Recent Publications

Abstract: Media bias is a multifaceted problem, leading to one-sided views and impacting decision-making. A way to address digital media bias is to detect and indicate it automatically through machine-learning methods. However, such detection is limited due to the difficulty of obtaining reliable training data. Human-in-the-loop-based feedback mechanisms have proven an effective way to facilitate the data-gathering process. Therefore, we introduce and test feedback mechanisms for the media bias domain, which we then implement on NewsUnfold, a news-reading web application to collect reader feedback on machine-generated bias highlights within online news articles. Our approach augments dataset quality by significantly increasing inter-annotator agreement by 26.31% and improving classifier performance by 2.49%. As the first human-in-the-loop application for media bias, the feedback mechanism shows that a user-centric approach to media bias data collection can return reliable data while being scalable and evaluated as easy to use. NewsUnfold demonstrates that feedback mechanisms are a promising strategy to reduce data collection expenses and continuously update datasets to changes in context.

Abstract: Virtual environments (VEs) can be designed to evoke specific emotions for example by using colored light, not only applicable for games but also for virtual storytelling with a single storyteller. Social robots are perfectly suited as storytellers due to their multimodality. However, there is no research yet on the transferability of robotic storytelling to virtual reality (VR). In addition, the transfer of concepts from VE design such as adaptive room illumination to robotic storytelling has yet not been tested. Thus, we conducted a study comparing the same robotic storytelling with a physically embodied robotic storyteller and in VR to investigate the transferability of robotic storytelling to VR. As a second factor, we manipulated the room light following design guidelines for VEs or kept it constant. Results show that a virtual robotic storyteller is not perceived worse than a physically embodied storyteller, suggesting the applicability of virtual static robotic storytellers. Regarding emotion-driven lighting, no significant effect of colored lights on self-reported emotions was found, but adding colored light increased the social presence of the robot and its’ perceived competence in both VR and reality. As our study was limited by a static robotic storyteller not using bodily expressiveness future work is needed to investigate the interaction between well-researched robot modalities and the rather new modality of colored light based on our results.

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Abstract: The concept of AI literacy, its promotion, and measurement are important topics as they prepare society for the steadily advancing spread of AI technology. The first purpose of the current study is to advance the measurement of AI literacy by collecting evidence regarding the validity of the Meta AI Literacy Scale (MAILS) by Carolus and colleagues published in 2023: a self-assessment instrument for AI literacy and additional psychological competencies conducive for the use of AI. For this purpose, we first formulated the intended measurement purposes of the MAILS. In a second step, we derived empirically testable axioms and subaxioms from the purposes. We tested them in several already published and newly collected data sets. The results are presented in the form of three different empirical studies. We found overall evidence for the validity of the MAILS with some unexpected findings that require further research. We discuss the results for each study individually and also together. Also, avenues for future research are discussed. The study’s second purpose is to develop a short version (10 items) of the original instrument (34 items). It was possible to find a selection of ten items that represent the factors of the MAILS and show a good model fit when tested with confirmatory factor analysis. Further research will be needed to validate the short scale. This paper advances the knowledge about the validity and provides a short measure for AI literacy. However, more research will be necessary to further our understanding of the relationships between AI literacy and other constructs.

Abstract: This paper presents a novel experiment investigating the relationship between virtual disembodiment and time perception in Virtual Reality (VR). Recent work demonstrated that the absence of a virtual body in a VR application changes the perception of time. However, the effects of simulating an out-of-body experience (OBE) in VR on time perception are still unclear. We designed an experiment with two types of virtual disembodiment techniques based on viewpoint gradual transition: a virtual body’s behind view and facing view transitions. We investigated their effects on forty-four participants in an interactive scenario where a lamp was repeatedly activated and time intervals were estimated. Our results show that, while both techniques elicited a significant virtual disembodiment perception, time duration estimations in the minute range were only shorter in the facing view compared to the eye view condition. We believe that reducing agency in the facing view is a key factor in the time perception alteration. This provides first steps towards a novel approach to manipulating time perception in VR, with potential applications for mental health treatments such as schizophrenia or depression and for improving our understanding of the relation between body, virtual body, and time.

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Abstract: Traumatic childhood experiences are a major risk factor for developing mental disorders later in life. Over the past decade, researchers have begun to investigate the role of early trauma in impairments in personality functioning following the introduction of the Alternative Model of Personality Disorders in Section III of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders 5. Although first studies were able to empirically demonstrate a significant link between early trauma and impairments in personality functioning, only little is known about the underlying mechanisms. One possible mechanism is body connection due to its involvement in self-regulatory processes and its link to both early trauma and personality (dys)functioning.

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