TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kühl, Tim
A1  - Münzer, Stefan
T1  - Learning about a serious disease
BT  - when a personalized message is harmful unless you are happy
JF  - Journal of computer assisted learning : JCAL
N2  - According to the personalization principle, addressing learners by means of a personalized compared to a nonpersonalized message can foster learning. Interestingly, though, a recent study found that the personalization principle can invert for aversive contents. The present study investigated whether the negative effect of a personalized message for an aversive content can be compensated when learners are in a happy mood. It was hypothesized that the negative effect of a personalized compared to a nonpersonalized message would only be observable for participants in a sad mood, while for participants in a happy mood a personalized message should be beneficial. A 2 x 2 between-subject design with mood (happy vs. sad) and personalization (personalized vs. nonpersonalized message) was used (N = 125 University students). Mood was experimentally varied prior to learning. Learning outcomes were measured by a retention and a transfer test. Results were essentially in line with the assumption: For participants in the sad mood condition, a negative effect of a personalized message was observable for retention and transfer. For participants in the happy mood condition, a positive effect of personalized message was observable for retention, but no effect for transfer. Note that the manipulation check measure for the mood induction procedure did not detect differences between conditions; this may be due to a shortcoming of the used measure (as indicated by an additional evaluation study). The study emphasizes the importance to consider the inherent emotional content of a topic, such as its aversive nature, since the emotional content of a topic can be a boundary condition for design principles in multimedia learning. The study also highlights the complex interplay of externally induced and inherently arising emotions.
KW  - cognitive load
KW  - emotional design
KW  - mood
KW  - multimedia learning
KW  - personalization principle
Y1  - 2021
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12571
SN  - 0266-4909
SN  - 1365-2729
VL  - 37
IS  - 5
SP  - 1312
EP  - 1323
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Oxford [u.a.]
ER  -