James H. Watt

Perceptions of News Credibility about the War in Iraq: Why War Opponents Perceived the Internet as the Most Credible Medium

This study investigated cross-media credibility perception with respect to news coverage about the Iraq War. In an environment of political partisanship, perceptions of media credibility were likely affected by the audience’s political position on the war. Based on hostile media effect theory, a set of hypotheses was proposed to investigate whether the minority opinion group, war opponents, evaluated the Internet as a more credible medium than did neutrals or supporters. An online survey was conducted to which 481 people responded (71% war supporters, 19% opponents, 10% neutrals). Results showed that opponents of the war perceived the Internet as less aligned with a pro-government position and as more credible than did neutrals or supporters. The opponent group also showed a strong negative correlation between perceived pro-government alignment and perceptions of Internet credibility. For the minority partisan group, the diversity of information and views on the war was the main reason for the perception of high credibility of the Internet as a news channel.

The Influence of Synchrony and Sensory Modality on the Person Perception Process in Computer-Mediated Groups

This study examined the effects of synchrony and the number of cues on the person perception process in computer-mediated communication. One hundred and forty-two participants in groups of three or four engaged in collaboration over five weeks to develop oral reports, using alternate versions of communication systems or meeting face-to-face. Consistent with the hyperpersonal model, those using low cue media felt their partners were more credible, and reported more social attraction, less uncertainty, and more involvement in the interaction than those using high cue media. People interacting with synchronous media felt increased social attraction, self-reported involvement, and certainty. They also felt that their conversations were more effective, although this effect appeared mainly in low cue groups. Results of an exploratory path analysis suggest that future research should focus on causal chains rather than direct effects, and that intervening variables (such as involvement) may be central to our understanding of the effects of communication technology systems.

Agreeable People Like Agreeable Virtual Humans

This study explored associations between the five-factor personality traits of human subjects and their feelings of rapport when they interacted with a virtual agent or real humans. The agent, the Rapport Agent, responded to real human speakers storytelling behavior, using only nonverbal contingent (i.e., timely) feedback. We further investigated how interactants personalities were related to the three components of rapport: positivity, attentiveness, and coordination. The results revealed that more agreeable people showed strong self-reported rapport and weak behavioral-measured rapport in the disfluency dimension when they interacted with the Rapport Agent, while showing no significant associations between agreeableness and self-reported rapport, nor between agreeableness and the disfluency dimension when they interacted with real humans. The conclusions provide fundamental data to further develop a rapport theory that would contribute to evaluating and enhancing the interactional fidelity of an agent on the design of virtual humans for social skills training and therapy.

Social copresence in anonymous social interactions using a mobile video telephone

In this paper, we describe research exploring the effect of behavioral and visual realism of avatars on users social copresence in emotionally engaged conversations conducted via a simulated mobile video telephone. We offer an elaborated definition of Social Copresence to better measure users engagement with conversational partners in social interactions that do not involve specific tasks or concrete outcomes. We investigate ways to secure mobile telephone users anonymity while preserving their most important nonverbal affective behaviors. Experimental results with 180 participants using different combinations of static and dynamic, high and low iconic (both video and graphically animated) avatars show increased Social Copresence with dynamic high-iconic (similar to the human communicator) avatars incorporating correct facial expressions, even when these are presented on the small screen of mobile telephones in such a way that individual identities are masked. The results point to an economical combination of behavioral and iconic realism of avatars that produces maximum emotional engagement in anonymous social interactions using mobile video telephones.

Computer mediated teamwork and the efficiency framework: Exploring the influence of synchrony and cues on media satisfaction and outcome success

There are many valid ways to evaluate collaborative systems. The efficiency framework argues that while user satisfaction and preference for systems are important, neither directly predict outcome success or the ability of a system to facilitate collaboration. Further, it points to the importance of distinguishing between user satisfaction and outcome success when evaluating collaborative systems. Despite users reported preferences for media requiring less effort and time, the efficiency framework predicts that the expenditure of effort better predicts outcome success than do user preferences. This study tests these predictions and extends the model by comparing synchronous and asynchronous media with varying levels of communicative cues. One hundred and forty-two participants in groups of 3 or 4 engaged in collaboration over a 5week period. Groups were assigned to either interact face-to-face, or to one of four media conditions. There were no effects on actual group success that favored full-cue, synchronous communication. There was greater perceived group effectiveness for synchronous text and face-to-face interactions. Exploratory structural equation analysis showed that media characteristics predict copresence, which increases perceptions of group effectiveness, which in turn predict success. The results support the main assertion of the efficiency framework and explain some contradictions in prior research. Results are discussed with respect to their pertinence for theoretical and measurement issues in human computer interaction research.

