Introduction
Digital devices and multimedia learning environments are intertwined with modern society. Aesthetics featuring anthropomorphic attributes in cute and funny characters with personalized dialogues are evident in educational multimedia materials on social media, online video sharing platforms, and learning content management systems.
For instance, Kurzgesagt—a German animation studio, produces animations concerning scientific, technological, political, philosophical, and psychological subjects with a robust online presence on YouTube. The popularity can be attributed to the animated visual styles, which feature attractive, high-saturated color palettes and cute and funny anthropomorphic features.
Relatedly, the confluence between anthropomorphism and cute and funny expressive characters is related to the Kawaii design that imbues non-living or non-human objects with aesthetics accentuating rounded shapes, large eyes, and large foreheads to affirm baby-like, innocent, and childish qualities (Nittono,
2016; Nittono et al.,
2012). Kawaii styles which are rooted in anime and manga, have been recently used for delivering educational contents (Hayashi & Marutschke,
2015; Raman et al.,
2021). For instance,
Cells at Work! is an anime that depicts cells and pathogens in a human body as anthropomorphic human characters with cute and funny emotional expressions and entertaining dialogues. Highly acclaimed for its entertaining and likable presentation of facts and concepts regarding the inner workings of the human body (Silverman,
2016; Valdez,
2018), the anthropomorphized animation has been used as homework assigned to learners studying biology in China’s Southwest University (Shen,
2018).
Studies have begun to examine the affective, motivational, and cognitive effects of embedding anthropomorphic features into multimedia lessons from the educational research viewpoint. Anthropomorphism through facial expressions and personalized dialogues in multimedia learning materials is associated with the emotional design principle (Schneider et al.,
2016,
2018), which aims to evoke positive emotion in learners to promote motivation and learning without imposing additional processing load (Brom et al.,
2018; Wong & Adesope,
2020). However, research on the emotional design in the multimedia learning context is in its infancy (Mayer & Estrella,
2014), warranting further studies to extend its effects with different cultures and learning domains (Brom et al.,
2017,
2018; Wong & Adesope,
2020). Much research on emotional design features through anthropomorphism has been conducted with learners in Western nations (e.g., the U.S and Germany); whereas, comparatively less research has been done with learners in Asian countries (Brom et al.,
2018; Wong & Adesope,
2020). Wong and Adesope (
2020) noted that emotional design, including anthropomorphism, seems to enhance the
intrinsic motivation of American and German learners with more prominent effect sizes than learners from other cultures. On the other hand, emotional design, including anthropomorphism, leads to a
change of positive affect with more significant effect sizes among Chinese learners compared to learners from other cultures. These observations collectively imply that anthropomorphism in a multimedia learning environment can evoke different affective-motivational outcomes across diverse cultures. Thus, beyond emotional design research with US or European learners, this study conducted with Asian learners can contribute new insights concerning the confluence between anthropomorphism in a multimedia learning environment and cultural factors unique to Asian learners.
This study is also significant for its unique instructional domain presented by the multimedia learning environment. The multimedia lesson in this study featured an
information technology topic, specifically, about how a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack occurs. It is noteworthy that anthropomorphism studies have been mostly conducted to convey life sciences (biology-related subjects) and physical sciences (weather or meteorology) while underrepresenting other instructional topics such as information technology (Brom et al.,
2018; Wong & Adesope,
2020). Because there is evidence indicating that the emotional design effects on motivational and learning outcomes may differ between diverse learning domains (Wong & Adesope,
2020), this study can contribute to the existing literature by clarifying the anthropomorphism effects in a multimedia learning environment presenting an information technology topic. From an educational viewpoint, this study aligns with the increasingly vital and relevant dissemination of information technology knowledge to learners in educational institutions and society as a whole, given the ubiquity of digital technologies across all aspects of life today. Hence, emotional design in a multimedia learning environment can make information technology subjects more accessible and beneficial to learners. In the context of the DDoS topic used in this study, anthropomorphism was accorded to learning objects depicting malware, bots, and servers through human-like images, i.e., facial features and limbs. Unlike previous research, this study also endowed the learning objects representing malware, bots, and servers with human-like dialogues (e.g., "I will trick the user! Click me! Click me!", "Keep attacking the server," and "Help! I am being kidnapped!") to solidify the anthropomorphism experience.
