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Mixed Reality and Mixed Method tools for Alternative Imaginations
by
Arwa Michelle Mboya
B.A. Yale University (2016)
Submitted to the Program in Media Arts and Sciences, School of Architecture and Planning, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science in Media Arts and Sciences
at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology September 2020
© Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2020. All rights reserved
Arwa Michelle Mboya
……… Program in Media Arts and Sciences
August 17th 2020
Certified by
……… Ethan Zuckerman Associate Professor of Practice in Media Arts & Sciences
Accepted by
……… Tod Machover Academic Head, Program in Media Arts and Sciences
allo-i(
s
)
by
Arwa Michelle Mboya
Submitted to the Program in Media Arts and Sciences, School of Architecture and Planning, on August 17th 2020 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science
Master of Science in Media Arts and Sciences
Abstract:
The Imagination is a central - and underexplored - part of our cognitive faculties. It allows us to dream, hypothesize and solve problems. Imagination is often linked with 'outside the box' thinking and the ability to conceive of novel or unexpected solutions to problems. For women in urban slums in Kenya, stringent social norms that narrow socio-economic possibilities can pose a serious obstacle to imaginative thinking about their futures and self efficacy. Can immersive storytelling be used as a tool to dismantle those strictly defined boxes and result in more imaginative thinking about possible futures for women?
Virtual Reality has often been called an 'empathy machine' but can it be an 'Imagination' machine as well? This study uses a mixed methods approach to develop a conceptual framework around thinking about the Imagination. In particular, I define what an Imagination Machine is and using the results of this study, develop a framework of the key emerging elements of an Imagination Machine that can be useful to any experience designer.
The first analysis is adapted from the Growth Mindset Instrument (Dweck, 2006) and the second innovates on natural language processing techniques, using deviations in Word2Vec embeddings to analyze imaginative language. I also leave space for further analyses based on the data and experiment experience. I designed a study where women engage in a series of Imagination exercises and surveys that test imaginative thinking between members of one of four treatment groups: 1) A Narrative VR experience 2) A non-narrative VR experience 3) A text form short story and 4) A control.
Using the results, I develop a conceptual framework for understanding what an Imagination Machine is. The key emerging elements are: Story, Immersion, Transposition, Alternate Reality Building and Access. This thesis is at once a rigorous and novel study and an imaginative exploration itself of what Virtual Reality Human Interaction means, when "Human" deliberately includes black women.
Thesis advisor: Ethan Zuckerman
allo-i(
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by
Arwa Michelle Mboya
This thesis has been reviewed and approved by the following committee members Advisor:______________________________________________________________________ Ethan Zuckerman Associate Professor of Practice in Media Arts & Sciences MIT Media Lab
Reader:______________________________________________________________________
Pattie Maes Professor of Media Technology MIT Media Lab
Reader:______________________________________________________________________
Andrea Stevenson Won Assistant Professor of Communications Cornell University
For Malan,
May your imagination never cease to soar, may your dreams always run wild, may your spirit venture into the unknown and pave new
realities for all of humanity.
Acknowledgements
This thesis would not have been completed without the generosity and support of the people around me.
I would first like to start by thanking Ethan Zuckerman, my advisor, mentor and friend. Thank you for believing in me and giving me the creative freedom to explore my interests and supporting my academic work, creative endeavours and activist work. Your impact in my life will never be forgotten.
I would also like to thank my other advisors, Prof. Pattie Maes and Prof. Andrea Stevenson Won for serving on my thesis committee and providing invaluable feedback during the exploration and writing of this thesis.
I would like to thank the Media Lab community as a whole, especially the Civic Media community for their constant inspiration and for challenging me in the pursuit of a more just world. I am especially grateful to my lab partner, Rubez Chong for providing a space that was as much an intellectual resource as it was an emotional one. I could not have gotten through these last two years without you. To Lorrie LeJeune, who was instrumental in helping me secure funding for this study and who is like Mary Poppins, making things appear out of nothing. I would also like to thank Rahul Bhargava and Nathan Matias for listening to the various iterations of my study and helping me refine my goals. And thank you to Tom Lutz who spent time helping me with my 3D prints when he really did not have to.
I would like to thank the Busara Center for Behavioural research for once again executing the fieldwork of my study, as well as all the women who took time out of their lives to participate in my study. I am particularly grateful to Jennifer Adhiambo and Debra Opiyo for the hours spent perfecting the tiny details of my experiment and to Chaning Jang and Anisha Singh for being flexible with accommodations that made my study affordable.
To Sabrina Hersi Issa, you arrived in my life at a pivotal moment and gave me comfort, peace and support when it felt like there was none to be had. Because of your Bold work, I was able to focus on my thesis.
To my friends, Maddy and Grace who are present at every turn of my many journeys with shouts of praise and encouragement, I thank you and owe you everything I have.
This thesis would not have been completed without Orestes Papakyriakopoulos, who brainstormed this work with me, edited it, and taught me how to get started with Natural Language Processing. Your patience and understanding has made me and this work better.
I would not be here without the emotional, moral and financial support of my family. To Mum, Nyanya, Babu, Aunty Lillian, Aunty Carol, Aunt Vio, Aunty Sue, Uncle John, Uncle Francis, Natasha, TJ and Malan, I thank you for always believing in me and giving me the encouragement and determination to succeed, even from so far away.
Finally, none of this would be possible without God, to whom I am grateful for providing me the opportunity to study at the MIT Media Lab and whose strength I relied on to finish this ambitious undertaking.
Contents Overviews: 1. Acknowledgments 2. Abstract 3. Introduction 4. Research Questions 5. Literature Review 6. Experiment Design a. Demographics b. Study Design
c. Sereya & Explore The World
Methodologies and Results:
7. Part 1 - A Future Growth Mindset 8. Part 2 - Experiencing VR
9. Digression - A hard-ware problem 10. Part 3 - Word Clouds
11. Part 4 - A Visualization Story
Discussions:
12. Emerging Elements of an Imagination Machine 13. Contributions & Future Research
14. Conclusion 15. Bibliography 16. Appendix
Abstract
The Imagination is a central - and underexplored - part of our cognitive faculties. It allows us to dream, hypothesize and solve problems. Imagination is often linked with 'outside the box'
thinking and the ability to conceive of novel or unexpected solutions to problems. For women in urban slums in Kenya, stringent social norms that narrow socio-economic possibilities can pose a serious obstacle to imaginative thinking about their futures and self efficacy. Can immersive
storytelling be used as a tool to dismantle those strictly defined boxes and result in more imaginative thinking about possible futures for women?
