How preadolescents and adults remember and experience virtual reality: The role of avatar incarnation, emotion, and sense of presence

Incarnate bodies in the first-person view virtual reality, especially with a head-mounted display, could impact cognitive processes relying on self-representation, such as memory, emotion, or sense of presence. The goal this study is to investigate these effects by comparing adults’ and preadolescents’ behaviors. We manipulated incarnation presenting experience without an avatar (full-body versus VR controllers), while manipulating emotion presented stimuli. 40 adults 32 preadolescents were both divided into two experimental groups (avatar no-avatar). Valence, arousal, presence self-evaluated, free recall task was performed. Physiological measurements carried out add objective support for our findings. showed emotional enhancement memory age groups. Importantly, embodying permitted have same performance than adults. Memory predicted valence head movements adults, but no predictors found preadolescents. Overall, rated environments more arousing, positive, inducing Surprisingly, did not measures, we propose that immersion at sensorimotor level crucial component incarnation.