Toward a Cognitive Approach of the Subjective Experience of Presence in Virtual Reality

The research study aimed to investigate sense of presence mechanism by comparing the impact of different tasks performed in a virtual environment while controlling for the effect of participants' executive functions and spatial abilities. The independent variable was the Task Type, with active and passive conditions. The dependent variable was the Sense of Presence, assessed through general presence, spatial presence, involvement, and realness. Cognitive Control was included as a covariate, and it comprised inhibition, flexibility, working memory, visuospatial ability, and mental imagery. The table is organised into three parts: data obtained from the socio-demographic questionnaire, results obtained from tests measuring cognitive abilities, and scores on the scale measuring the sense of presence after completing each task in the virtual environment. 1) Socio-demographic data IT and Prog: the data corresponds to computer and programming skills. 1 equates to no knowledge, and 7 to very good knowledge Game: the scores correspond to the number of hours per week spent playing video games, where 7 equates to more than 6 hours of gaming per week. VR: corresponds to the number of times the person has used a virtual reality device. W_dead: is a question corresponding to an exclusion criterion, where 0 means that the person has never played the video game The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners. 3D: the person had to indicate whether they had knowledge of 3D modelling, where 1 indicates yes. 2) Cognitive abilities Each column corresponds to the result obtained after evaluation of a cognitive ability. Inhib_RT: corresponds to the reaction time obtained in the Flanker Task measuring inhibition. Flex_RT: corresponds to the reaction time obtained in the Trail Making Test measuring flexibility. Wrk_Mem_RT and Wrk_Mem_ACC: correspond to the reaction time and accuracy score obtained in the N-back task measuring working memory. Mtl_Img: corresponds to the score obtained on the ‘Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire’ scale measuring mental imagery, where 5 corresponds to a mental image that is ‘Perfectly realistic, as vivid as real scenery’. The minimum score is 32 and the maximum score is 160. Mtl_Rot_RT and Mtl_Rot_ACC: correspond to the reaction time and accuracy score obtained in the Mental Rotation task measuring visuospatial ability. 3) Sense of presence The scale used was the Igroup Presence Questionnaire. Responses ranged from 1 to 7. To better understand the data, here is an explanation: P_G_A corresponds to the ‘Presence’ score for the ‘General Presence’ sub-dimension after performing the active task. Thus, SP corresponds to ‘Spatial Presence’, INV to “Involvement”, REAL to ‘Realness’, “A” to Active and “P” to Passive.本研究旨在通过对比虚拟环境中不同任务的影响，并控制被试执行功能与空间能力的效应，探究临场感（Sense of Presence）的作用机制。自变量为任务类型，设置主动与被动两种条件；因变量为临场感，通过总体临场感、空间临场感、投入度与真实感四个维度进行评估。本研究纳入认知控制作为协变量，其涵盖抑制控制、认知灵活性、工作记忆、视空间能力与心理意象五个维度。 本数据集分为三个部分：社会人口学问卷所得数据、认知能力测试结果，以及完成虚拟环境中各项任务后测得的临场感量表得分。 1) 社会人口学数据 IT与编程技能（IT and Prog）：对应计算机与编程能力水平，1代表完全无相关知识，7代表掌握程度极佳。 游戏时长（Game）：指每周游玩电子游戏的小时数，7代表每周游戏时长超过6小时。 VR使用次数（VR）：指被试使用虚拟现实设备的总次数。 W_dead：为一项排除标准相关问题，0代表被试从未游玩过电子游戏《行尸走肉：圣徒与罪人》（The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners）。 3D建模知识（3D）：被试需表明是否掌握3D建模知识，1代表“是”。 2) 认知能力 每一列对应一项认知能力的评估结果。 抑制反应时（Inhib_RT）：指弗林克任务（Flanker Task）中测得的与抑制控制相关的反应时。 灵活性反应时（Flex_RT）：指连线测验（Trail Making Test）中测得的与认知灵活性相关的反应时。 工作记忆反应时（Wrk_Mem_RT）与工作记忆正确率（Wrk_Mem_ACC）：指N-back任务中测得的与工作记忆相关的反应时与正确率得分。 心理意象鲜明性得分（Mtl_Img）：指《视觉意象鲜明性问卷》（Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire）的得分，其中5分代表所生成的心理意象“极度逼真，与真实场景同样鲜明”；该量表最低得分为32分，最高得分为160分。 心理旋转反应时（Mtl_Rot_RT）与心理旋转正确率（Mtl_Rot_ACC）：指心理旋转任务（Mental Rotation task）中测得的与视空间能力相关的反应时与正确率得分。 3) 临场感 本研究采用Igroup临场感量表（Igroup Presence Questionnaire）进行评估，作答范围为1至7分。 为便于理解数据，现作如下说明：P_G_A代表完成主动任务后，总体临场感（General Presence）子维度的得分。其中，SP代表空间临场感（Spatial Presence），INV代表投入度（Involvement），REAL代表真实感（Realness），“A”代表主动任务条件，“P”代表被动任务条件。