Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

In this study, we manipulated gain/loss framing context duringa simulated negotiation between a human user and a virtualagent. Task instructions placed users either in a loss or gainframed context, such that those in the loss frame had tominimize expenses whereas those in the gain frame had tomaximize profits. The virtual agent displayed facial emotionsso that we could also test how interpersonal emotions interactwith framing. Results suggest that individuals are moremotivated to minimize their losses than maximizing their gains.The loss frame caused individuals to demand more during thenegotiation, hence to minimize expenses. Neurophysiologicalresults suggest that cardiovascular patterns of challenge (i.e.,positive motivations) were present in the loss frame condition,most strongly when the virtual human smiled. We discuss theseresults in regards to Prospect Theory. This work also hasimplications for designing and rigorously evaluating human-like virtual agents.