Virtual Reality has often been called an 'empathy machine' but can it be an 'Imagination' machine as well? This study uses a mixed methods approach to develop a conceptual framework around thinking about the Imagination. In particular, I define what an Imagination Machine is and using the results of this study, develop a framework of the key emerging elements of an Imagination Machine that can be useful to any experience designer.
The first analysis is adapted from the Growth Mindset Instrument (Dweck, 2006) and the second innovates on natural language processing techniques, using deviations in Word2Vec
embeddings to analyze imaginative language. I also leave space for further analyses based on the data and experiment experience. I designed a study where women engage in a series of Imagination exercises and surveys that test imaginative thinking between members of one of four treatment groups: 1) A Narrative VR experience 2) A non-narrative VR experience 3) A text form short story and 4) A control.
Using the results, I develop a conceptual framework for understanding what an Imagination Machine is. The key emerging elements are: Story, Immersion, Transposition, Alternate Reality Building and Access. This thesis is at once a rigorous and novel study and an imaginative exploration itself of what Virtual Reality Human Interaction means, when "Human" deliberately includes black women.
Chapter 3: Introduction Allo-I Def·in·ition : combining form prefix: allo- 1. other; different. "allopatric" im·ag·i·na·tion noun
noun: Imagination; plural noun: Imaginations
1. the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the sense.
Allo-I comes from a series of questions, prodings and reflections. I’ve been interested in the
Imagination as a central research question, mainly looking at the power of Imagination and our ideas about the future. I’ve also been very interested in emerging technologies such as Virtual Reality and it’s potential to ignite the Imagination in new ways. When I began my research, I wanted to find out: what does existing literature tell us about VR? What does existing literature tell us about the
Imagination? And finally, is there any literature that overlaps these two concepts? As I started this journey, I noted that, while extensive research exists for both concepts, almost none of it applies to African women. This began a new journey, one where I could borrow and build upon existing research methods, but had the freedom to charter new paths to discover new knowledge.
The heart of Allo-I is in world building and alternate realities. One of my favorite quotes comes from Albert Einstein, in which he says: "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas Imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution." If certain technologies and stories can allow us to stimulate Imagination, what new narratives might emerge in the process?
Because of my interest in experiential entertainment, I’ve been fortunate enough to be in spaces where people can create experiences, build worlds and share them with others to create memories,
dreams and ideas about the future. Kenya, where this study is based, is it’s own center of creativity, beauty and magic but the type of experiential wonder I’m dreaming about hasn’t quite been reached yet. Inspiration from companies such as Walt Disney Imagineering and Form Labs pushed me to start asking the question, how can I recreate experiences such as these in Kenya? The magic is in the technology but this can be expensive and bulky. Yet, there is magic everywhere, it’s only a matter of how you look for it and where you find it.
Why Imagination?
The Imagination is an under-explored part of our cognitive faculty, and, as a subject matter, spans across a wide range of fields and disciplines from Neuroscience to Psychology and
Philosophy. The Imagination has been shown to be relevant is many aspects of our lives from fictional story reading (Sadoski et al, 1990), cognitive development (Thomas and Brown, 2011) in learning math and science (Arcavi, 2003), and of course, for creativity (LeBoutillier & Marks, 2003) and innovation (Samli, 2011). More so, Imagination is linked with how we view our future selves (Wilson & Gilbert, 2005) and how we prepare four our future lives (Hershfield et al. 2011). It may also be linked with empathy and our capacity to help those around us (Gaesser & Schacter, 2014) and our understanding of society (Talyor et al. 2004). Yet, in each of these subjects of focus, hardly any research exists in the continent of Africa. In a place where basic needs are still in the process of being met, the idea of focusing on Imagination may not seem like a priority. However, I argue that poverty is as much a socio-economic trap as it is an imaginative trap.
In the literature review, I discuss Imagination more broadly but in the context of this research, Imagination really refers to future self-narratives. That is, what do people imagine about themselves in the future? How do the participants dream for themselves and for fictional characters that may represent them? This study is really an interrogation on the perception of the future self, what is possible and what these imaginations represent.
Why VR?
VR is a novel technology that affords us new displays and ways to interact with the digital that have never been possible. It’s been frequently called an ‘empathy machine’ (Milk, 2015), a term that has now been much debated, but I wonder whether it may be an Imagination machine as well. An ‘Imagination Machine’ is something that sparks our Imagination and makes us think of new possibilities, new norms and new futures and can be anything from a book to a theme park. Can Virtual Reality act as an Imagination Machine and if so, how and in what ways?
In contrast with a book, where a user has to rely on their imagination to immerse themselves in the content, a Virtual Reality experience creates the whole experience for the user. One could argue that there is little space to imagine within a virtual experience. Nevertheless, while a user might not have to utilize their imagination to immerse themselves in the experience, how can the
transposition from one world to another affect how we imagine ourselves and the future? Might it be able to open up possibilities never before considered?
The reason VR stands out to me is because I see it as a potential solution to deeply systemic mobility issues. Mobility is the freedom and ability to move easily. Today, which passport you carry heavily determines your mobility to see and experience the world as a whole. With a Kenyan passport, I need a visa to travel to most countries in the world, having to go through rigorous and expensive screening processes to secure a visa that still does not protect me from harassment or extra screening when I actually travel. Mobility is also heavily determined by economic security and stability. Even within one’s own country or city, where visas are not an issue, good public transport systems and socio-economic status may determine how much access you have to a place. When I think of women and children in Kenya, in low economic positions, the question of mobility is a pretty bleak one. And while information and the media becomes more democratized, allowing people to interact with the rest of the world virtually, being able to physically and mentally fully experience another place remains out of reach for most demographic groups in the developing world.
Many Virtual Reality experiences have a central theme of transporting others to new parts of the world. NGO’s and international development companies are looking to use VR as a tool to engage their donors with the parts of the world that they are working in. You can call this immersive poverty porn. However, I am less critical of the reverse. That is, using VR as a mobilization tool to widen the horizons of people who may not be able to access the world as equally as others. And while visiting the Eiffel Tower in VR may not be as exciting as going to Paris to see it for yourself, VR affords us the temporary feeling that we are actually there. More importantly, it offers us the temporary belief that we have left the place we were and entered a new one and I’m interested in knowing whether this new awareness, or temporary super power, can change the way in which we think about our futures.
