Introduction to the Special Issue on Emotions in Reading, Learning, and Communication

In our current era, learners are confronted with many and varying sources of information, such as news media, books, websites, social media, scientific articles, communicative interactions, and more. In addition, individuals must learn from such sources, making it important to critically examine the factors underlying learning from text and discourse. Importantly, the valence and activation of readers' emotions can influence the quality of readers' processing, which could help or hinder the learner's ability to understand and learn from text related to important issues. Although theoretical and empirical work documents the role of emotions in learning and motivation, reading- and discourse-specific models are needed. At present, the literature examining reading presents conflicting findings related to the influence of emotion on textual processing. However, asproposed in the Process, Emotion, Task (PET) framework, the discrepant findings related to reading processes may be explained by interactions between specific reader emotions and the type of task. Hence, examining both emotions and features of the text are critical when considering how to support readers' ability to comprehend, evaluate, and learn from text. This article introduces a special issue of Discourse Processes that brings together experts engaging in empirical studies on how emotion influences learning and processing for varying text types in different contexts. Our goal is to further work toward developing a more cohesive understanding of the influence of reader emotions in supporting learning, comprehension, processing, and conceptual change and to draw important connections to the broader fields of text and discourse, learning, and motivation. Such connections are critical for improving learning experiences across a variety of settings and enhancing the relevance of discourse-processing research

Developing future managers through business simulation gaming in the UK and Hong Kong: exploring the interplay between cognitive realism, decision-making and performance

PurposeThis paper investigates how individuals' decision-making approach and perceptions of a game's cognitive realism affect the performance of virtual businesses in a web-based simulation game.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data are collected from 274 business simulation game users and is analysed using the fsQCA technique.FindingsThe study identifies three alternative pathways to high and low performance in a business simulation game. Results indicate that a flexible decision-making approach exists in all high performance pathway solutions. Where a game is perceived to be realistic, a more focused decision-making approach is associated with high performance. However, where perceived cognitive realism is absent, a less focused experimental decision-making approach is employed, which increases the chances to achieve low performance. Finally, perceived cognitive realism and an experimental decision-making approach are found to be mutually exclusive for achieving high performance.Originality/valueWhilst the learning benefits of web-based simulation games are widely acknowledged, the complex interplay amongst factors affecting performance in games is under-researched. Limited research exists on how perceptions of a game's cognitive realism interact with user decision-making approaches to affect performance.</jats:sec