In light of the preceding, the objective of this study is to examine the affective-motivational and cognitive effects of anthropomorphism through human-like images and dialogues in a multimedia learning environment that delivers a lesson on how DDoS attack occurs. Pursuant to this goal, we conducted an online between-subject experiment involving learners from a large private Asian university. The findings of this study are discussed through the lens of cognitive-affective theory of learning with media (CATLM), integrated cognitive affective model of learning with multimedia (ICALM), and Cognitive Load Theory (CLT). These theories and related studies are further reviewed and discussed in the following section.
Research question and predictions
This study extends anthropomorphism in multimedia learning research to Asian learners and an information technology instructional topic; thus, acknowledging the call for new studies to feature learners of different cultural backgrounds and other learning domains (Brom et al.,
2017,
2018; Stárková et al.,
2019; Wong & Adesope,
2020). This study is unique, as cute and funny human-like dialogues were attached to visually anthropomorphized learning elements to accentuate the characters’ comical emotion, intent, and personality. In sum, this study aims to address the following research question:
RQ: To what extent can anthropomorphism through cute and funny human-like images and dialogues in a multimedia lesson on DDoS influence Asian learners’ positive affect [a], intrinsic motivation [b], cognitive load [c], and learning performance [d]?
Drawing on the CATLM and ICALM, this study predicts that the anthropomorphized multimedia lesson will enhance learners’ positive affect, intrinsic motivation, and learning performance than the non-anthropomorphized version. Following Brom et al. (
2018)’s and Wong and Adesope (
2020)’s meta-analyses, which collectively indicate a robust effect of emotional design on perceived difficulty, this study predicts that the learners engaging with the anthropomorphized multimedia lesson will have reduced perceived difficulty (i.e., intrinsic load and/or extraneous load) compared to the learners engaging with the non-anthropomorphized version. Based on the findings by Schneider et al. (
2018) and Schneider et al. (
2019), it is assumed that the anthropomorphized multimedia lesson can increase learners’ germane load than the non-anthropomorphized version.
Data analyses
Descriptive and correlation analysis
Table
3 shows the bivariate correlations between the dependent measures, while the means and standard deviations of the measures are shown in Table
4. Expectedly, there was a positive correlation between a learner’s prior knowledge and retention performance—this aligns with the notion that pre-existing domain knowledge must be integrated with new multimedia information for learning to occur (Mayer,
2019; Mayer & Moreno,
1998). However, the correlation between a learner’s prior knowledge and transfer performance was not significant, plausibly due to the transfer questions were challenging, with the answers could not directly be obtained from the multimedia lesson. A learner’s baseline positive affect was positively correlated with intrinsic motivation, which is in line with the literature indicating the association between positive affect and interest in and enjoyment of an activity for its own sake (Isen et al.,
1987; Pekrun,
2006; Pekrun & Linnenbrink-Garcia,
2012; Plass & Kalyuga,
2019). A learner’s baseline positive affect was positively correlated with germane load (measured as the perceived understanding of the learning material) and transfer performance, which supports the relevance of positive affect in cognitive processing within a multimedia learning environment per the CATLM (Mayer,
2014a; Moreno & Mayer,
2007) and ICALM (Plass & Kaplan,
2016). The extraneous load was negatively correlated with germane load and retention performance—this accords with the CLT theory asserting that the additional cognitive processing imposed on learners due to poorly-designed learning environments may lead to lower mental resources available for essential processing, thereby leading to decreased learning outcome (Mayer & Moreno,
1998,
2003; Sweller,
1994). Relatedly, the positive correlation between germane load and retention performance, and the positive correlation between germane load and retention performance, collectively render support to Leppink et al. (
2013)’s scale in measuring learners’ cognitive load used for generative processing contributing to schemata construction and understanding of the learning materials that foster learning.
