Subliminally enhancing self-esteem: Impact on learner performance and affective state

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to enhance learner self-esteem while interacting with a tutoring system. Our approach is based on a subliminal priming technique that implicitly conditions learner self-esteem. An experimental study has been conducted to analyze the impact of this method on participants' reported self-esteem on one hand and learning performance on the other hand. Furthermore, three physiological sensors were used to continuously monitor participants' affective reactions, namely electroencephalogram, skin conductance and blood volume pulse sensors. The purpose was to measure the effect of our approach on both learner mental state and emotions. We then proposed a model that links learners' physiological signals and priming conditions to learning results. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.