Affective and Cognitive Information Behavior: Interaction Effects in Internet Use

Nahl, Diane Affective and Cognitive Information Behavior: Interaction Effects in Internet Use., 2005 . In 68th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST), Charlotte (US), 28 October - 2 November 2005. [Conference paper]

[thumbnail of Nahl_Affective.pdf]
Preview
PDF
Nahl_Affective.pdf

Download (424kB) | Preview

English abstract

The presence and influence of affective variables in information behavior was studied. Affective load (AL), a compound variable consisting of uncertainty and technophobia measures, was found to be present in a variety of simple and complex information tasks integrated into upper-division, disciplinary coursework. Affective load was higher in those who reported low values of affective coping skills and who had either high or low cognitive assessment scores. Affective coping skills (ACS) consist of self-efficacy (SE) and optimism (Op) measures. High self-efficacy and optimism have been found to significantly and beneficially influence success in a variety of information tasks, by counteracting the effects of negative emotions such as irritation and frustration. In this study, high coping skills provided a significant affective advantage as indicated by higher optimism, stronger self-efficacy, lower uncertainty, higher support and acceptance of the system and lower affective load. The group with high cognitive skills reported significantly higher optimism, higher affective coping skills and higher felt exercise of control, demonstrating an interaction between cognitive and affective skills. There was a distinct advantage for those who had both high affective coping skills and high cognitive skills. They experienced relatively low affective load and high acceptance of the system.

Item type: Conference paper
Keywords: affective load ; information seeking
Subjects: C. Users, literacy and reading. > CB. User studies.
Depositing user: Norm Medeiros
Date deposited: 07 Feb 2006
Last modified: 02 Oct 2014 12:02
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/6856

References

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Bandura, A. (Ed.). (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman.

Carver, C. S., Lawrence, J. W. & Scheier, M. F. (1996). A control-process perspective on the origins of affect. In L. L. Martin & A.

Tesser. (Eds.),Striving and feeling: Interactions among goals, affect and self-regulation (pp. 11-52). Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence

Earlbaum Associates.

Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2001). Optimism, pessimism, and self-regulation. In E. C. Chang (Ed.), Optimism and

pessimism: Implications for theory, research, and practice (pp. 31-51). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Compeau, D., & Higgins, C. (1995). Computer self-efficacy: Development of a measure and initial test. MIS Quarterly, 19, 189-

211.

Compeau, D., & Higgins, C. (1999). Social Cognitive Theory and individual reactions to computing technology: A longitudinal

study. MIS Quarterly, 23, 145-158.

Eastin, M. S. & LaRose, R. (2000). Internet self-efficacy and the psychology of the digital divide. JCMC 6(1) September.

Retrieved June 22, 2005 from http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol6/issue1/eastin.html

Elzer, S., Green, N. & Carberry, S. (2003). Exploiting cognitive psychology research for recognizing intention in information

graphics. In Proceedings of the 25th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Boston, August. Retrieved June 22, 2005

from http://www.cis.udel.edu/~carberry/Papers/CogSci-03.pdf

Green, W. S. and Jordan, P. W. (Eds.). (2002). Pleasure with products: Beyond usability. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Isen, A. M., Daubman, K. A. & Gorgoglione, J. M. (1987). The influence of positive affect on cognitive organization: Implications

for education. In R. E. Snow & M. J. Farr (Eds.), Aptitude, Learning, and Instruction. Volume 3: Cognitive and Affective Process

Analyses (pp. 143-164). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Nahl, D. & James, L. (1996). Achieving focus, engagement, and acceptance: Three phases of adapting to Internet use.

Electronic Journal of Virtual Culture (February) 4 (1). Retrieved June 22, 2005 from

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy/instructor/compedutext.html

Nahl, D. (2005 in press). Affective load theory (ALT). In K E. Fisher, S. Erdelez, & E. F. McKechnie (Eds.), Theories of

information behavior: A researcher's guide. Medford, NJ: Information Today.

Nahl, D. (1996a). Affective monitoring of Internet learners: Perceived self-efficacy and success. In Proceedings of the 59th ASIS

Annual Meeting, 33 (pp. 100-109), Medford, NJ: Information Today.

Nahl, D. (1998b). Ethnography of novices' first use of web search engines: Affective control in cognitive processing. Internet

Reference Services Quarterly, 3(2): 51-72.

Nahl, D. (1998a). Learning the Internet and the Structure of Information Behavior. Journal of the American Society for

Information Science, 49(11), 1017-1023.

Nahl, D. (2004). Measuring the Affective Information Environment of Web Searchers. In Proceedings of the 67th ASIST Annual

Meeting, 41 (pp. 191-197), Medford, NJ: Information Today.

Norman, D. A. (2004). Emotional design: Why we love or hate everyday things. New York: Basic Books.

Norman, D. A. (1990). The design of everyday things. New York: Basic Books.

Staples, D. S., Hulland, J. S., & Higgins, C. A. (1998). A self-efficacy theory explanation for the management of remote workers

in virtual organizations. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication [On-line], 3(4). Retrieved June 22, 2005 from:

http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol3/issue4/staples.html


Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item