Table 3
Bivariate correlations between the measures
Prior knowledge | .485** | .051 | .546** | .283* | − .183 | − .214 | .209 | .256* | .222 |
Baseline PAS | – | .190 | .755** | .518** | − .058 | − .177 | .448** | .182 | .277* |
Time On video | – | – | .252* | .208 | − .035 | − .067 | .148 | .444** | .125 |
PAS after learning | – | – | – | .609** | − .107 | − .286* | .557** | .415** | .297* |
Intrinsic motivation | – | – | – | – | − .049 | − .244* | .616** | .337** | .142 |
Intrinsic load | – | – | – | – | – | .416** | − .100 | − .108 | − .055 |
Extraneous load | – | – | – | – | – | – | − .497** | − .351** | − .168 |
Germane load | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | .378** | .312** |
Retention | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | .200 |
Table 4
Means and standard deviations of the measures
Prior knowledge | 3.02 (0.85) | 2.87 (0.94) | 2.94 (0.89) |
Baseline PAS | 33.03 (5.26) | 33.70 (6.33) | 33.39 (5.82) |
Time on video | 291.33 (106.84) | 248.95 (98.41) | 268.93 (103.93) |
PAS after learning | 37.21 (7.42) | 35.30 (6.13) | 36.20 (6.79) |
Intrinsic motivation | 42.00 (6.50) | 41.05 (6.44) | 41.50 (6.44) |
Intrinsic load | 3.24 (1.93) | 5.09 (2.19) | 4.22 (2.26) |
Extraneous load | 2.46 (1.53) | 3.05 (2.06) | 2.78 (1.84) |
Germane load | 7.39 (1.39) | 7.05 (1.50) | 7.21 (1.45) |
Retention | 3.81 (2.90) | 3.23 (2.05) | 3.50 (2.48) |
Transfer | 5.04 (2.69) | 5.17 (3.25) | 5.11 (2.98) |
Control measures
Prior knowledge
A one-way ANOVA was conducted to assess whether learners’ prior knowledge differed between anthropomorphized and non-anthropomorphized condition. The result indicated that learners’ prior knowledge did not differ between the conditions,
F(1,68)=.464,
p=.498,
η2=.007. Due to the significant correlations (see Table
1), prior knowledge was added as a covariate for further analyses concerning positive affect after the engagement with the respective multimedia lesson, intrinsic motivation, and retention as well as transfer performance.
Baseline positive affect
A learner’s baseline positive affect was measured through the PAS score reported by the learner before the engagement with the respective multimedia lesson. A one-way ANOVA was performed to compare the baseline positive affect between the anthropomorphized and non-anthropomorphized conditions. The result demonstrated that the learners’ baseline positive affect did not significantly differ between the conditions,
F(1,68)=.23,
p=.633,
η2=.003. Due to the significant correlations (see Table
1), baseline positive affect was added as a covariate for further analyses concerning positive affect after the engagement with the respective multimedia lesson, intrinsic motivation, germane load, and transfer performance.
Time spent on engaging with the multimedia lesson
A learner’s time spent engaging with the multimedia lesson was captured through the timestamp duration of the web page that displayed the respective multimedia lesson. While there was a trend in which the learners in the anthropomorphized condition engaged with the multimedia lesson longer than those in the non-anthropomorphized condition, the difference was marginal as per the one-way ANOVA result, F(1,68)=2.985, p=.089, η2=.042.
Positive affect after engagement with the multimedia lesson
This study conducted a mixed ANCOVA with prior knowledge scores added as a covariate, anthropomorphism condition (anthropomorphized and non-anthropomorphized) as a between-subjects factor, and PAS scores obtained before and after the engagement with the respective multimedia lesson as within-subjects variables. The result showed that the interaction effect between the anthropomorphism condition and the PAS scores was significant, F(1,52.375)=5.643, p=.02, η2=.078. Analyses of simple main effects through repeated measures ANOVAs indicated that the PAS scores of learners increased significantly from the baseline positive affect to the positive affect experienced after the engagement with the respective multimedia lesson; regardless of the anthropomorphized condition, F(1, 288.545)=30.732, p=.000, η2=.49 or the non-anthropomorphized condition, F(1, 47.041)=4.945, p=.033, η2=.12. Based on the effect sizes (as reflected by the η2 values), it is notable that the anthropomorphized condition led to a larger increase of positive affect than the non-anthropomorphized condition. A one-way ANCOVA was conducted to compare the PAS scores reported by the learners after the engagement with the respective multimedia lesson between the two conditions. Controlling for the effects of prior knowledge and baseline positive affect, learners in the anthropomorphized condition experienced significantly higher positive affect after engaging with the respective multimedia lesson than those in the non-anthropomorphized condition, F(1,66)=4.736, p=.033, η2=.067.