Allo I
Allo-I is a project that first tries to understand what the power of immersive storytelling is in a place like Kenya. Who gets to use it, how is it interacted with and can social good come out of it? That is, are there effects of world-immersion on language, our dreams and perspective about the future and how we interact with it? And what narratives emerge from experiences such as these?
Essentially, Allo-I is an initial attempt at creating, defining and investigating Imagination Machines. I define an Imagine Machine as an experience that enhances the capacity to imagine different possible futures and empowers one to engage in future world building. An Imagination Machine does not need to be technical or fully immersive, as with Virtual Reality but part of this study's goals are to discover whether and how this new technology might function as an effective Imagination Machine.
An Imagine Machine is an experience that enhances the capacity to imagine the future and empowers future world building.
A. Investigating the capacity to Imagine
B. Investigating the Collective Imagination of built future words
I define A) as interrogating what interventions and methods we can use to enhance the capacity to imagine one's future self and increasing the possibilities that one can imagine from themself. I define B) as the understanding of the collective imagination of a population, as understood through the analysis of imaginative texts created by the population.
I designed an experiment that is not only intended to investigate the clauses above but to assist in creating a more robust definition of an Imagination Machine by using the results of the study to build a conceptual framework for understanding Imagination Machines. What are the key elements for creating an effective Imagination Machine and how does this study contribute to new ways about understanding the Imagination? It will hopefully be a resource for Imagination experience designers, anyone who wants to create an experience that empowers users to harness their imaginative
capacities and build futures within that experience.
Thesis Breakdown
The rest of this thesis is broken down as follows. The next chapter identifies five key research questions that will contribute to the development of the Imagination Machine elements framework. I then conduct an extensive literature review about Imagination across disciplines, the importance of storytelling and narratives in our lives and give an overview on relevant research in Virtual Reality. I also include a review of existing Imagination measurement tools. Chapter 6 outlines the design of the Allo-I experiment and includes the demographic survey results. Chapters 7 to 11 include the methodologies and results of the five different approaches used in this study. The results discussed in the context of the emerging framework elements in Chapter 12. I conclude the thesis in Chapter 13 and 14 by discussing the contributions of the work and highlighting important areas for future research.
Chapter 4: Research Questions
In order to investigate,
A. The capacity to Imagine
B. The collective Imagination of future world building
this study sets out to answer the following exploratory research questions:
● Do immersive narratives result in a higher growth mindset and make imagining the future easier than non-immersive narratives? Is narrative an essential element for this development?
● Do immersive experiences enhance future world building more than non-immersive experiences for Kenyan women?
● How do Kenyan women living in Informal Settlements interact with Virtual Reality?
● Can we use word embeddings and force-directed networks to learn more about the sentiments of collective Imagination from an Imagination Exercise?
● What makes up an Imagination Machine and can VR be used as one?
Chapter 5: Literature Review
Strulik (2019) discusses the idea of a ‘neurobiological’ poverty trap, in which poor and depressed people discount the future at a higher rate and invest less in the human capital of their children, generating a vicious cycle where the poor inherit stress and poverty. This research suggests that the Imagination and future thinking capacities of those who are poor or depressed might be hindered, not only due to the present stresses that they face but also inherited and traumatic stress (Lerhner & Yehuda, 2018; Bowers & Yehuda, 2016; Sharma & Rando, 2014). This literature review looks at the Imagination from a neurological and psychological perspective and investigates what other research exists that might support this theory and why the Imagination itself may be important for our growth and development. It then looks at the impact and power of storytelling to change perspectives and empower minds, particularly around women and perspectives about the future. I append this section with literature on virtual reality as a medium, what it’s uses and affordances are, and whether it can be considered to be an Imagination tool. Next, I carry out a brief overview of a variety of existing indexes used to measure the Imagination. Finally, I include an overview of literature about growth mindset thinking, as conceived by Carol Dweck, one of the methodologies employed in this paper.
What we know about Imagination
Imagining is crucial for the understanding of the world, for solving problems and making projections about the future. If that capacity is compromised, one's very existence in this world may too be compromised.
As we’ve seen, the Imagination is commonly thought of a cognitive function, with its faculty studied extensively in cognitive science. However, recent studies have identified theoretical
frameworks for a neural system that connects our past, Imagination and predictions of the future (Addis, 2007). In fact, memory and future thinking have been the most prominent associations with Imagination in neuroscience with significant research focusing on the role of the hippocampus on Imagination. The hippocampus, which is central for memory has now also been linked with future thinking and Imagination (Maguire, 2011; Schacter, 2017; Kwal et al. 2013) Future thinking is an imaginative capacity that can be characterized by neuroimaging studies. In a study aptly named
“mental time travel” the investigation of a young amnesiac woman finds that the hippocampus is critical to the neural substrate of being able to project oneself into the future or into the past (Kwan, 2010). Mentally simulating the past may also have adaptive roles for humans (Suddendorf, 1994; Schacter & Addis, 2007) . Research suggests that mental simulations may be necessary for the reduction of stress and adaptability to the future (Pham & Taylor, 1999; Aspinwall, 2005).
According to Schacter (2017), neuroimaging studies show similarities between remembering the past and imagining the future. They find that, while “imagining the future” might have some small variances with “atemporal imagining”, many of the similarities are independent of temporal factors.
Various studies have been carried out to test this idea. Addis et al. (2010) use an
experimental recombination paradigm to compare how older adults imagine the future versus how they remember the past, finding that with weakened epsidoic memory, came more abstract, less detailed Imagination.
Gilbert and Timothy (2007) discuss the human ability to “pre-experience” the future by imagining it. Are our hedonic reactions actually reacting to our predictions of the future? The authors say that when we imagine “the cortex generates simulation, briefly tracking subcortical systems into believing that those events are unfolding in the present and then taking note of these feelings these systems reproduce.” However, this system does not always yield perfect results. Even if our brain is capable of eliciting emotions around a prospective future experience, Gilbert and Timothy (2007) find that our brain often under or over predicts the feelings around true perceptions.
Returning to the role of the hippocampus, Mulukum et al. (2013) find that imagining the future “requires a more extensive constructive process than remembering past experiences does.” The study finds, quite interestingly, that activation in the hippocampus, decreases after repeated simulations, perhaps reflecting a decrease in the novelty of the simulation. The outcome brings important considerations for examining simulation but also sheds light on the fact that initial Imaginations may be more strenuous than repeated ones, perhaps because each imagined outcome may be bucketed as a memory or experience, making for less mental energy on the brain’s part when having to imagine the same future event again. Addis et al. (2012), suggest that this could result in
the hippocampal activation 'recombining details into coherent scenarios or encoding these scenarios into memory for later use.’
