Cjh Cees Midden

Energy conservation through product-integrated feedback: The roles of goal-setting and social orientation

The purpose of this study was to find a means to increase energy conservation behavior by giving consumers immediate energy feedback. The study explored the roles of goals to save energy and kW h feedback. Feedback was given, and conservation goals set, via a simulated, technologically advanced, washing machine control panel. One hundred subjects each completed 20 simulated washing trials. Self-set and assigned goals were compared as to their effect on conservation behavior when used in combination with energy feedback. Both generated similar energy savings with the self-set goal group using 21% less energy than the control group. Social orientation, a personality factor, was found to interact with goal-setting mode, with pro-self individuals saving more energy when allowed to self-set a goal and pro-social individuals saving more energy when assigned a goal.

To plan or not to plan? Goal achievement or interrupting the performance of mundane behaviors

The present experiment investigated cognitive and behavioral effects of planning (i.e. forming implementation intentions) on goal pursuit during the performance of mundane behaviors. Participants received the goal to collect a coupon halfway the hall from the lab to the cafeteria. Later, they were also given the task to go from the lab to the cafeteria. Thus participants had to attain a new goal by interrupting a mundane behavior. Some participants enriched their goal with implementation intentions, others did not. Results showed that participants who formed implementation intentions were more effective in goal pursuit than the control group. Importantly, the data suggest that the effects of planning on goal completion are mediated by a heightened mental accessibility of environmental cues related to the goal completion task.

Role of negative emotion in communication about CO2 risks

This article describes how the effectiveness of risk communication is determined by the interaction between emotional and informative elements. An experiment is described that examined the role of negative emotion in communication about CO2 risks. This experiment was based on the elaboration likelihood model and the related heuristic systematic model of attitude formation. The results indicated that inducing fear of CO2 risks leads to systematic processing of information about energy conservation as a risk-reducing strategy. In turn, this results in more favorable attitudes toward energy conservation if strong arguments are provided. Individual differences in concern seem to have similar effects.

Trust in Smart Systems: Sharing Driving Goals and Giving Information to Increase Trustworthiness and Acceptability of Smart Systems in Cars

Objective: We examine whether trust in smart systems is generated analogously to trust in humans and whether the automation level of smart systems affects trustworthiness and acceptability of those systems. Background: Trust is an important factor when considering acceptability of automation technology. As shared goals lead to social trust, and intelligent machines tend to be treated like humans, the authors expected that shared driving goals would also lead to increased trustworthiness and acceptability of adaptive cruise control (ACC) systems. Method: In an experiment, participants (N = 57) were presented with descriptions of three ACCs with different automation levels that were described as systems that either shared their driving goals or did not. Trustworthiness and acceptability of all the ACCs were measured. Results: ACCs sharing the driving goals of the user were more trustworthy and acceptable than were ACCs not sharing the driving goals of the user. Furthermore, ACCs that took over driving tasks while providing information were more trustworthy and acceptable than were ACCs that took over driving tasks without providing information. Trustworthiness mediated the effects of both driving goals and automation level on acceptability of ACCs. Conclusion: As when trusting other humans, trusting smart systems depends on those systems sharing the user’s goals. Furthermore, based on their description, smart systems that take over tasks are judged more trustworthy and acceptable when they also provide information. Application: For optimal acceptability of smart systems, goals of the user should be shared by the smart systems, and smart systems should provide information to their user.

Complex evacuation; effects of motivation level and slope of stairs on emergency egress time in a sports stadium

This paper is concerned with the concept of building evacuation and the factors that affect the emergency egress time. It argues that the total evacuation time can be divided into three components: the time to recognize a dangerous situation, the time to decide for evacuation and the time for the movement towards safety. The last component, the egress time, is studied closely in this paper. When the capacity of a walkway is known, this component can be calculated. The capacity however is affected by a number of factors. Through two field studies the effects of the motivation of people to move and the slope of stairs on capacity have been tested. It appears that initially motivation has an accelerating effect, but as the number of people per square meter grows their speed decreases. Also the steeper the slope of stairs, the slower people will move on them. Furthermore the value for capacity used in design and egress time calculations is looked upon. Various researchers have come up with different values. Some recommend the use of the maximum value, which gives the minimum egress time, while others recommend the use of a mean value for capacity, which gives a mean value for egress time. This paper discusses the advantages of the use of a mean value over the use of a maximum value, and thus of the use of an average over a minimum egress time.