Intrinsic motivation
A one-way ANCOVA with prior knowledge and baseline positive affect added as covariates was conducted to compare the intrinsic motivation scores of learners between the anthropomorphized and the non-anthropomorphized conditions. The result indicated that the multimedia lesson with anthropomorphism did not affect learners’ intrinsic motivation differently than the version without anthropomorphism, F(1,66)=.928, p=.340, η2=.014.
Cognitive load
A MANCOVA with baseline positive affect added as a covariate in the model was performed to compare the intrinsic, extraneous, and germane load scores between the anthropomorphized and the non-anthropomorphized conditions. The significance values produced by the Box’s Test of Equality of Covariance Matrices as well as the Levene’s Test of Equality of Error Variances revealed that the assumption of homogeneity of variance-covariance matrices and the assumption of the equality of variance for each variable were not violated. The result showed a significant difference between the conditions on the combined dependent variables, F(3,65)=5.209, Λ=.806, p=.003, η2=.194. Using the Bonferroni adjusted alpha level of .017, the post-hoc analyses concerning the between-subjects effect for each dependent variable demonstrated that only intrinsic load significantly differ between the conditions; specifically, the learners in the anthropomorphized condition reported significantly lower intrinsic load than those in the non-anthropomorphized condition, F(1,60.739)=14.031, p=.000, η2=.173.
A MANCOVA with prior knowledge and baseline positive affect added as covariates in the model was conducted to compare the retention and transfer scores between the anthropomorphized and non-anthropomorphized conditions. The significance values produced by the Box’s Test of Equality of Covariance Matrices and the Levene’s Test of Equality of Error Variances revealed that the assumption of homogeneity of variance-covariance matrices and the assumption of the equality of variance for each variable were not violated. The difference between the conditions on the combined dependent variables was non-significant, F(2,65)=.435, Λ=.987, p=.649, η2=.013. Using the Bonferroni adjusted alpha level of .025, the post-hoc analyses concerning the between-subjects effect for each dependent variable indicated that the anthropomorphized and the non-anthropomorphized multimedia lesson did not differently affect retention, F(1,66)=.797, p=.375, η2=.012, or transfer performance, F(1,66)=.026, p=.873, η2=.000.
Discussion
This study revealed that incorporating cute and funny human-like images and dialogues to anthropomorphize the learning elements depicting the malware, bots, and servers in the multimedia lesson on how a DDoS attack occurs can elevate the positive affect of learners. Specifically, while the learners in the anthropomorphized and the non-anthropomorphized condition experienced higher positive affect after the learning engagement when compared to their baseline positive affect; the anthropomorphized version led to a larger increase of positive affect as well as a higher sense of positive affect after the learning engagement than the non-anthropomorphized version. Surprisingly, the learners’ intrinsic motivation (i.e., interest in and enjoyment of an activity for its own sake) was not impacted by the anthropomorphic features, even though there was a strong positive correlation between positive affect after the learning engagement and intrinsic motivation. Collectively, these mixed results indicate partial support concerning the anthropomorphism effects on learners’ affective-motivational factor. The anthropomorphism in this study’s multimedia learning environment did not enhance the learners’ retention or transfer performance. Hence, from the CATLM (Moreno & Mayer,
2007) and ICALM (Plass & Kaplan,
2016) perspectives, imbuing the learning-relevant materials with cute and funny human-like images and dialogues did not boost learners’ intrinsic motivation; thus, the learners in the anthropomorphism condition did not devote additional cognitive effort to process the learning materials more deeply.
Some possibilities can account for the lack of anthropomorphism effects for increasing the learners’ intrinsic motivational states and subsequent learning performance. First, these findings could be attributed to the Asian learners’ tendency to be concerned about the effort and performance consequences regarding the learning task (Wong & Adesope,
2020). We regard this notion a valid plausibility—based on our long teaching experiences (>15 years), we have observed such a culture surrounding our university students (and also among learners in our nation in general) who overtly emphasize grades and performance goals, especially to compete among peers and to evade failures (Grant & Dweck,
2001; Kaplan & Maehr,
2007; King et al.,
2012; Salili,
1996). Per the literature on achievement goals and intrinsic motivation, learners driven by performance goals than mastery goals are more susceptible to evaluative pressures, anxiety, and shame, resulting in less interest in and enjoyment of the learning activity for its own sake (Pekrun,
2006; Plass & Kaplan,
2016; Rawsthorne & Elliot,
1999). It is possible that because the study’s learners might have been driven more by their intense focus on their performance consequences during the learning task, they were less likely to derive additional interest in and enjoyment of the learning task for its own sake (i.e., intrinsic motivation) from the anthropomorphic images and dialogues.