Hanson et al (2011) present the effects of poverty on the hippocampus. Due to increased stress experienced by children living in poverty, the development of the hippocampus may be compromised which can affect memory and learning capacities. The study, for the first time, concluded that associations existed between income level and hippocampal matter, with children from lower socio-economic backgrounds having less grey hippocampal matter and children from higher socio-economic backgrounds having higher concentration of grey matter. Previous research that links the hippocampus with future imaginings, could mean that children from poor
backgrounds struggle to imagine future events due to weakened episodic memory. In fact, Bucker (2010) finds that not only is the hippocampus and associated cortical structures activated when people imagine the future, but that damage in the hippocampal region negatively affects this ability.
In a similar study determining whether damage in the hippocampus affects autobiographical memory and imaginative capabilities, Cooper et al. (2011) found that hippocampal damage in children negatively affects the capacity to recall autobiographical memory but did not impede on the capacity to imagine fictitious scenarios. However, in adults, hippocampal damage showed negative consequences for both memory and imaginative capacities.
Other research shows that Imagination and play in children are essential developmental factors and that children who grow up under the stresses of poverty, later struggle with imaginative tasks (Weinger, 2005). Imagination is important for these reasons. The hippocampus is implicated in imagination and it is well documented that children under stress may have underdeveloped
hippocampal grey matter.
Imagination in this context is associated with the capacity to imagine future events. These Imaginations are not necessarily accurate predictions of the future but can be adaptive and demonstrative of an active hippocampus. Research gaps still exist, especially with identifying the phenomena across different demographics. If we take the Imagination, and the capacity to imagine the future, as a social good and as factors for actual future societal outcomes, understanding the hippocampus and it’s well being may be crucial for building better futures for ourselves.
Imagination and Future Self Narratives
After understanding the role of the Imagination more broadly, I investigate more closely the type of Imagination that pertains to this study. That is, imagining the future self and its potential to improve the current self.
Significant literature exists that examines the role of future self-perceptions on current identity and on other behavioral characteristics (Peets & Wilson, 2008; Perunovic & Wilson, 2009; Rathbone et al., 2011;). Ross & Wilson (2001; 2002), developed the Temporal Self Appraisal Theory (TSA) which was primarily concerned with the idea that past and future selves could be thought of as temporally extended selves and that these imaginations vary based on proximity to the current self. Based on this theory, Perunovic & Wilson (2009), identify that present identity is affected by what one imagines the future might hold, as much as these imaginations are always hypothetical.
Rathbone et al. (2011) identified that the temporal clustering of autobiographical memories and the imaginations of future events typically occur around periods of self-development, giving an indication that the organizational effects of the self can be very powerful. The research suggests that narrative structures about life are useful cognitive tools to organize future events and memories.
Imagining future possibilities may have the capacity to change our current behavior,
therefore. Murru & Ginis (2010) ran an experiment that examined the effects of engaging in a future possible self exercise between two different treatment groups and a control group. One group imagined themselves as physically fit and healthy in the future while another group was tasked with imagining a future version of themselves that was inactive and unhealthy. A control group filled out a survey about physical fitness. The effect of both interventions were positive, with participants from both groups actively making healthier choices and seeking out more physical exercise. There was no change in behavior in the control group, suggesting that simply imagining a future self, be it in the negative or positive, can lead to shifts in behavior, a finding that this study also uncovers.
The capacity to imagine oneself may also have outcomes in education and academic achievement. Leondari et al. (2006) studied the relationship between constructing vivid possible selves and academic performance, motivation, self-esteem and persistence on task. They found that
those who endorsed positive selves and created these more vividly had overall higher academic performance and also exhibited more persistence on difficult tasks.
The perceptions we have of ourselves and our futures may also be tied to personal stories and cultural contexts. Sools et al. (2017) conduct a qualitative study that argues for
'futuristic-hypothetical narratives as a tool to educate desire through imagination'. They find that the creation of new experiences requires seeing a difference between the past self and the future self and that these ideas are cultural and personal matters. Rathbone et al. (2016) conduct a cross cultural study that investigates differences in possible future selves in young adults in Turkey, Serbia and the United Kingdom. They find that the content and ratings of future selves varied between cultures, also finding that these possible selves tended to map specifically onto very specific life script events, which were tied to culture.
Perhaps most significant for this study is Prince's (2016) work that considers the role of the physical environment on the capacity to imagine future selves. This is different from the
aforementioned work on cultural differences as it closely looks at the saliency of place or 'the
meaningful physical environments of people's everyday lives as an active contributor to self-identity.' Prince finds that place based experiences, which include sentiments such as belonging, aversion or entrapment, can be internalized and encoded into participant's future self narratives. This study is concerned with virtual environments but if physical environments can affect our future self
narratives, then what is the potential for virtual physical environments to change our perceptions of the future? If cultural context and physical space are powerful indicators of our possible future selves, perhaps giving a wider range of experiences, even if they are only virtual, may increase the possibilities we consider for our future selves.
What we know about Storytelling
Storytelling is a powerful tool for inspiration. Across the world, many studies have
demonstrated that powerful narratives can change how an individual perceives themselves and even how communities perceive themselves. But how should we engage with those stories? Are books the best way? Or are films better? And in the age of immersive technologies, what about Virtual Reality storytelling? Moreover, is exposure more powerful than narrative itself?
Jensen and Oster (2009) find that the introduction of cable television into rural villages in India improved women's status in their society and resulted in lower preference for sons.
Specifically, they found that the introduction of storytelling through the introduction of soap operas, empowered women's status in the household, increased education enrollment rates for boys and girls alike and resulted in lower fertility rates for women. Similarly, Woolley (2012) finds that media exposure has a positive effect on self narrative outcomes.
The impact of media on perspectives and empowerment is broad and well researched. Chattoo and Feldman (2017) find that narrative structure in documentary films about global poverty impacts audience engagement and activism, finding that narrative reliability resulted in larger gains in awareness, knowledge and actions.
Media effects research has also demonstrated how media narratives, the way we interact with and experience them, can shape our beliefs and attitudes on a wide range of topics (Slater, 2002; Strange, 2002). Other research has shown how the effects of media narratives can even shape how we view ourselves (Appel, 2011; Djikic, 2009; Sestir & Green 2010). However, there is still room for investigation in this area of narrative impact on the self. In an experimental study, Wooley (2012) finds that narrative structures in media do not impact self-perspectives in participants completing imaginative tasks.