Asynchronous videoconferencing: a hybrid communication prototype

The article introduces a hybrid asynchronous, distributed audio/video group conferencing system. One of the chief benefits of Internet communication systems is that they allow communicators to write messages when they need to, and read messages when they can. However, most theories of interactive technologies suggest that users would achieve more accurate interpersonal perceptions and more efficient work transactions if all visual and auditory nonverbal cues were available via desktop communication systems. Synchronous multimedia communication technologies achieve this, but forego the benefits of store-and-forward and retrieve-on-demand. The technological barrier has been in wedding asynchronous communication to the storage, indexing, and retrieval of sound and video. The paper reviews the literature on the costs and benefits of synchronous and asynchronous interaction, and full- versus partial-cue messaging that prompted development of the system. It also discusses the technological basis of a working prototype asynchronous audio/video (a/v) conferencing system, including its facility for a nonlinear indexing system. Validation tests for the utility of asynchronous a/v that are being conducted are discussed. These address the affective, co-presence, satisfaction, and effectiveness outcomes such a system provides.

Contrasting time mode and sensory modality in the performance of computer mediated groups using asynchronous videoconferencing

This research examined the question of whether perceptions of media as inferior to face to face are socially or technologically determined. It takes advantage of a recently developed asynchronous videoconferencing system to compare the perceptions and outcomes of group projects done in a multi-cue asynchronous media to those of face to face groups. Participants engaged in collaboration over 5 weeks to develop group oral reports. Measures of social presence, conversational involvement, perceived effectiveness, and ratings of group project quality were compared between communication conditions. Results showed significant differences favoring face-to-face communication for several perceptual variables, but not for perceived or actual effectiveness. Results are discussed with respect to their pertinence for several theories, and for their illumination of some historical theoretical and measurement biases in computer-mediated communication research.

Online Community Experience (OCE) and its impact on customer attitudes: an exploratory study

Many companies have realised the critical importance of online product communities as a tool to facilitate interactions amongst their customers and to strengthen customer-product ties. This study proposes a new construct, Online Community Experience (OCE), to enhance our understanding of customers online interactions in such communities and its impact on customers product-related perceptions and attitudes. We draw on diverse theoretical areas including computer-mediated communication, information processing, and brand communities to identify the critical antecedents of OCE. The model was validated using data collected from a sample of 108 subjects through a set of two questionnaires. The study findings offer strong support for the model and indicate the importance of OCE as a critical mediating variable in understanding the impact of online community participation on customer attitudes and perceptions. The key implications for future research and managerial practice in the areas of online communities, marketing communication, and customer relationship management are discussed.

Public disclosure in research with exception from informed consent: the use of survey methods to assess its effectiveness.

In clinical trials with exception from informed consent, the Final Rule stipulates that investigators inform and consult with the community. A random-digit-dialing survey of 200 individuals assessed the effectiveness of public disclosure via press releases, notices in local newspapers, local radio and television stations and the host hospitals website, as well as a series of community meetings regarding a pending clinical trial of this kind. Results showed a 10% awareness level of the public trial, which is higher than surveys using convenience samples. Understanding of the nature of the trial was generally poor, while opinions about participating in this type of research were more favorable among individuals aware of the trial. Our findings suggest that adherence to the intent of the Final Rule is dependent on uniform guidelines for what constitute effective public disclosure methods and adequate community awareness and understanding and the use of rigorous sampling methods for evaluation.

Usable Content in a Post-Document World

The Usable Content Project aims to develop a set of useful paradigms for the analysis, design, and testing of usable content in a post-document world. In planning work supported by the STC, we have brought together a multidisciplinary team of Rensselaer faculty and students to explore a variety of post-document exemplars and develop an over-arching framework for what makes them usable. Our suggestion is that post-documents move users from control through identity and toward community, using a process clearly different from traditional documents. As a consequence, traditional metrics of usability - efficiency, accuracy, and satisfaction - are no longer adequate for post-documents