Additionally, the null anthropomorphism effects on motivation and learning could be attributed to our study’s sample of non-IT major learners. The instructional topic presented by the multimedia learning environment was about how DDoS attack occurs, which was related indirectly to a computer-related subject within the accounting and business academic programs. However, because the subject contributed a relatively minor aspect within their accounting and business academic programs, this study’s learners might have felt that the DDoS topic was less familiar and less relevant to their accounting and business courses, and hence, were less likely to benefit in terms of motivation and learning from the anthropomorphic details. A similar observation was noted in a recent study (Shangguan, Gong, et al.,
2020; Shangguan, Wang, et al.,
2020). The researchers argued that the lack of familiarity and prior knowledge regarding the learning subject could obstruct learners from sustaining intrinsic motivation even when engaging with a multimedia lesson infused with emotional design. Our initial pilot study with sample learners pursuing IT courses supported this notion—it was shown that the anthropomorphized multimedia lesson on DDoS marginally elevated intrinsic motivation of the IT majors than the non-anthropomorphized version (Liew,
2021).
Moreover, Stárková et al. (
2019) argued that learners’ familiarity with anthropomorphism design in the formal educational systems could influence the anthropomorphism effects. Specifically, the researchers found that anthropomorphism design had negligible effects on the learners’ affective-motivational states and learning performance among Czech learners, and thus considered that the learners were less accustomed to anthropomorphism attributes in the educational context than learners from other cultures (e.g., the US) because of their more formal schooling system. Similarly, the educational system experienced by our learners is formal, and hence, anthropomorphism design in learning materials is not a norm. Therefore, the lack of familiarity with anthropomorphism attributes in the educational context could have influenced the anthropomorphism effects on this study’s intrinsic motivation and learning performance.
This study revealed that the learners in the anthropomorphized multimedia lesson reported significantly less intrinsic load concerning the learning topic than those in the non-anthropomorphized version, cohering with recent meta-analyses indicating that anthropomorphism and pleasant colors robustly reduce perceived difficulty (Brom et al.,
2018; Wong & Adesope,
2020). According to Brom et al. (
2018), emotional design in anthropomorphism and pleasant colors can produce aesthetically pleasing materials, subsequently offering the illusion that the learning topics or materials are easier and require less effort to process (Salomon,
1984; Tractinsky et al.,
2000). In this study’s context, the anthropomorphic cute and funny human-like visuals and dialogues depicting the malware, bots, and servers might have caused the learners to perceive the educational subject regarding DDoS as less "serious" and less challenging, which translated to lower intrinsic load (i.e., reduced perceived difficulty of the learning topic).
This study revealed that the anthropomorphized multimedia lesson did not cause learners to report higher extraneous load regarding the information conveyed through the multimedia lesson (i.e., the instruction regarded as unclear or difficult to understand) than the non-anthropomorphized version. Interestingly, this finding occurred despite this study utilizing complex-anthropomorphism featuring emotionally expressive facial features, weapons, and limbs on the learning objects representing the malware, bots, and servers. Complex-anthropomorphism has been shown to induce more task-irrelevant thoughts (e.g., higher extraneous load), especially among low-prior knowledge learners (Schneider et al.,
2019). Moreover, the on-screen human-like dialogues within the DDoS topic did not cause learners to perceive the conveyed information as less clear or more challenging to understand. From the CLT perspective, we may argue that the human-like images and dialogues conformed with the minimalist thesis (Brom et al.,
2018), insofar as the anthropomorphism attributes did not impose additional information "chunks" compared to the control learning elements devoid of the anthropomorphic details. This finding is in line with most studies that have found that rendering anthropomorphism into relevant images in the multimedia lesson generally would not inflict extraneous load or added sense of difficulty concerning the conveyed information on learners (Brom, Hannemann, et al.,
2016; Park et al.,
2015; Plass et al.,
2014). On the other hand, it may be plausible that the learners did not regard the anthropomorphized multimedia lesson as unclear or difficult to comprehend because they might have been influenced by the cute and funny human-like visuals and dialogues into believing that the instructional topic was easy to understand (Brom et al.,
2018) and hence, relatedly, perceiving that the instructional design were clear and comprehensible.
