Collaborative block design task for assessing pair performance in virtual reality and reality

Valtteri Wikström, Silja Martikainen, Mari Falcon, Juha Ruistola, Katri Saarikivi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

Abstract

Collaborative problem solving is more important than ever as the problems we try to solve become increasingly complex. Meanwhile, personal and professional communication has moved from face-to-face to computer-mediated environments, but there is little understanding on how the characteristics of these environments affect the quality of interaction and joint problem solving. To develop this understanding, methods are needed for measuring success of collaboration. For this purpose, we created a collaborative block design task intended to evaluate and quantify pair performance. In this task, participants need to share information to complete visuospatial puzzles. Two versions of the task are described: a physical version and one that can be completed in virtual reality. A preliminary study was conducted with the physical version (N = 18 pairs) and the results were used to develop the task for a second study in virtual reality (N = 31 pairs). Performance measures were developed for the task, and we found that pair performance was normally distributed and positively associated with visuospatial skills, but not with other participant-specific background factors. The task specifications are released for the research community to apply and adapt in the study of computer-mediated social interaction.
Original languageEnglish
Article number04823
JournalHeliyon
Volume6
Issue number9
Number of pages11
ISSN2405-8440
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2020
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Fields of Science

  • 6162 Cognitive science
  • 113 Computer and information sciences
  • 515 Psychology
  • 5144 Social psychology
  • Psychology
  • Block design
  • Collective intelligence
  • Pair performance
  • Virtual reality
  • Social Computing
  • Computer-supported cooperative work

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