Conrad, Colin
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10222/80201
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Item Open Access Can Mind Wandering Be Measured Using the Unicorn Hybrid Black? A Pilot Study(2024-06-12) Beresford, Jenna; Conrad, ColinIn brain-computer interface (BCI) research, electroencephalograms (EEGs) such as the Unicorn Hybrid Black (UHB) have entered the market as low cost alternatives to other EEG devices. This study has two aims: the first is to assess the suitability of the UHB for BCI research, and the second is to assess the feasibility of a meditation BCI designed to provide users with feedback about mind wandering episodes. A BCI was created using the UHB and corresponding Python API to assess various machine learning algorithms’ classification accuracy of a meditation paradigm that uses self-caught experience sampling to capture mind wandering. Key findings suggest that while the UHB is sufficient to capture relevant brain signals associated with mind wandering, though more research is required on appropriate intervention techniques.Item Open Access Are You Human? Investigating the Perceptions and Evaluations of Virtual Versus Human Instagram Influencers(ACM, 2023-04-19) Nissen, Anika; Conrad, Colin; Newman, AaronVirtual influencers (VI) are on the rise on Instagram, and companies increasingly cooperate with them for marketing campaigns. This has motivated an increasing number of studies, which investigate our perceptions of these influencers. Most studies propose that VI are often rated lower in perceived trust and higher in uncanniness. Yet, we still lack a deeper understanding as to why this is the case. We conduct 2 studies: 1) a questionnaire with 150 participants to get the general perception for the included influencers, and 2) an electroencephalography (EEG) study to get insights into the underlying neural mechanisms of influencer perception. Our results support findings from related works regarding lower trust and higher uncanniness associated with VI. Interestingly, the EEG components N400 and LPP did not modulate perceived trust, but rather perceived humanness, uncanniness, and intentions to follow recommendations. This provides a fruitful beginning for future research on virtual humans.Item Open Access Quality is more important than quantity: Social presence and workplace ergonomics control predict perceived remote work performance(2023-01-06) Conrad, Colin; Klesel, Michael; Oschinsky, Frederike M.; Mayhew, Kydra; O’Neil, Kiera; Usai, FrancescoThe Covid-19 pandemic has caused a widespread disruption to the way that we work. One of its lasting consequences will be the ubiquity of remote work. The effective use of collaboration tools is therefore a critical factor for information systems (IS) research when design the workplaces of the future. We theorize that social presence and workplace ergonomics control are important predictors of perceived performance. Moreover, we investigate how different factors (i.e., collaboration tool efficacy, mode of work, and number of meetings) influence social presence. Using survey data (N = 389), we provide evidence that workplace ergonomics control and social presence are indeed important for perceived performance. Surprisingly, we observe that only collaborative platform efficacy has a significant impact on social presence, and that neither the number of meetings nor the modality were significant factors. Based upon these results, we derive implications for theory and practice.Item Open Access Measuring Mind Wandering During Online Lectures Assessed With EEG(Frontiers, 2021-08-09) Conrad, Colin; Newman, AaronMind wandering can inhibit learning in multimedia classrooms, such as when watching online lectures. One explanation for this effect is that periods of mind wandering cause learners’ attention to be redirected from the learning material toward task-unrelated thoughts. The present study explored the relationship between mind wandering and online education using electroencephalography (EEG). Participants were asked to attend to a 75 minute educational video lecture, while task-irrelevant auditory tones played at random intervals. The tones were of two distinct pitches, with one occurring frequently (80%) and the other infrequently (20%). Participants were prompted at pseudo-random intervals during the lecture to report their degree of experienced mind wandering. EEG spectral power and event-related potentials (ERP) were compared between states of high and low degrees of self-reported mind wandering. Participants also performed pre/post quizzes based on the lecture material. Results revealed significantly higher delta, theta and alpha band activity during mind wandering, as well as a decreased P2 ERP amplitude. Further, learning scores (improvement on quizzes pre to post) were lower among participants who reported higher degrees of mind wandering throughout the video. The results are consistent with a view that mind wandering during e-learning is characterized