Sools et al. (2015), map forms of future Imagination by analyzing ‘letters from the future’. Participants were asked to write letters to their future selves and the texts were qualitatively analyzed, resulting in a framework of around imaginative functions: functionality, temporality, presence of path between the present and future and vividness. However, little experimental research exists that asks the question about the effect of media narrative on the self and perceptions of one’s future, especially concerning the demographics that I’m interested in. While narrative and the media have clearly been shown to be powerful tools in shaping our understanding of the world, there is still much to be learned about the extent of that narrative and whether the medium in which the narrative is encountered (book, film or virtual reality) makes a difference on those perspectives.
What we know about Virtual Reality
In Ivan Sutherland’s, now famous 1965 paper, “The Ultimate Display”, he ideates over various computer displays and tells about their functions, the primary one being that a computer display is a “looking glass into a mathematical wonderland.” (Sutherland, 1965). It is a frame for the world that we cannot comprehend or compute on our own. And while many displays already existed that served us well artistically and logically, there was yet a kinesthetic display that made use of all our senses, including smell and touch. According to Sutherland, the ultimate display would:
“...of course, be a room within which the computer can control the existence of matter. A chair displayed in such a room would be good enough to sit in. Handcuffs displayed in such a room would be confining, and a bullet displayed in such a room would be fatal. With appropriate programming such a display could literally be the Wonderland into which Alice walked.”
Today, the world hasn’t quite seen a rendition of such an ultimate display, taste and smell as still senses unperturbed by most displays, but technology has evolved such that display experiences can be more immersive, more embodied and more interactive than they were in the 1960’s.
Truly, one could put on a virtual reality headset and experience Wonderland as we imagine Alice to have experienced it. Alice in Wonderland, a story of fantasy and Imagination, is often referenced to when thinking of ‘dream-like’ and ‘out-of-this-world’ possibilities. It is of no surprise then that immersive and virtual experiences borrow from this world to create that same sense of wonder.
Camille et al (2013) create a world building tool in virtual reality, with features that allow use of vocal commands to shape their world, to self-scale and other challenging interactions to create a game-like effect. Many other world-building and embodied experiences exist that research shows, develops a sense of “wonder”, “empathy” and “embodied presence”.
As an 'empathy machine', there has been significant and positive research that suggests that Virtual Reality can in fact increase empathy among its users. Herrera et al. (2018), found that Virtual Reality perspective taking was more successful than traditional perspective taking tasks in building
positive and longer lasting attitudes towards the homeless than participants in the traditional perspective taking group, even though that condition also saw an increase in empathy. They also found that simply sharing information about homelessness to the control condition saw very little change in empathy and actions toward the homeless. Other studies have also found similar effects. Schutte & Stilinovic (2017), find similar results in a study where participants viewed a documentary about a refugee girl's life. The comparison between VR documentary and traditional 2D
documentary yielded greater engagement by the VR participants, connecting the experience to empathy.
The effects of Virtual Reality on embodiment and presence have long been studied (Kiteni & Slater, 2012; Bailey et al. 2016; Sanches-Vives & Slater, 2005). Researchers have been interested in the way that presence and embodiment may affect cognition and our actions. Bailey et al. (2012), study the effect of presence in Virtual Reality on memory in the physical world and discover significant negative correlations between presence in VR and spatial memory in the real world. Moreover, Yee and Bailenson (2007) introduced the 'Proteus Effect', the argument that the
virtual-self could change attitudes and behaviors. Greenwald et al. (1998) found that there was a bias in favor of white skinned avatars than those in black virtual avatas, a difference which did not occur when participants simply imagined being in a white or black body. Finally, Hershfield et al. (2011) found that seeing an aged representation of the self in Virtual Reality resulted in greater financial saving for the future.
Education is also another widely studied intersection in virtual reality research (Kilmon et al. 2010; Friena & Ott, 2015; Makransky & Lilleholt 2018). Bailenson et al. (2008), found that seeing one's avatar stereoscopically in third person VR, resulted in better learning of physical actions than traditional video learning. Markowitz et al. (2018) also found that immersive VR field trips were more educational and had longer lasting results in terms of information retention. The study is a good case for education in VR, with the most revealing finding that participants who explored the spatial learning environment more, demonstrated a greater change in knowledge about the content.
So, where does our study of the Imagination stand in the realm of display technology? While extensive research exists that demonstrates the various ways in which humans feel and interact with the technologies, very little exists that tells us about the Imagination and virtual reality. There is
conflicting research about the effects of virtual reality on learning and creativity but there is very little on the Imagination. The research described above gives us some sense that Virtual Reality has the capacity to change our behaviors and our sentiments. The results from studies on empathy and education are promising and given that this study is dealing with Imagination as a future
self-efficacy, there is reason to be hopeful that VR will be a useful tool.
Moreover, Stapleton et al (2011) argue that in the mixed reality continuum, where the physical is on one end of the spectrum and the completely virtual on the other, that there is a third reality: The Imagination. He argues that the Imagination is a third sensory input into any immersive experience, be it physical or totally virtual with experience designers having very little control into this third world. In order for us to make sense of a narrative, we must use our Imagination to rebuild the story into our minds. The Imagination is capable of expanding an experience or limiting it based on our memories and the power of our visual sensory Imagination. This might seem in direct conflict with VR, where the world is fully constructed for the user but imagination still plays a central role in our contextualizing of content and story. If we can see, touch and feel the experience, does that free up our imagination to wonder even more, outside the confines of the story?
Liang et al. (2013) create an index of Imagination, specifically for virtual reality designers. Synthesizing works between 1900 and 2012, they develop a list of indicators of Imagination that fit into two definitions of Imagination: creative Imagination and reproductive Imagination. However, the study does not show a link between imaginative characteristics and imaginative capabilities. With such a growth in this new field, and it’s potential in health care, education and training, expanded research in Imagination as a field would be useful not only for experienced designers but researchers across multiple fields (Lanyi, 2006; Giuseppe, & Brenda K. Wiederhold, 2015; Riva, 2005).
