Evidence for Gender Specific Approaches to the Development of Emotionally Intelligent Learning Companions

A 2 x 2 experiment investigated the effect of elements of an affective learning companion’s emotional intelligence on seventy-six 11-13 year-old participants during a challenging problem solving activity. The experiment contrasted use of an agent showing sensor-driven non-verbal mirroring with one showing prerecorded non-verbal interactions and, separately, affective support vs. task support interventions. The effect of emotional intelligence, in terms of the presence of active listening, delivery of appropriate interventions, and type of non-verbal interactions on participant’s experience, including: frustration, perseverance, intrinsic motivation, and meta affective skill were examined. Hypothesized effects of interacting with a more vs. less emotionally intelligent agent did not hold true at the group level, however significant gender differences were found. Discussing these, this paper contributes new evidence on the importance of appropriately coordinating the relationships between affect and task based intervention and non-verbal mirroring with respect to the affective state of girls and boys.