Within the anthropomorphism context, Schneider et al. (
2018) and Schneider et al. (
2019) relate germane load (also referred to as
perceived understanding by the researchers) with generative processing efforts required to understand the essential learning materials (Kalyuga,
2011). Schneider et al. (
2018)’s study found that incorporating anthropomorphism into
decorative pictures (i.e., pictures that do not provide learning-relevant information) led to a higher germane load, suggesting that anthropomorphized decorative images can foster relevant cognitive development processes and schemata construction during learning. Conversely, while this study’s data demonstrated significant correlations between germane load and retention as well as transfer performance, anthropomorphizing
learning-relevant elements representing malware, bots, and servers within the DDoS process did not differently affect the germane load of learners. Pending further work, one may suggest that when decorative pictures are used (Schneider et al.,
2018), anthropomorphism can facilitate learning-relevant processing and perceived understanding of learners (germane load); but anthropomorphism in learning-relevant elements may not have a robust effect on the perceived understanding of learners (germane load). Conversely, cognitive load types are difficult to distinguish and measure through self-reported surveys (De Jong,
2010; Kalyuga,
2011), as highlighted by Brom et al. (
2018), which could have influenced this study’s cognitive load findings. Regardless, our findings offer valuable insights concerning the cognitive effects of anthropomorphism in a multimedia learning environment, given that the utilization of contemporary cognitive load scale, e.g., Leppink et al. (
2013)’s scale differentiating intrinsic, extraneous, and germane load, is scarce within the emotional design research (Brom et al.,
2018).
The learners marginally spent more time engaging with the multimedia lesson imbued with anthropomorphism than the multimedia lesson without anthropomorphism. This observation could be indicative of anthropomorphism’s effects on learners’ situational interest. Also, it is plausible that the anthropomorphic elements in this study might have attention-capturing effects on learners, following an eye-tracking study that has demonstrated that anthropomorphism can attract learners’ visual attention (Park et al.,
2015). Further investigation through eye-tracking studies can clarify the connection between the duration of learners’ fixation on the anthropomorphic features, duration concerning engagement with the multimedia lesson, interest, and learning outcome.
From an instructional design perspective, this study shows that multimedia lessons about IT-related topics can be anthropomorphized with cute and funny human-like images and dialogues. These features can be quickly rendered with minimal alterations into learning elements associated with information technology concepts and processes. Given that infusing cute and funny human-like visuals and dialogues can benefit positive affect and perceived difficulty, anthropomorphism in multimedia learning environments can support the dissemination and utilization of e-learning media regarding information technology knowledge, which is increasingly essential and applicable in today’s digital society.
Limitations and future directions
Some limitations of this research are acknowledged. The primary limitation of this work concerns the small sample size (approximately 30 per cell). A sample size of 60 per cell should be ideal for detecting a medium effect size. Moreover, while we strived to establish controls to the online experiment design (see “
Procedure” section) to minimize confounding factors, the online experiment might still lack internal controls compared to laboratory-styled experimental design. In addition, the multimedia lesson had a short duration (154 seconds); thus, the anthropomorphic features’ affective, motivational, and cognitive effects beyond brief learning engagement were not ascertained. Hence, future research can be conducted with multimedia learning materials with significantly larger sample sizes, longer duration; or through longitudinal studies with repeated exposures to multimedia learning materials with anthropomorphism. While this study offers insights that extend the research base to Asian learners, the findings can not be generalized to other cultural backgrounds. Therefore, future research comparing anthropomorphism effects across participants with different demographic profiles or cultural backgrounds is warranted.
This study’s findings concern the anthropomorphism effects with novice learners possessing low prior knowledge of the learning topic (non-IT majors). As the literature has shown that prior knowledge of learners can moderate the effects of anthropomorphism (Schneider et al.,
2019; Shangguan, Gong, et al.,
2020; Shangguan, Wang, et al.,
2020), future research should consider this factor when investigating anthropomorphism in the multimedia learning context. Emotional design research utilizing eye-tracking and emotion detection tools is scant despite its potential in providing unique insights beyond learners’ self-reported measures (Brom, Stárková, et al.,
2016; Le et al.,
2018; Park et al.,
2015; Uzun & Yıldırım,
2018). Hence, future research on anthropomorphism can utilize such tools to clarify the anthropomorphism’s affective, motivational, and cognitive impacts in a multimedia learning environment.
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