Even though considerable attention has been given to the polarity of words (positive and negative) and the creation of large polarity lexicons, research in emotion analysis has had to rely on limited and small emotion lexicons. In this paper, we show how the combined strength and wisdom of the crowds can be used to generate a large, high-quality, word–emotion and word–polarity association lexicon quickly and inexpensively. We enumerate the challenges in emotion annotation in a crowdsourcing scenario and propose solutions to address them. Most notably, in addition to questions about emotions associated with terms, we show how the inclusion of a word choice question can discourage malicious data entry, help to identify instances where the annotator may not be familiar with the target term (allowing us to reject such annotations), and help to obtain annotations at sense level (rather than at word level). We conducted experiments on how to formulate the emotion-annotation questions, and show that asking if a term is associated with an emotion leads to markedly higher interannotator agreement than that obtained by asking if a term evokes an emotion.

https://svn.spraakdata.gu.se/clt/retorik/nrc/NRC-Emotion-Lexicon-v0.92/1308.6297.pdf

Crowdsourcing a word–emotion association lexicon

Even though considerable attention has been given to the polarity of words (positive and negative) and the creation of large polarity lexicons, research in emotion analysis has had to rely on limited and small emotion lexicons. In this paper we show how the combined strength and wisdom of the crowds can be used to generate a large, high-quality, word-emotion and word-polarity association lexicon quickly and inexpensively. We enumerate the challenges in emotion annotation in a crowdsourcing scenario and propose solutions to address them. Most notably, in addition to questions about emotions associated with terms, we show how the inclusion of a word choice question can discourage malicious data entry, help identify instances where the annotator may not be familiar with the target term (allowing us to reject such annotations), and help obtain annotations at sense level (rather than at word level). We conducted experiments on how to formulate the emotion-annotation questions, and show that asking if a term is associated with an emotion leads to markedly higher inter-annotator agreement than that obtained by asking if a term evokes an emotion.

Crowdsourcing a Word-Emotion Association Lexicon

The purpose of this article is to critically deconstruct the term engagement as it applies to peoples' experiences with technology. Through an extensive, critical multidisciplinary literature review and exploratory study of users of Web searching, online shopping, Webcasting, and gaming applications, we conceptually and operationally defined engagement. Building on past research, we conducted semistructured interviews with the users of four applications to explore their perception of being engaged with the technology. Results indicate that engagement is a process comprised of four distinct stages: point of engagement, period of sustained engagement, disengagement, and reengagement. Furthermore, the process is characterized by attributes of engagement that pertain to the user, the system, and user-system interaction. We also found evidence of the factors that contribute to nonengagement. Emerging from this research is a definition of engagement—a term not defined consistently in past work—as a quality of user experience characterized by attributes of challenge, positive affect, endurability, aesthetic and sensory appeal, attention, feedback, variety-novelty, interactivity, and perceived user control. This exploratory work provides the foundation for future work to test the conceptual model in various application areas, and to develop methods to measure engaging user experiences. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/download/pdf/52383/1.0107445/1

What is user engagement? A conceptual framework for defining user engagement with technology

The concept of presence, or “being there” is a frequently emphasized factor in immersive mediated environments. It is often assumed that greater levels of immersive quality elicit higher levels of presence, in turn enhancing the effectiveness of a mediated experience. To investigate this assumption the current meta-analysis synthesizes decades of empirical research examining the effect of immersive system technology on user experiences of presence. Aggregating 115 effect sizes from 83 studies, it finds that technological immersion has a medium-sized effect on presence. Additionally, results show that increased levels of user-tracking, the use of stereoscopic visuals, and wider fields of view of visual displays are significantly more impactful than improvements to most other immersive system features, including quality of visual and auditory content. These findings are discussed in light of theoretical accounts of the presence construct as well as practical implications for design.

How Immersive Is Enough? A Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Immersive Technology on User Presence

The development of the Game Engagement Questionnaire: A measure of engagement in video game-playing

In order to bridge interdisciplinary differences in Presence research and to establish connections between Presence and “older” concepts of psychology and communication, a theoretical model of the formation of Spatial Presence is proposed. It is applicable to the exposure to different media and intended to unify the existing efforts to develop a theory of Presence. The model includes assumptions about attention allocation, mental models, and involvement, and considers the role of media factors and user characteristics as well, thus incorporating much previous work. It is argued that a commonly accepted model of Spatial Presence is the only solution to secure further progress within the international, interdisciplinary and multiple-paradigm community of Presence research.

/pdf/a-process-model-of-the-formation-of-spatial-presence-1b50qkngj3.pdf

A Process Model of the Formation of Spatial Presence Experiences

The authors examined whether the nature of the opponent (computer, friend, or stranger) influences spatial presence, emotional responses, and threat and challenge appraisals when playing video games. In a within-subjects design, participants played two different video games against a computer, a friend, and a stranger. In addition to self-report ratings, cardiac interbeat intervals (IBIs) and facial electromyography (EMG) were measured to index physiological arousal and emotional valence. When compared to playing against a computer, playing against another human elicited higher spatial presence, engagement, anticipated threat, post-game challenge appraisals, and physiological arousal, as well as more positively valenced emotional responses. In addition, playing against a friend elicited greater spatial presence, engagement, and self-reported and physiological arousal, as well as more positively valenced facial EMG responses, compared to playing against a stranger. The nature of the opponent influences spatial presence when playing video games, possibly through the mediating influence on arousal and attentional processes.

/pdf/spatial-presence-and-emotions-during-video-game-playing-does-35sqtvw8iy.pdf

Spatial Presence and Emotions during Video Game Playing: Does It Matter with Whom You Play?

We examined emotional valence- and arousal-related phasic psychophysiological responses to different video game events among 36 young adults who played Super Monkey Ball 2 (Sega Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). Event-related changes in zygomaticus major, corrugator supercilii, and orbicularis oculi electromyographic activity, skin conductance level, and cardiac interbeat intervals were recorded. Instantaneous game events elicited reliable psychophysiological responses indexing valence and arousal. A largely linear, positive dose-response relationship between rewards obtained in the game and phasic increases in arousal was revealed. The valence of the emotional response varied as a function of the player's active participation (active coping). In addition, not only positive events, but also some putatively negative events elicited positively valenced arousal. The findings extend our understanding of the phasic changes in the emotional state during video games and a dynamic flow of events and action and may have...

Phasic Emotional Reactions to Video Game Events: A Psychophysiological Investigation

We investigated the emotional response patterns and sense of presence elicited by video games with different characteristics (i.e., Tetris, Super Monkey Ball 2, Monkey Bowling 2, and James Bond 007: NightFire) among 37 undergraduates. We also examined the moderating influence of the sensation seeking and self-forgetfulness traits on the responses. Participants self-reported their emotional responses, defined in terms of joy, pleasant relaxation, anger, fear, and depressed feeling, and sense of presence. The results showed that games with different characteristics elicit differential emotional response patterns, and the engagement elicited by the games varies as a function of the Sensation Seeking trait of the player. Measuring emotional response patterns may have practical implications for game design, given that they give information on the game characteristics that maximize entertainment and pleasure, and may potentially be used in pre-testing different versions of the games.

Jari Laarni

Papers

A Process Model of the Formation of Spatial Presence Experiences

Spatial Presence and Emotions during Video Game Playing: Does It Matter with Whom You Play?

Phasic Emotional Reactions to Video Game Events: A Psychophysiological Investigation

Emotional response patterns and sense of presence during video games: potential criterion variables for game design

Influence of individual factors on presence