by a shift in attention away from the external world and toward internal thoughts, which may be a cause of reduced learning.Item Open Access Do emotions influence safe browsing? Toward an electroencephalography marker of affective responses to cybersecurity notifications(Frontiers, 2022-07-14) Conrad, Colin D.; Aziz, Jasmine R.; Henneberry, Jonathon, M.; Newman, Aaron J.Cybersecurity notifications play an important role in encouraging users to use computers safely. Emotional reactions to such notifications are known to positively influence users’ adherence to these notifications, though it is challenging for researchers to identify and quantify users’ emotional reactions. In this study, we explored electroencephalography (EEG) signals that were elicited by the presentation of various emotionally charged image stimuli provided by the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) and compared signals to those elicited by images of cybersecurity notifications and other computer-related stimuli. Participants provided behavioral assessments of valence and arousal elicited by the images which were used to cross-reference the results. We found that EEG amplitudes corresponding to the late positive potential (LPP) were elevated in reaction to images of cybersecurity notifications as well as IAPS images known to elicit strong positive and negative valence, when compared to neutral valence or other computer-related stimuli. These findings suggest that the LPP may account for emotional deliberation about cybersecurity notifications, which could be a useful measure when conducting future studies into the role such emotional reactions play in encouraging safe computer behavior.Item Open Access University life has gone digital: influences of institutional mobile social network use during the COVID-19 emergency(Emerald, 2022-09-08) Conrad, Colin; Moylan, Rachel; Diaz, Gabriel O.Purpose Many universities implemented institutional social networking apps as an alternative to in-person social experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study aims to explore previously identified factors that influenced intentions to form collective actions, also known as we-intentions, on such social networking apps and their influence on student satisfaction with the app artifact. Design/methodology/approach Students from across a large university were invited to participate in a survey. Responses from 915 students who reported using the app were analyzed using a maximum likelihood covariance-based structural equation model. Analysis was conducted using the R programming language's psych, lavaan, and semTools packages. Findings The authors found that we-intentions are positively associated with recent app use and with student satisfaction with the app. Group norms were found to significantly influence the formation of we-intentions, while social identity is positively associated with both we-intentions and satisfaction. Originality/value The paper provides evidence that past research generalizes to the context of university mobile social networks and identifies a relationship between we-intentions and satisfaction in this context. It also provides practical insight into factors that influence we-intentions, and subsequently students' online education experience, in the context of a university's institutional mobile social network.Item Open Access Towards Mind Wandering Adaptive Online Learning and Virtual Work Experiences(2022-06-14) Conrad, Colin; Newman, Aaron J.NeuroIS researchers have become increasingly interested in the design of new types of information systems that leverage neurophysiological data. In this paper we describe the results of machine learning analysis which validates a method for the passive detection of mind wandering. Following the presentation of the results, we describe ways that this technique could be applied to create a neuroadaptive online learning and virtual meeting tool which may improve users' retention of information by providing auditory feedback.Item Open Access Is Our Ability to Detect Errors an Indicator of Mind Wandering? An Experiment Proposal(2022-06-14) Conrad, Colin; Klesel, Michael; Mayhew, Kydra; O’Neil, Kiera; Oschinsky, Frederike Marie; Usai, FrancescoMind wandering could have a variety of impacts on information systems phenomena, not least long monotonous tasks. Unfortunately, mind wandering states are difficult to measure objectively. In this paper, we describe work-in-progress to address this problem in a novel way. We describe two studies that will observe participants’ ability to detect errors in a task as a correlate of mind wandering. Demonstrating the technique using a lecture paradigm, the studies employ previously investigated methods of measuring mind wandering as a baseline for the new technique. If successful, we will demonstrate a new method for measuring mind wandering that can be applicable to a broad range of information systems and psychological studies.Item Open Access An investigation of differences