2019 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Public Speaking Phobia Reduction for Japanese University Students through Virtual Reality-based Training and Exposure to Simulated Audiences
| Project/Area Number |
19K13266
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| Research Institution | Aichi Prefectural University |
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Principal Investigator |
ブルノティ ジョシュ 愛知県立大学, 公私立大学の部局等, 准教授 (50816105)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
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| Keywords | public speaking anxiety / exposure therapy / virtual reality / mindfulness / CBT |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
All materials creation and ethics review procedures for the first year of this program were completed during the spring and summer of 2019. Participant recruitment and data collection then began in the fall of 2019. Public speaking anxiety reduction methods being investigated for this study were carried out, including bilingual psycho-educational learning sessions with the participants, instruction on best methods for public speaking, opportunities for public speaking practice, focused attention and breathing training, and instruction on how to use exposure training (imaginal and virtual reality-based) to practice public speaking at home. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed, and results were presented internationally at both Thai and South Korean conferences. This first year of data indicate a statistically significant decrease in self-reported public speaking anxiety levels for participants who used virtual reality-based exposure training methods, and also show a statistically significant decrease within the same measure for participants who used more traditional, imagination-based home speech practice methods. No significant differences between these two groups were found within the quantitative data. These results indicate that instructors may be able to target and help reduce the public speaking anxiety of tertiary-level students over a short, intensive course, and may also feel free to use both high tech or low tech methods at their disposal.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
This research is progressing at the pace that was planned within the initial research proposal for this first year of study. The 2019 academic year was intended for data collection through participant interviews as to the extent of student anxiety toward public speaking, and the themes that emerged from the data analysis have shown to be useful for discussing sources of speaking anxiety and strategies that may be effective for this population. The use of virtual reality for these anxiety reduction purposes were interestingly just as effective as more traditional, imagination-based practice techniques, which was an unexpected finding. But significant reductions in anxiety were found in both control and experimental groups - an encouraging finding for the continuation of this study.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
My research plans for 2020 may need to be adjusted as a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic. For now, the plan for this academic year is to repeat some elements of the 2019 treatment, including educating participants on the psychology of public speaking phobia and teaching best practices for panic control treatment and presentation methods. New elements will also be introduced, including recording sessions with participants in which panoramic (360-degree) cameras record speech acts, and participants use VR-playback of these speeches to analyze their performance and study audience reactions. If COVID-19 makes these face-to-face sessions untenable, the research plan may shift to investigating best practices for online teaching of presentations skills and exposure training using VR.
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| Causes of Carryover |
The amount of 15,904 yen that was remaining from the first research year was as a result in differences between projected costs for equipment, travel expenses and personnel, and actual costs, although the predicted amounts were mostly accurate. This amount will be used for the second year of study for the purposes of potentially expanding the number of participants, and therefore increasing the potential breadth of the data collected.
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