International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
Using a human face in an interface
CHI '94 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Silicon sycophants: the effects of computers that flatter
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
Deictic and emotive communication in animated pedagogical agents
Embodied conversational agents
Encouraging physical therapy compliance with a hands-Off mobile robot
Proceedings of the 1st ACM SIGCHI/SIGART conference on Human-robot interaction
Crowdsourcing user studies with Mechanical Turk
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Human-Computer Interaction
Persuading users through counseling dialogue with a conversational agent
Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Persuasive Technology
Lifelike pedagogical agents and affective computing: an exploratory synthesis
Artificial intelligence today
Virtual agents in retail web sites: Benefits of simulated social interaction for older users
Computers in Human Behavior
Computers in Human Behavior
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The present study draws on theories of attribution, social comparison, and social facilitation to investigate how computers might use principles of motivation and persuasion to provide user feedback. In an online experiment, 192 participants performed a speed-reading task. The independent variables included whether or not the verbal feedback from the computer involved praise, whether the objective feedback showed that the participants were performing better or worse from their peers, and whether or not the feedback was presented by an on-screen agent. The main dependent variables included a subjective measure of participants' intrinsic motivation and an objective measure of their task persistence. Results showed that providing participants with praise or comparative information on others' performance improved intrinsic motivation. When praised, participants whose performances were comparatively low persisted in the task longer than those whose performances were comparatively high did. Additionally, the mere presence of an embodied agent on the screen increased participants' motivation. Together, these results indicate that praise and social comparison can serve as effective forms of motivational feedback and that humanlike embodiment further improves user motivation.