Online games represent a burgeoning market sector of increasing economic importance. The distinctive entertainment-oriented features of such games provide various experiential values for users. However, most previous studies have focused on the utilitarian perspectives of the technology. The affective motivational aspects of entertainment technologies have been relatively neglected. The present...

Many neuroscience studies have demonstrated that the human amygdala is a central element in the neural workspace that computes affective value. Emerging evidence suggests that novelty is an affective dimension that engages the amygdala independently of other affective properties. This current study is the first in which novelty, valence, and arousal were systematically examined for their relati...

In this investigation we assessed whether different formats of media influenced participants’ engagement and recall of narrative cases of people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. For each of the personal case-narratives used in the study, we designed three informationally-equivalent versions: one video, one text, and one video + text. Thirty participants experienced one version in each format, completed...

Universal education has aggravated the problems of students’ disengagement in learning, highlighting in particular, a greater range of motivations to learn and wider diversification in students’ interests. Students’ engagement with curriculum has become a crucial element in classroom learning. How we cultivate their involvement in the curriculum may be seen as being far more important than the ...

PURPOSE Sick leave and unemployment are highly prevalent among people with affective disorders. Their depression severity is disabling and inversely related to having employment. No evidence-based vocational rehabilitation exists for this target group. Knowledge is therefore needed to understand the psychosocial factors that affect depression severity in order to develop new rehabilitation inte...

Though substantial research has been dedicated towards using technology to improve education, no current methods are as effective as one-on-one tutoring. A critical, though relatively understudied, aspect of effective tutoring is modulating the student’s affective state throughout the tutoring session in order to maximize long-term learning gains. We developed an integrated experimental paradig...

Though substantial research has been dedicated towards using technology to improve education, no current methods are as effective as one-on-one tutoring. A critical, though relatively understudied, aspect of effective tutoring is modulating the student’s affective state throughout the tutoring session in order to maximize long-term learning gains. We developed an integrated experimental paradig...

There is great need for cost effective approaches to increase patient engagement and improve health and well-being. Health and wellness coaching has recently demonstrated great promise, but the majority of studies to date have focused on individual coaching (ie, one coach with one client). Newer initiatives are bringing a group coaching model from corporate leadership development and educationa...

The positive outcomes associated with Patient Engagement (PE) have been strongly supported by the recent literature. However, this concept has been marginally addressed in the context of cancer. Limited attention has also received the role of informal caregivers in promoting physical and psychological well-being of patients, as well as the interdependence of dyads. The Cancer Dyads Group Interv...

This study tried to find out what factors underline the characteristics of acquisition of English language in EFL classrooms. To this end, the Characteristics of English Language Acquisition Scale (ELAS) consisting of 41 items was designed by the researchers of this study and administered to 388 pre University Iranian EFL students at various private and public schools in Neyshabour and Zebarkha...