Virtual Reality research has been ongoing for decades yet, and yet as far as the author knows, besides a publication on VR for Mining Training in South Africa (Squelch, 2001), no other research about VR based in the continent of Africa, has been published. Because no research has been conducted in places such as these, it is impossible to know, right now, whether VR can be an effective imaginative tool in these communities. My work hopes to finally include some research about this technology from non WEIRD (Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic) societies. (Henrich et al., 2010)
Measuring Imagination
Before shifting into the design of this study's experiment, I want to highlight several existing Imagination assessment tools and briefly discuss their suitability, or lack thereof, to my research questions. There are several scales and indexes used to measure Imagination. The Imaginative Behaviour Engagement Scale (von Stumm & Scott, 2019) is a psychometric test to assess individual differences in Imagination. The survey asks questions such as “did you have one or more imaginary friends as a child?” and “When you watch a good movie do you become immersed in the story as if you were part of it?”. It explores Imagination for learning, creativity and schizotypal beliefs. While the IBES scale measures differences in Imagination, The Self Descriptive Imagination Questionnaire (Feng et al, 2017) typifies Imagination from a cross-cultural perspective. It describes five features of the Imagination (expressive Imagination, openness to variations, instrumental Imagination,
fats/future mindedness and conventionality) with a likert-type scale instrument with the goal of understanding imagination from a cultural and social context
The Four Factor Imagination Scale targets imaginative practices and experiences (Zabelina & Condon, 2019) is a 26-item scale with four features of the imaginative process. These include 1) frequency, how much time one spends in imaginative states 2) complexity, how vivid is the Imagination. 3) emotional valence, how positive or negatively balanced the imaginings are and 4) directedness, which asks how directed imaginings are to specific goals or outcomes. This study was created with the goal of expanding on the understanding of the imagination beyond the constraints of mental imagery and creativity. The study and scale show that 'imagination is multi-faceted in nature, and is better approached as a constellation of more narrowly measurable constructs.' This finding was a central inspiration to the development of an Imagination Framework that concludes this study.
Significant research relating to Imagination deals with fantasy. The Fantasy Questionnaire (Weibel 2018), measures how prone an individual is to fantasy, distinguishing between imaginative fantasy and creative fantasy. The Creative Experiences Questionnaire (Merckelbach et al, 2001) measures proneness to fantasy in a 25-item survey. The study, conceiving fantasy as a positive trait,
found that a comprehensive measure of fantasy can result in a better understanding of personal inner experiences, creative processes and problem solving. Although not exactly an Imagination scale, the Tellegen Absorption Scale (Tellegen & Atkinson, 1974), examines the extent to which people find themselves absorbed in perpetual or imaginative experiences. This survey doesn’t investigate how one imagines but investigates how absorbed one is in their fantasies.
The Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (Marks, 1973) focuses more strongly on the intensity of Imagination, assessing one’s ability to visualize familiar items or a scene. Meanwhile the Movement Imagery Questionnaire (Hall et al, 1997) was developed and revised to measure imagery of movement. Other similar scales also measure imagery with regard to kinesthetics such as the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (Hall, Mack 1998) and The Kinesthetic and Visual Imagery Questionnaire (Malouin et al, 2007).
Finally, other tests such as the Test of Creative Imagery Abilities look more closely at how people perform in creative imagery tasks (Jankowska & Karwowski, 2015). It is scored on three components: vividness, originality and transformativeness. The Hunter Imagination Questionnaire (Jung et al. 2016) is an instrument designed to assess Imagination over an extended period of time, as it correlates with or causes creative achievement.
While all these instruments are useful and have made advances in our understanding of the Imagination, they are not appropriate for my study. These indexes were designed with different goals and for different demographics. Allo-I is seeking to understand the impact of virtual reality and storytelling on the ability to imagine one's own possible future and to create alternate realities, particularly for marginalized communities.
Growth Mindset
In her now widely claimed book, "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success", Carol Dweck outlines her research on a "growth" versus "fixed" mindset in individuals and organizations (Dweck, 2008). The key findings are that those who believe their talents and intellectualism can be developed have a growth mindset and those who believe that these characteristics are innate gifts have a fixed mindset. Those with a growth mindset, tend to have higher rates of academic and career success and
significant research has spun out of Dweck's initial work that proves her theory (Brunette et al. 2018; Porter et al. 2020; K Yu, 2015; Broda et al. 2018).
Other research has innovated and extended upon Dweck's work to demonstrate the impact of a growth mindset on athletics (Williams, 2018), self-defence efficacy (Derr & Morrow, 2020) and sexual health awareness (Brunette et al. 2018). Moreover, in particular relevance to this research, studies have shown the effects of poverty on the growth mindset. Claro et al. (2016) finds that family income is a strong predictor of academic achievement, as well as having a growth mindset. They find that family income and a higher growth mindset are also correlated. However, having a high growth mindset tempers the effect of poverty on academic achievement. The study finds that students in the lowest 10th percentile of family income, who demonstrated a high growth mindset, showed the same academic success with students in the 80th income percentile (with a fixed
mindset). Therefore, a growth mindset can be a powerful tool to reduce the effects of poverty in the classroom.
Dweck (1999), developed a scale to measure growth mindset that consists of a three point scale that asks participants how they view their intelligence: 1)You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you can’t really do much to change it. 2) Your intelligence is something about you that you can’t change very much. 3) You can learn new things, but you can’t really change your basic intelligence. The instrument, as measured on a 6 point likert scale, is an indicator of growth mindset but also arguably the ways in which participants view themselves and their futures. Broda et al. (2018), develop a growth mindset intervention that educates participants on brain plasticity, an exercise they call "Building The Brain." By exploring how the brain can be grown and exercised as a muscle, a light-touch psychological intervention, they saw an increase in growth mindset and saw an improvement in classroom GPA by Latino students.
The wide range of applications on this work demonstrates elasticity and relevance around the world. As far as the author knows, only one published study in Africa has used Dweck's mindset instrument. Porter et al. (2018), found that growth mindset interventions in South Africa changed learner beliefs, even though they did not improve master behavior or math achievement scores directly. Further, the primary mode of Dweck's work has applied to children and teenagers, with the instrument having been designed for teachers to use in a classroom setting. Dweck's growth mindset
instrument, having been robustly studied and applied, was an attractive instrument for my study over and above the measurements described in the subsection above.
Firstly, the idea of improving one's future and viewing it as malleable, just like intelligence or talent, is an interesting gateway that has yet to be explored in much of the research published about growth mindset. Having a growth mindset need not only be concerned with one's talents and intelligence but of one's future and one's control over it. As other researches have adapted the instrument to their own research goals, I adapt it to discover whether certain interventions can have an impact on the growth of the future self, that is, the expansion of that self and a greater
Chapter 6: Experiment Design
This thesis sought to find answers to the following research questions:
1. Do immersive narratives result in a higher growth mindset and make imagining the future easier than non-immersive narratives? Is narrative an essential element for this development? 2. Do immersive experiences enhance future world building more than non-immersive
experiences?
