University of Florida, Florida, USA.
IEEE Trans Vis Comput Graph. 2013 Apr;19(4):662-70. doi: 10.1109/TVCG.2013.35.
Stressful interpersonal experiences can be difficult to prepare for. Virtual humans may be leveraged to allow learners to safely gain exposure to stressful interpersonal experiences. In this paper we present a between-subjects study exploring how the presence of a virtual human affected learners while practicing a stressful interpersonal experience. Twenty-six fourth-year medical students practiced performing a prostate exam on a prostate exam simulator. Participants in the experimental condition examined a simulator augmented with a virtual human. Other participants examined a standard unaugmented simulator. Participants reactions were assessed using self-reported, behavioral, and physiological metrics. Participants who examined the virtual human experienced significantly more stress, measured via skin conductance. Participants stress was correlated with previous experience performing real prostate exams; participants who had performed more real prostate exams were more likely to experience stress while examining the virtual human. Participants who examined the virtual human showed signs of greater engagement; non-stressed participants performed better prostate exams while stressed participants treated the virtual human more realistically. Results indicated that stress evoked by virtual humans is linked to similar previous real-world stressful experiences, implying that learners real-world experience must be taken into account when using virtual humans to prepare them for stressful interpersonal experiences.
人际压力体验难以预测，而虚拟人或许可以帮助学习者安全地体验人际压力。本研究通过对照实验，探索了学习者在虚拟人辅助下进行压力人际体验时的表现。26 名四年级医学生在前列腺检查模拟器上练习前列腺检查。实验组检查时会看到虚拟人，对照组则为标准的无增强模拟器。通过自我报告、行为和生理指标评估参与者的反应。皮肤电导率显示，与对照组相比，实验组参与者在检查虚拟人时压力更大。参与者的压力与之前进行真实前列腺检查的经验相关；进行过更多真实前列腺检查的参与者在检查虚拟人时更有可能感到压力。检查虚拟人的参与者表现出更大的投入度；未感到压力的参与者在感到压力时能更好地进行前列腺检查，而感到压力的参与者对虚拟人表现出更真实的反应。结果表明，虚拟人引起的压力与之前真实世界中的类似压力经历有关，这意味着在使用虚拟人帮助学习者为压力人际体验做准备时，必须考虑到他们的真实世界经验。
