Speed Dating with Voice User Interfaces: Understanding How Families Interact and Perceive Voice User Interfaces in a Group Setting

As voice-user interfaces (VUIs), such as smart speakers like Amazon Alexa or social robots like Jibo, enter multi-user environments like our homes, it is critical to understand how group members perceive and interact with these devices. VUIs engage socially with users, leveraging multi-modal cues including speech, graphics, expressive sounds, and movement. The combination of these cues can affect how users perceive and interact with these devices. Through a set of three elicitation studies, we explore family interactions (N = 34 families, 92 participants, ages 4–69) with three commercially available VUIs with varying levels of social embodiment. The motivation for these three studies began when researchers noticed that families interacted differently with three agents when familiarizing themselves with the agents and, therefore, we sought to further investigate this trend in three subsequent studies designed as a conceptional replication study. Each study included three activities to examine participants’ interactions with and perceptions of the three VUIS in each study, including an agent exploration activity, perceived personality activity, and user experience ranking activity. Consistent for each study, participants interacted significantly more with an agent with a higher degree of social embodiment, i.e., a social robot such as Jibo, and perceived the agent as more trustworthy, having higher emotional engagement, and having higher companionship. There were some nuances in interaction and perception with different brands and types of smart speakers, i.e., Google Home versus Amazon Echo, or Amazon Show versus Amazon Echo Spot between the studies. In the last study, a behavioral analysis was conducted to investigate interactions between family members and with the VUIs, revealing that participants interacted more with the social robot and interacted more with their family members around the interactions with the social robot. This paper explores these findings and elaborates upon how these findings can direct future VUI development for group settings, especially in familial settings.

Early Intervention in Severe Autism: Positive Outcome Using Exchange and Development Therapy

Early intervention programs positively affect key behaviors for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, most of these programs do not target children with severe autistic symptomatology associated with intellectual disability (ID). This study aimed to investigate the psychological and clinical outcomes of children with severe autism and ID enrolled in the Tailored and Inclusive Program for Autism—Tours (TIPA-T). The first step of the TIPA-T is the Exchange and Development Therapy (EDT): an individual neurofunctional intervention consisting of one-to-one exchanges between a child and a therapist taking place in a pared-down environment. It aims to rehabilitate psychophysiological abilities at the roots of social communication through structured sequences of “social play.” Cognitive and socio-emotional skills and general development were evaluated with the Social Cognitive Evaluation Battery scale and the Brunet–Lézine Scale—Revised, respectively, before and after 9 months of intervention in 32 children with ASD and ID. Autistic symptomatology was evaluated with the Behavior Summarized Evaluation—Revised scale at five time-points in a subset of 14 children, both in individual and group settings. Statistically significant post-intervention improvements were found in cognitive and socio-emotional skills. All but one child showed improvements in at least one social domain, and 78% of children gained one level in at least four social domains. Twenty-nine children improved in cognitive domains, with 66% of children improving in at least three cognitive domains. Autistic symptomatology evaluated in one-to-one settings significantly decreased with therapy; this reduction was observed in more than 85% of children. In group settings, autistic symptomatology also decreased in more than 60% of children. Global developmental age significantly increased by 3.8 months. The TIPA-T, including EDT in particular, improves socio-emotional skills of most children with ASD and reduces autistic symptomatology, yet with heterogeneous outcomes profiles, in line with the strong heterogeneity of profiles observed in ASD. At the group level, this study highlights the benefits of the TIPA-T for children with severe autism and associated ID. Assessment of autistic core symptoms showed an improvement of social interaction, both in one-to-one and group evaluations, demonstrating the generalizability of the skills learned during the EDT.

Investigation into a Commercial Application to Reduce Online Distractions Amongst Students