3. How do Kenyan women living in Informal Settlements interact with Virtual Reality? 4. Can we use word embeddings and force-directed networks to learn more about the
sentiments of collective Imagination from an Imagination Exercise?
5. What makes up an Imagination Machine and can VR be used as one?
In order to answer these questions, I designed a two-week long study that innovated on existing research practices and created some novel computational social science methods. The study is described in full below and can be identified by the steps listed below:
1. Demographics survey 2. Growth Mindset Test I 3. Imagination Exercise I 4. One week break 5. Intervention
6. Growth Mindset Test II 7. Imagination Exercise II 8. VR Treatment focus groups 9. Analysis
The Demographics:
In order to test these questions, I designed a study to be carried out over two weeks with a starting population of 212 participants. The final population of the study, that is, the number of participants that returned for the post-treatment part of the experiment, was 180. This study targets young women living in Nairobi, Kenya between the ages of 18-30. The demographic is chosen because social norms and expectations of women in Kenya are far more stringent and limiting than they are for men. I select a younger age demographic because the study evaluates prospects about the future. Younger women, with more of their lives ahead of them, were my target demographic and more likely to have more flexible perspectives about their futures (see Table 1 for demographic summary). The demographics survey included the following variables: age, gender, marital status, number of children and employment status. It also included several variables on media consumption such as how they consumed media and which social media platforms they primarily used.
Pre Intervention: Growth Mindset Test:
After completing a short demographics survey (see Table 1), participants engaged in the first test, the Growth Mindset Test (Dweck, 2008). The Growth Mindset test is a questionnaire used to measure self-efficacy and optimism about the future, typically meant for children. It is primarily used to ask questions about intelligence but has frequently been adapted to include questions around talent. I add onto these adaptations by adding a final section on the future growth mindset and the capacity to imagine the future. This modified instrument is therefore a self-efficacy indicator, as well as an imagination index instrument (see Appendix).
The questionnaire has 12 questions, with 6 options per question. Each answer is linked with a score, making the range of scores 6-72, with 72 representing a very high growth mindset. While
there are other questionnaires and tests that measure Imagination as seen in the literature review, there is little relating to the participant’s concept of the future and their role in defining it. Further, because this scale has been so widely used, targeting a minority demographic will yield more answers on it’s robustness and effectiveness on young adults and women living in informal settlements.
The Imagination Exercise:
This is an oral interview exercise where the participant will be asked to imagine the future of a fictional character, Mary or Lucy. The interviewer will guide the participant through a series of questions about the character's life. The interviews are recorded and transcribed in English.
INTERVIEWER: Imagine a 16 year old girl called Mary. She is sixteen years old and has her whole life ahead of her. Let us imagine a bright future for her. Close your eyes and take a minute to let your Imagination explore. If she could do or be anything, imagine what would her life be like? Think outside of the box.
1. Describe Mary’s personality in two to three sentences 2. What is Mary’s favorite subject? Why does she like it?
3. After what education level should Mary complete her studies and why? 4. When should Mary get married?
5. Describe closely what Mary does for work?
6. Where does Mary want to live? Why does she want to live there?
7. How many children will Mary have? What are the ideal genders? What does she do to make her children happy?
8. What is Mary’s most precious material possession? Why is it so important to her? 9. Who is the head of Mary’s household and why?
10. Who does the cooking in Mary’s household and why? 11. Describe, in a few sentences, what gives Mary the most joy? 12. What is Mary’s favorite hobby? Why does she enjoy it? 13. Where does Mary’s family go for holiday?
14. Mary has a side hustle (Biashara). What is it and how does she practice it? 15. Describe Mary’s biggest ambition?
After the first Imagination exercise, participants leave the study center and return on the same day the following week for the second half of the intervention.
Interventions & The Allo(i) ToolKit:
The Allo(i) toolkit is a kit of lightweight narrative experiences that may be repurposed to tell or experience narratives that encourage alternative futures. The experiences in this kit have been curated from other content creators. For the purpose of this study, the materials from the toolkit will be used as part of the intervention. The tool kit includes:
1. Sereya - A Virtual Reality 360 Film
2. Explore The World - A Virtual Reality Experience 3. Sereya Text - A short story
4. Mary and Lucy - Fictional Characters for Imagination Exercise
Below, I describe each of the interventions and why I selected them for the Allo(i) Toolkit.
Sereya - A New Maasai Way (Amerf Flying Doctors & VR Gorilla Productions)
This is an 8-minute long 360 Film that is narrated by a little girl, Sereya. She takes the viewers on a journey through her Boma in western Kenya. The film is a documentary that follws Sereya as she goes through the ‘Alternative Rite of Passage’, an alternative and new path for young women who want to put an end to FGM (Female Genital Mutilation). The story begins with 12-year old Sereya describing her home and community and then navigates to the Alternative Rite of Passage
ceremony, where the community learns about and then celebrates the end of female genital mutilation. Sereya, having relieved herself of the burden of FGM, goes on to imagine herself as a
doctor. The film ends on a hopeful note, with Sereya and her friends playing in the village, reimagining what opportunities lie ahead for them.
The story is both empowering, educational and immersive. I chose this film because it centers young women who are trying to carve out new paths for themselves and who have dreams bigger than what has been prescribed for them. The film ends at the excitement of ‘candle night’, a ceremony where Sereya and her peers get accepted as young women in their community. The film was perfect for my goals because it was important that the content was Kenyan and felt relatable to the participants. It still had a magical quality as the film took place in an environment that none of the participants had ever spent time in and centering the Maasai: a group of iconic people in Kenya who have been so exoticized that they sometimes feel fictional or unreachable. This was a
non-interactive, third person experience.
Figure 6.5: Candle light ceremony.
Explore The World In 4K 360:
This is a 4-minute long experience that takes the viewer around the world in high definition 360 footage. We see everything from mountains, to oceans, to waterfalls, to vast cities and amazing wildlife. The footage includes scenes from Kenya’s Maasai Mara as well. It is backed by a meditative audio track that makes the ambience, calm and relaxing. This experience has no narrative - it is just a series of 360 shots around the world and doesn’t include any human interaction. I picked this experience because of the effect of ‘wonder’ it elicits without needing much interaction from the viewer.
Figure 6.6: Explore the world, environment 1.
Figure 6.8: Explore the world, environment 3.
Figure 6.9: Explore the world, environment 4.
Figure 6.10: Explore the world, environment 5.
Figure 6.11: Explore the world, environment 6.
