Table 1 . Means and Standard Deviations of Pretest and Posttest
NTQ Scores in Non-imagery and imagery Direction Groups.
A mixed-design analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to assess the
difference between the NTQ scores of the two testing conditions (pretest
and posttest) and the two direction groups (non-imagery direction and
imagery direction groups). There was a significant main effect for the
pretest and posttest, F (1,110) = 9.903, p = .05,η2 = .009. There was also a marginally significant interaction
between the condition and direction group, F (1,110) = 2.82,p = .096, η2 = .002. Since significant effects were
observed, post hoc comparisons were conducted using the Bonferroni
correction. The results indicated that mean posttest NTQ score was
significantly greater than the pretests NTQ scores in the imagery
direction group. However, for the non-imagery direction group, the
pretest NTQ scores did not significantly differ from the posttest NTQ
scores.
To observe the self-report rate of story immersion, the vividness of
mental imagery, and the vividness of the characters in the story, a
Narrative Transportation Questionnaire (NTQ) was filled out after
reading a moral dilemma. The NTQ scores increased in the imagery
direction task group from pretest to posttest conditions. This
relationship between the pretest and posttest NTQ scores was not
observed in the non-imagery direction group.
We interpret these outcomes as indicating that the imagery direction
worked as intended, and the overall immersion of the moral dilemma
scenarios increased in the imagery direction group in the posttest
conditions, which contained the imagery direction task.
The results are consistent with the prior studies in first and second
language reading comprehension (YOUSEF ATOUM; REZIQ, 2018; WANG et
al. , 2015). We argue that directions of proper mental imagery
techniques increase the vividness of imagery and narrative immersion
while reading. In addition, the importance of the constrained
imagination method can explain this increase in vividness through the
imagery instructions task.
4.2 Pretest Posttest Moral Dilemma Responses
For one of the moral dilemma responses, participants were asked whether
the action of pushing a few of the elderly and weaker passengers off the
lifeboat to save yourself and the other passengers was acceptable. Since
the non-imagery direction group did not receive a mental imagery
direction, the choice rate between the pretest and the posttest should
be relatively consistent. The imagery direction group had an imagery
direction before the posttest. Thus, a change in the rate of choices is
predicted to be observed.
In the non-imagery group, the 58 participants responded to two moral
dilemma scenarios in the pretest and posttest. In the pretest, 40%
(n = 23) responded “Yes” (this action is appropriate in this
circumstance), and 60% (n = 35) responded “No” (this action is
not appropriate in this circumstance). In the posttest, 57% (n =
33) responded “Yes” and 43% (n = 25) responded “No” (Figure
1).
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Figure 1. Circle Graph for Moral Decisions in the Non-Imagery
Direction Group. Percentage of the yes and no moral dilemma choices in
the pretest (left) and posttest (right) for the non-imagery direction
group.
In the imagery group, 54 participants responded to two moral dilemma
scenarios in the pretest and the posttest. In the pretest, 48%
(n = 26) responded “Yes” and 52% (n = 28) responded
“No”. In the posttest, 35% (n = 19) responded “Yes” and 65%
(n = 35) responded “No” (Figure 2).
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Figure 2. Circle Graph for Moral Decisions in the Imagery
Direction Group Note. Percentage of the yes and no moral dilemma choices
in the pretest (left) and posttest (right) for the imagery direction
group.
Table 2 below shows the contingency table, or the frequency distribution
of the pretest and posttest moral dilemma choices, for the non-imagery
direction group. Table 3 shows the contingency table for the imagery
direction group. These tables show the number of participants who
shifted between yes and no as well as those who remained consistent
(Yes-to-No or No-to-Yes).