<p>Technology is an integral part of the modern learning process; its scope, speed and accessibility effectively make it the most efficient tool for learning. Moreover, with its continuous development and convenience of accessibility there has been a rapid integration of technology into the learning environment. However, as our phones and laptops have become daily tools of mass information, they have equivalently become tools for distractive behaviour, providing individuals with escapes from reality in the form of social networks and endless entertainment feeds. The necessity of this project was recognised upon observing the use of social media platforms in collaborative work for the purpose of academic achievement. The seemingly double edged sword that is social media provided networks for communicating and collaborating in both private and group settings, additionally it presented new avenues for learning and information searching in the form of visual and audible material. Currently available products in the market aim at reducing social media usage without understanding the beneficial features and functionality that it provides for students. The purpose of this project was firstly to further research the gap in the market for a tool which aids students in their learning through reducing exposure to distractive material without restricting their behaviour. The second aim was to investigate how to appeal to this market. This lead to the conceptualisation of the Prompt application, which allows for utilising social media applications while removing the distractive material and promoting academic sources. The plugin design of the application proposes working alongside current academic platforms to channel material to social media platforms, determined by their continuing popularity. The initial investigation of this project was framed by literature reviews which revealed additional value in the proposed project. Additional benefits were found in social media platforms and their prominence in individual’s daily lifestyles due to the emotional connection that people had with them. Furthermore, reasons for maintaining access to these platforms were identified through understanding the beneficial effects achieved from a state of arousal through task-switching behaviour. These points of interest provided further guidelines to proceed with the next stages of research. The methodology approach implemented in this project was of both a qualitative and quantitative nature. A pilot survey was used to gain numerical data on student’s usage of their academic and social media platforms, the information obtained from this was used to advise the one-on-one interview process. One-on-one interviews were then conducted with both students from a range of academic backgrounds and university staff members who worked alongside the academic platforms. The analysis process revealed key findings surrounding how the platforms were used and to what extent. Furthermore, insight into students attitudes and behaviours surrounding the use of social media revealed a significant level of disconnect between the two. Overall, the key findings indicated a desired response in proposition of the Prompt application. Findings confirmed research assumptions and validated the direction for providing a model that embraces the use of social media for both students and educators. With the educational system largely disregarding the role that social media platforms have evolved into for students, there is a subsequent failure in the market to adequately provide a solution which caters to both the functional and emotional needs of students. Acknowledging this failure provides the potential to develop an innovative solution that is human-centered in its design for the educational field. The opportunity for this project stemmed from identifying this gap in the market for a project which will develop alongside the constantly changing functionality of technology.</p>

Investigation into a Commercial Application to Reduce Online Distractions Amongst Students

<p>Technology is an integral part of the modern learning process; its scope, speed and accessibility effectively make it the most efficient tool for learning. Moreover, with its continuous development and convenience of accessibility there has been a rapid integration of technology into the learning environment. However, as our phones and laptops have become daily tools of mass information, they have equivalently become tools for distractive behaviour, providing individuals with escapes from reality in the form of social networks and endless entertainment feeds. The necessity of this project was recognised upon observing the use of social media platforms in collaborative work for the purpose of academic achievement. The seemingly double edged sword that is social media provided networks for communicating and collaborating in both private and group settings, additionally it presented new avenues for learning and information searching in the form of visual and audible material. Currently available products in the market aim at reducing social media usage without understanding the beneficial features and functionality that it provides for students. The purpose of this project was firstly to further research the gap in the market for a tool which aids students in their learning through reducing exposure to distractive material without restricting their behaviour. The second aim was to investigate how to appeal to this market. This lead to the conceptualisation of the Prompt application, which allows for utilising social media applications while removing the distractive material and promoting academic sources. The plugin design of the application proposes working alongside current academic platforms to channel material to social media platforms, determined by their continuing popularity. The initial investigation of this project was framed by literature reviews which revealed additional value in the proposed project. Additional benefits were found in social media platforms and their prominence in individual’s daily lifestyles due to the emotional connection that people had with them. Furthermore, reasons for maintaining access to these platforms were identified through understanding the beneficial effects achieved from a state of arousal through task-switching behaviour. These points of interest provided further guidelines to proceed with the next stages of research. The methodology approach implemented in this project was of both a qualitative and quantitative nature. A pilot survey was used to gain numerical data on student’s usage of their academic and social media platforms, the information obtained from this was used to advise the one-on-one interview process. One-on-one interviews were then conducted with both students from a range of academic backgrounds and university staff members who worked alongside the academic platforms. The analysis process revealed key findings surrounding how the platforms were used and to what extent. Furthermore, insight into students attitudes and behaviours surrounding the use of social media revealed a significant level of disconnect between the two. Overall, the key findings indicated a desired response in proposition of the Prompt application. Findings confirmed research assumptions and validated the direction for providing a model that embraces the use of social media for both students and educators. With the educational system largely disregarding the role that social media platforms have evolved into for students, there is a subsequent failure in the market to adequately provide a solution which caters to both the functional and emotional needs of students. Acknowledging this failure provides the potential to develop an innovative solution that is human-centered in its design for the educational field. The opportunity for this project stemmed from identifying this gap in the market for a project which will develop alongside the constantly changing functionality of technology.</p>