Sereya, Text: This is the short story version of the 360 Film. This text is a transcript of the
narrator’s voice over in the film, with only a few select changes made to adapt the voice over into a short story. This is not an auditory or visual experience. I chose to keep the story in text form as it allows the participant to imagine the character and world for themselves, as they wish. See appendix to read the text.
Post-Intervention
After a week-long break, participants returned for the intervention. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups:
Table 2. Treatment Groups
Intervention Variable
Name
Description
Control Control No intervention
Sereya, VR VRsereya A VR narrative film
Explore The World, VR
VRexplore A VR non-narrative
experience
Sereya, Text Text Short story
In the second week, 180 participants returned, and therefore, 45 participants were assigned to each group. The Growth Mindset Test and the Imagination Exercise were repeated after the intervention was administered. For the Imagination exercise, the name of the fictional character they had to imagine switched from Mary to Lucy or Lucy to Mary depending on the name they first received.
VR Focus Groups:
Finally, participants who completed either of the VR interventions (VRsereya or VRexplore) were asked to participate in a short focus group to gather their experiences and sentiments about VR and
the content they viewed. Responses gathered in this intervention make up the Virtual Reality Human Interaction section of our results, in chapter 8.
Methodologies and Results
Chapter 7: Part 1 - A Future Growth Mindset
Methodology
Growth Mindset Instrument
The Growth Mindset Instrument uses a likert point scale for each question on the survey. Answers range from strongly disagree, mostly disagree, disagree to agree, mostly disagree and strongly agree, with a score range of 1-6 for each question. The survey contains 3 questions relating to intelligence growth mindset, 3 questions relating to talent growth mindset and 6 questions relating to future growth mindset making for a total of 12 questions. A score will be calculated for each instrument and then averaged to get the Growth Mindset Score. For each question, 1 represents the lowest growth mindset and 6 represents the highest. Depending on the framing of the question, a 1 may be associated with "strongly agree" or "strongly disagree". For example, in one of the questions,
"Regardless of my current situation, I think I have the capacity to change my intelligence quite a bit", the "strongly disagree" option would receive a score or 6 and the "strongly agree" option would receive a score of 1. Alternatively, for the question, "I have control over my dreams and my future", the "strongly agree" option would receive a score of 6 and the "strongly disagree" option would receive a score of 1. The highest possible overall score is 72 and the lowest possible score is 12.
Mann-Whitney U Test
For analyzing the specific sample pairs for stochastic dominance pairwise, I use the Mann-Whitney U test (Mann & Whitney, 1947). This is a nonparametric test of the null hypothesis that it is equally likely that a randomly selected value from one sample will be less than or greater than a randomly selected value from a second sample. This test is used to investigate whether two independent samples were selected from populations having the same distribution.
Multiple Regression Analysis
To better understand the effect of each intervention on the total Growth Mindset Score, I use a linear multiple regression analysis. This test allows us to see the linear relationship between two or more interval predictors and one interval outcome variable.
Ordinal Regression Analysis
For measuring the effect of each intervention on each individual question in the Growth Mindset test, I use the statistical tool, ordinal regression analysis (Winship & Mare 1984). This is a type of regression used for predicting an ordinal variable. An ordinal variable is one that exists in an ordered category and the distance between those categories is not known. This makes it useful for variables that exist in Likert-type scales such as the one in the Growth Mindset Test where for each question the participants answer on an agreeability scale.
Results
In this section, I present the results of the Future Growth Mindset Survey. The first analysis uses the Mann Whitney U-Test to understand the difference in means across each treatment group, before and after the intervention. The results are presented in Table 3 and Figure 7.1.
Figure 7.1
Table 3. GMI results
Treatmen t
Pre-Intervention Mean Post-Intervention Mean P-Valu e Control 48.688 51.5333 0.119 VRsereya 48.066 51.866 0.056 VRexplore 49.955 53.111 0.034 Textsereya 49.2 53.511 0.032
The results above show a significant increase in the mean of the Growth Mindset Scores for each treatment group, except the Control group proving that each intervention each had an effect, with the Textsereya intervention (Sereya, Text) resulting in the highest difference in mean. It is worth
noting that although the Control did not have a positive result, it was close enough to zero which suggests that simply asking participants to engage in imagining the future is a useful intervention in itself.
I ran the same test for each individual question. I present the relevant and interesting findings in Table 4 below.
Table 4. Individual GMI Results
Question Treatment Pre-
Intervention Mean Post- Interventio n Mean P-Value 1. Regardless of my current situation, I think I have the
capacity to change my intelligence quite a bit.
Control 2.73 4.62 <0.001
VRsereya 3.08 4.4 <0.001
VRexplore 2.6 4.6 <0.001
Textsereya 2.755 4.755 <0.001
4. I don’t think I personally can do much to increase my talent.
Control 2.755 4.91 <0.001
VRsereya 3.06 4.28 0.001
VRexplore 3.15 4.644 <0.001
Textsereya 2.93 4.88 <0.001
6. Regardless of my current situation, I think I have the
capacity to change my talent quite a bit.
Control 4.64 4.62 0.29
VRsereya 4.24 4.73 0.05
VRexplore 4.53 4.46 0.384
8. I find it difficult to imagine what my future could look like
Control 3.8 3.42 0.18
VRsereya 3.62 3.91 0.23
VRexplore 3.53 3.71 0.26
Textsereya 3.48 3.37 0.34
9. I don’t think I personally can do much to improve my future.
Control 5.244 4.77 0.019
VRsereya 4.644 4.733 0.343
VRexplore 5.06 5.08 0.49
Textsereya 4.97 4.93 0.47
10. I can try new things, but I don’t have the ability to change the trajectory of my life. Control 5.0 4.6 0.04 VRsereya 4.86 4.8 0.44 VRexplore 4.84 4.71 0.17 Textsereya 5.0 4.9 0.36
When investigating each question individually, we can isolate significant effects across treatment groups for certain questions. Question 1 (Regardless of my current situation, I think I have the
capacity to change my intelligence quite a bit) yielded significant increases across all treatment groups,
including the Control, as did Question 4 (I don’t think I personally can do much to increase my talent). Question 6 (Regardless of my current situation, I think I have the capacity to change my talent quite a bit) yielded a statistically significant increase in score for only VRsereya. While both Question 9 (I don’t think I
personally can do much to improve my future) and 10 (I can try new things, but I don’t have the ability to change the trajectory of my life) did not yield significant increases for any of the intervention groups, participants in
Control had significantly lower scores the second time they did it. Holding for any other changes, this implies that the interventions had a significant effect in maintaining the scores for this question.
