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Constructionism of virtual humans to improve perceptions of conversational partners

We propose a methodology to help people improve the accuracy of their mental model of a conversational partner by creating a virtual human representation of the partner. By creating a virtual human, the users will be able to transfer their mental model of the partner to a virtual human representation. Other people can then interact with the virtual human and provide feedback. The feedback will help the creator reduce the gap between their mental model of a partner and the actual qualities of the partner. Reducing this gap in perception is important in learning interpersonal skills. We implemented this methodology in a health professions course using Virtual People Factory, an online application for creating and interacting with virtual humans. The applicability of the methodology to reduce gaps in perception models was investigated through a user study with health professions students (n=32). The results indicate that students can reduce gaps in perceptions of conversational partners by creating virtual humans.