MEDIATING ROLE OF COPING STYLES BETWEEN SOCIAL SUPPORT AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Background: University students being energetic, active, and robust engage proactively in their lives. Students’ coping styles are important to deal with daily life issues. The current study investigated the mediating role of coping style between social support and psychological well-being among students of Karachi University, Pakistan. Method: To test the hypotheses, a sample of 105 university students (males 51 &amp; females 55) with the age ranging between 19 to 36 years (mean age= 24.85; SD=.478) belonging to different socioeconomic status were selected from the University of Karachi, Pakistan. After taking permission from HOD of concerned departments, Demographic Information Form, Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale Coping styles scale, and Psychological Well-Being Scale were administered on participants in group settings. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and Hayes’ PROCESS macro and bootstrap analysis were performed.Results: Problem-focused coping contributes 18 % variance in the psychological well-being of university students. Moreover, Social support brings 35 % and 46 % variation in the relationship of problem-focused coping; emotion-focused coping, and psychological well-being.Conclusion: Problem-focused coping was shown as an important mediating factor for social support and psychological wellbeing.

Early intervention in severe Autism : positive outcome using EDT

Early intervention programs positively affect key behaviours for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Yet, most of these programs do not target children with severe autistic symptomatology associated with intellectual disability (ID).The aim of this study was to investigate psychological and clinical outcomes of children with severe autism and ID enrolled in the Tailored and Inclusive Program for Autism - Tours (TIPA-T). The first step of the TIPA-T is the Exchange and Development Therapy (EDT): an individual neurofunctional intervention, consisting of one-to-one exchanges between a child and a therapist taking place in a pared-down environment. It aims to rehabilitate psychophysiological abilities at the roots of social communication, through structured sequences of “social play”.Cognitive and socio-emotional skills and general development were evaluated with the Social Cognitive Evaluation Battery (SCEB) scale and the Brunet-Lézine scale-Revised, respectively, before and after 9 months of intervention in 32 children with ASD and ID. Autistic symptomatology was evaluated with the Behavior Summarized Evaluation-Revised (BSE-R) scale at 5 time-points in a subset of 14 children, both in individual and group settings. Statistically significant post-intervention improvements were found in cognitive and socio-emotional skills. All but one child showed improvements in at least one social domains, and 78% of children gained one-level in at least 4 social domains. 29 children improved in cognitive domains with 66% of children improving in at least 3 cognitive domains. Autistic symptomatology evaluated in one-to-one settings significantly decreased with therapy; this reduction was observed in more than 85% of children. In group settings, autistic symptomatology also decreased in more than 60% of children. Global developmental age significantly increased by 3.8 months.The TIPA-T, including EDT in particular, improves socio-emotional skills of most children with ASD and reduces autistic symptomatology; yet, with heterogeneous outcomes profiles, in line with the strong heterogeneity of profiles observed in ASD. At the group level, this study highlights the benefits of the TIPA-T for children with severe autism and associated ID. Assessment of autistic core symptoms showed an improvement of social interaction, both in one-to-one and group evaluations, demonstrating the generalizability of the skills learned during the EDT.

Efficacy of exposure in group settings for youth with posttraumatic stress symptoms

Background Exposure to traumatic experiences is a fundamental part of evidence-based trauma-focused cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) but in group settings it is discussed controversially among researchers and practitioners. This study aims to examine the individual participants’ stress level during group sessions with exposure and disclosure of traumatic events. Method N = 47 traumatized youth (Mage = 17.00, 94% male) participated in a group intervention comprising six 90-min group sessions (exposure in sessions 2–5). It is based on trauma-focused CBT principles. The individual stress level was assessed by the participants and group facilitators at the beginning, during, and at the end of every session. Results During the sessions including exposure, the stress level of the participants was higher than during sessions without exposure (Z = − 3.79; p ≤ .001). During the exposure sessions, the participants showed significant changes in stress level (d = 0.34–0.87) following an inverse U-shaped trend. Conclusion The results show that exposure is feasible within the scope of a trauma-focused group intervention for youth. The further dissemination of trauma-focused group treatments is an important component in the mental health care of children and youth who are traumatized.

A game co-design method to elicit knowledge for the contextualization of spatial models

A frequent criticism of knowledge-based planning tools is the apparent mismatch between information frameworks used in their spatial models and the information needs of planning actors. Increasingly, these actors are contributing their context-specific knowledge during the development of such tools. Transferring this knowledge from actors to the model remains a challenge. This study establishes a set of design requirements for knowledge elicitation in small group settings and introduces game co-design as a method allowing planning actors and planning support experts to meet halfway between the technology and user domains in the so-called third space. We present an initial case where in three nominal group sessions, actors encountered and critiqued parameterized assumptions of their planning issues in a tangible game environment. Findings indicate that the method can elicit different types of knowledge (divergence) about a spatial system in operationalized terms (formalization). We discuss the potential of tangible game co-design as a modeling as learning exercise and its complementarity to dedicated digital technologies for more holistic planning support.