzzy membership functions (MFs), which allow constructing distinct and equidistant response scales. The discriminatory power value of MFs indicates how distinct the functions and, hence, the verbal expressions are. The present manuscript interrogates the threshold of discriminatory power necessary to indicate a sufficient difference in meaning. Using an empirical validation procedure, participants (N = 133) estimated (1) three correspondence values for verbal expressions to determine MFs, and (2) similarities of words by pairwise comparison ratings. Results show a non-linear relationship between discriminatory power and similarity, and fuzzy MFs, as well as the searched-for threshold value for discriminatory power. Implications for the selection of verbal expressions and the construction of verbal categories in questionnaire response scales are discussed.

Introduction Research in the field of embodied cognition is occupied with a variety of research questions stemming from the idea that cognition is deeply connected with bodily aspects such as perception and action (Barsalou, 1999, 2008). However, some embodiment studies have been identified to exhibit problems such as non-replicable results (Lakens, 2014). With this article, we wish to accomplish three aims: exemplifying ways of categorizing embodied cognition research in an informative manner; providing guidelines on how to identify problematic study designs; suggesting solutions for potentially problematic designs. Within the field of embodied cognition, several aspects are investigated as outlined by Wilson (2002). One example for embodiment mentioned by Wilson (2002) is gesturing (for an overview on gesturing, see Hostetter and Alibali, 2008). Embodied cognition theory can be used to analyze the relation between gestures and mental processes (e.g., Hostetter and Alibali, 2008). Furthermore, there is a debate around the question whether language and meaning are grounded in perceptual contents experienced through the body (e.g., Borghi et al., 2004; for an overview on grounded cognition, see Barsalou, 2010). Besides research on cognition, principles of embodied cognition have been applied to fields such as social psychology (see Meier et al., 2012, for an overview) and educational psychology (see Paas and Sweller, 2012, for an overview). For instance, research on embodiment in the context of social cognition has provided evidence for the claim that bodily sensations such as weight can alter judgments on importance (e.g., Ackerman et al., 2010). In educational psychology, one application of embodiment theory is the design of interactive learning environments (e.g., Johnson-Glenberg et al., 2014). In response to the current replication crisis in psychology (for discussions, see Pashler and Wagenmakers, 2012; Maxwell et al., 2015), several solutions have been proposed to improve the quality of psychological research (e.g., Chambers, 2013; Simons, 2014; LeBel, 2015; for overviews, see Ferguson, 2015; Zwaan et al., 2017). Benjamin et al. (2018) argue for a change of the standard 0.05 alpha level and instead support to lower the default alpha value for novel findings in the field of psychology to 0.005. Importantly, the sample size and power of studies have been described as pivotal contributors to replicable results (Fraley and Vazire, 2014). Multiple types of embodied cognition research are facing the problem of delivering non-replicable results as discussed in the literature (e.g., Rabelo et al., 2015). Perugini et al. (2014) present a method for the calculation of sample sizes for replication studies and confirmatory research that takes into account that observed effect sizes may be inaccurate estimates. They suggest to conduct sample size calculations using an effect size that is based on the lower bounds of the confidence interval computed for an observed effect size (Perugini et al., 2014). Another method is presented by Simonsohn (2015), who makes the argument that sample size calculations for replication studies should not merely use the effect sizes reported in the original research that is to be replicated. He explains that by increasing the sample size by the factor of 2.5, a replication study can be used to assess whether an effect is too small to have been appropriately captured in the original study (Simonsohn, 2015). This method has already been used in a recent replication study on embodied cognition effects (Ronay et al., 2017). We suggest to use one of the aforementioned methods of sample size calculation for studies involving embodiment-based manipulation types that are known for potential problems. In the following, we will present three important aspects that can be used to check whether an embodied cognition study design will need amendments such as an increased sample size.