in sentiment from tweets related to COVID-19 between Canada and US residents(University of North Texas Digital Library, 2020-12-05) Conrad, Colin; Gone, Keshava PallaviGoal: This study aims to understand how individuals communicated and acknowledged to COVID-19 pandemic on Twitter. It mainly focused on identifying and demonstrating the differences in the perspective of United States and Canadian residents. Design / Methodology / Approach: We performed sentiment analysis on a sample of 1 005 358 tweets from the states and provinces most affected by COVID-19 in USA and Canada between 23 March 2020 to 24 April 2020. To accomplish this, we used the Valence Aware Dictionary and sEntiment Reasoner (VADER), which is based on a dictionary of a set of words with positive or negative sentiment scores (Hutto & Gilbert, 2014). We also compared differences in word frequencies between the two countries and compared the sentiments trends over 1 month and analyzed frequent words from the tweets of both the countries to give a clear picture on the gap between the sentiment and how differently people of two countries expressed their emotions on Twitter. Results: The project revealed the differences between the attitudes of people in USA and Canada on COVID-19 outbreak. The study highlighted two major differences. First, it revealed differences in positive and negative sentiment, as well as how it changed and each day of the given period. Second, it provided differences in how general public in two countries responded and reacted to the outbreak by analyzing the frequent words used on the social media platform. Limitations of the research: The study is limited in its scope to focus only on the twitter data generated by US and Canadian residents. It also uses the VADER approach, which is classifies tweets into three discrete sentiments (positive, negative, neutral), which may not capture all possible sentiments. Practical implications: We demonstrate a technique which could be implemented by policy makers to determine public sentiment to a particular emerging topic on social media. Specifically, policy makers could use this approach to complement traditional methods to determine public opinion about COVID-19. Originality / value: While other research has explored sentiment on Twitter related to COVID19, to the best of our knowledge, no research has specifically focused on the differences between Canada and the United States during the formative period of policy responses specifically.Item Open Access Retail apocalypse: The case of Sears Canada Inc.(2018) Hornell-Kennedy, Beth; Murphy, Patrick; Stelmack, Sydney; Conrad, ColinIn an increasingly digital world, retailers have never faced such a competitive environment. Many large chains have been forced to either radically transform their business models or cease operations. Such radical changes cannot come without considerations about leadership, marketing strategy, or how to source information systems capabilities. This teaching case investigates the conditions that led to the 2017 bankruptcy of Sears Canada and the key decisions related to leadership, marketing, and technology that ultimately led to the company’s dissolution. We provide insights related to the strategic and operational circumstances of Sears Canada’s final years, helping students understand the factors that ultimately led to the demise of a Canadian retail icon.Item Open Access Measuring Mind Wandering during Online Lectures Assessed with EEG(2021) Conrad, Colin; Newman, AaronMind wandering can inhibit learning in multimedia classrooms, such as when watching online lectures. One explanation for this effect is that periods of mind wandering cause learners’ attention to be redirected from the learning material towards task-unrelated thoughts. The present study explored the relationship between mind wandering and online education using electroencephalography (EEG). Participants were asked to attend to a 75 min educational video lecture, while task-irrelevant auditory tones played at random intervals. The tones were of two distinct pitches, with one occurring frequently (80%) and the other infrequently (20%). Participants were prompted at pseudo-random intervals during the lecture to report their degree of experienced mind wandering. EEG spectral power and event-related potentials (ERP) were compared between states of high and low degrees of self-reported mind wandering. Participants also performed pre/post quizzes based on the lecture material. Results revealed significantly higher delta, theta and alpha band activity during mind wandering, as well as a decreased P2 ERP amplitude. Further, learning scores (improvement on quizzes pre to post) were lower among participants who reported higher degrees of mind wandering throughout the video. The results are consistent with a view that mind wandering during e-learning is characterized by a shift in attention away from the external world and towards internal thoughts, which may be a cause of reduced learning.