标题：Anthropomorphizing malware, bots, and servers with human-like images and dialogues: the emotional design effects in a multimedia learning environment
摘要：Emotional design refers to imbuing a multimedia learning environment with design attributes that promote learners’ positive afect and motivation to enhance learning. One such feature is anthropomorphism, in which human-like attributes are infused into learning elements in a multimedia learning environment. This study examines the afective, motivational, and cognitive efects of incorporating cute and funny human?like images and dialogues into learning objects depicting malware, bots, and servers in an animation conveying a lesson on how a distributed denial-of-service attack occurs. A between-subjects online experiment was conducted in which undergradu‑ ates from a large Asian university (n=70) engaged with either the anthropomorphized or non-anthropomorphized multimedia lesson. The fndings partially supported the anthropomorphism efects on learners’ afective-motivational states insofar as the anthropomorphized multimedia lesson evoked a signifcantly greater change of posi‑ tive afect but did not diferently afect intrinsic motivation and learning outcome than the non-anthropomorphized version. Concerning cognitive load, anthropomorphism led to signifcantly lower perceived difculty regarding the learning topic (intrinsic load), which conforms with most emotional design fndings. There was a marginal trend in which learners engaged longer with the anthropomorphized than the non?anthropomorphized multimedia lesson. This study ofers insights on anthropomor‑ phism in multimedia learning that extends to cultural factors unique to Asian learners and information technology subject domain. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed through the lens of cognitive-afective theory of learning with media, integrated cognitive afective model of learning with multimedia, and cognitive load theory. Future directions concerning anthropomorphism research in the multimedia learning context are addressed in this paper.