Using negative and positive social feedback from a robotic agent to save energy

An improved process for preparing a phosphated metal surface for painting comprises electrolyzing the surface as cathode in an aqueous solution containing hexavalent and trivalent chromium in specified concentrations and weight ratios.Two experiments explored the persuasive effects of social feedback, as provided by a robotic agent, on behavioral change. Results indicate stronger persuasive effects of social feedback than of factual feedback (Experiment 1) or factual evaluative feedback (Experiment 2), and of negative feedback (especially social but also factual) than of positive feedback.

When Artificial Social Agents Try to Persuade People: The Role of Social Agency on the Occurrence of Psychological Reactance

In the near future, robotic agents might employ persuasion to influence people’s behavior or attitudes, just as human agents do in many situations. People can comply with these requests, but, people can also experience psychological reactance, which may lead to the complete opposite of the proposed behavior. In this study we are interested in the social nature of psychological reactance. Social agency theory proposes that more social cues lead to a more social interaction. We argue that this also holds for psychological reactance. Therefore, we expect a positive relationship between the level of social agency of the source of a persuasive message and the amount of psychological reactance the message arouses. In an online experiment, participants read an advice on how to conserve energy when using a washing machine. The advice was either provided as text-only, as text accompanied by a still picture of a robotic agent, or as text accompanied by a short film clip of the same robotic agent. Confirming our expectations, results indicated that participants experienced more psychological reactance when the advice was accompanied by the still picture or when the advice was accompanied by the short film clip as compared to when the advice was provided as text-only. This indicates that stronger social agency of the messenger can lead to more psychological reactance. Furthermore, our results confirmed earlier research about the effects of controlling language on psychological reactance. Implications are discussed.

Can ambient persuasive technology persuade unconsciously?: using subliminal feedback to influence energy consumption ratings of household appliances

In this paper we explore a fundamental characteristic of Ambient Persuasive Technology: Can it persuade the user without receiving the users conscious attention? In a task consisting of 90 trials, participants had to indicate which of three household appliances uses the lowest average amount of energy. After each choice, participants in the supraliminal feedback condition received feedback about the correctness of their choice through presentation of a smiling or a sad face for 150 ms. Participants in the subliminal feedback condition received identical feedback, but the faces were presented only for 25 ms, which prohibited conscious perception of these stimuli. The final third of the participants received no feedback. In the next task, participants rated the energy consumption of all presented appliances. Results indicated that supraliminal feedback and subliminal feedback both led to more correct energy consumption ratings as compared to receiving no feedback. Implications are discussed.

A Persuasive Robot to Stimulate Energy Conservation: The Influence of Positive and Negative Social Feedback and Task Similarity on Energy-Consumption Behavior

This research explored the persuasive effects on behavior of social feedback by a robotic agent. In two experiments, participants could save on energy while carrying out washing tasks on a simulated washing machine. In both experiments, we tested the persuasive effects of positive and negative social feedback and we compared these effects to factual feedback, which is more widely used. Results of both studies indicated that social feedback had stronger persuasive effects than factual feedback. Furthermore, results of both studies suggested an effect of feedback valence indicated by more economic behavior following negative feedback (social or factual) as compared to positive feedback. Overall, the strongest persuasive effects were exerted by negative social feedback. In addition, results of Experiment 2 indicated that task similarity increased the persuasive effects of negative feedback. The implications for persuasive robotic agent theory and design are discussed.

The role of executive processes in prospective memory tasks

Prospective remembering refers to remembering and acting on behavioural intentions. Three experiments tested the hypothesis that prospective remembering requires the availability of executive processes. It was expected that this is more important when intentions are stated in categorical terms. Type of instruction (specific versus categorical), typicality of the cue in relation to the category specified, and executive load were manipulated. Results showed a general benefit of specific instructions. Furthermore, with categorical instructions, performance was better with typical cues. Although the data suggested that executive processes are responsible for the processing of cues, the load manipulation had no significant effect on the prospective memory measure. Thus, no evidence was found for the hypothesis that prospective remembering requires the availability of executive processes. It is argued that it is a matter of strategic choice whether executive processes are deployed: One does not need to monitor for cues but can choose to rely on bottom‐up processes. Monitoring may be sufficient, but not necessary for successful prospective remembering.