The survey measured emotions and engagement, memory characteristics, and recollection accuracy. A Shapiro–Wilk's test (p > .05) (Razali & Wah, 2011; Shapiro & Wilk, 1965), skewness and kurtosis z-values (Doane & Seward, 2011), and a visual inspection of the respective histograms, normal Q-Q plots, and box plots, determined that the values for each of the dependent variables are not normally distributed in either of the viewing conditions. Therefore, we used a Mann–Whitney U test to compare the two conditions. For the results of the survey items, see Table 1.
Mann--Whitney U Test: Mean Rank and Median Values, z-Scores, and Effect Sizes
| . | . | VR . | Screen . | . | . | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable . | Scale (from 1 to 7) . | Mean rank . | Median . | Mean rank . | Median . | z-score . | r2 . |
| Viewing experience | |||||||
| 1. I felt that I was involved in the visual world of the movie | not at all–completely | 79.85 | 5 | 86.35 | 5.5 | −.90 | .005 |
| 2. I felt I was inside the story** | not at all–completely | 92.68 | 5 | 72.71 | 5 | −2.74 | .046 |
| 3. I felt I was at the places in the displayed environment*** | not at all–completely | 102.93 | 5 | 61.83 | 4 | −5.62 | .191 |
| 4. I empathized with one or more character(s) | not at all–completely | 87.65 | 6 | 78.06 | 6 | −1.35 | .011 |
| 5. The story affected me emotionally | not at all–completely | 88.43 | 6 | 77.23 | 5 | −1.54 | .014 |
| 6. I became less aware of the real world and my personal problems while watching the movie | not at all–completely | 83.51 | 6 | 82.46 | 5 | −.14 | .00012 |
| 7. When I was watching, time seemed to fly quickly*** | not at all–completely | 95.96 | 5 | 69.23 | 4 | −3.65 | .081 |
| 8. This experience was fascinating*** | not at all–completely | 97.45 | 6 | 67.65 | 4.5 | −4.08 | .101 |
| 9. I felt nauseous while watching the movie* | not at all–completely | 88.74 | 1 | 76.91 | 1 | −2.12 | .027 |
| 10. I felt dizzy while watching the movie | not at all–completely | 86.06 | 1 | 79.75 | 1 | −1.14 | .008 |
| Memory characteristics | |||||||
| 1. When I think of the movie, I can see with my mind's eye what took place* | not at all–as clearly as if I watched it now | 89.92 | 6 | 75.65 | 5.5 | 1.98 | .024 |
| 2. My memory for the movie involves sound | little or none–a lot | 84.39 | 7 | 81.53 | 7 | .44 | .001 |
| 3. The relative spatial arrangement of people and objects in my memory for the movie is*** | vague–clear | 96.64 | 6 | 68.51 | 5 | 3.93 | .094 |
| 4. At parts, the movie made me feel moved. This feeling was | weak–strong | 88.46 | 6 | 77.20 | 5 | 1.55 | .015 |
| 5. At parts, the movie made me feel sad. This feeling was | weak–strong | 86.69 | 4 | 79.08 | 4 | 1.04 | .007 |
| 6. At parts, the movie made me feel happy. This feeling was* | weak–strong | 90.54 | 6 | 74.99 | 5 | 2.13 | .027 |
| 7. The emotions I have when I recall the movie are | not at all intense–extremely intense | 87.52 | 4 | 78.20 | 4 | 1.27 | .010 |
| 8. When I recollect the movie, I have a physical/bodily reaction (e.g., palpitations, sweating, tears, laughter) | not at all–very strongly | 88.66 | 2 | 76.98 | 2 | 1.65 | .017 |
| 9. When I now recall the movie, I primarily see what happened from a perspective as seen from** | inside the story world–as an outside observer looking into the story world | 72.43 | 5 | 84.23 | 6 | −3.00 | .055 |
| 10. I was able to understand the structure and content of the story | not at all–completely | 82.81 | 6 | 83.21 | 7 | −.06 | .00002 |
| Recollection accuracy | |||||||
| 1. Percentage of correct answers** | — | 72.06 | 66.7 | 94.63 | 75 | −3.07 | .057 |
| 2. Percentage of “I don't know” answers | — | 88.61 | 16.67 | 77.04 | 16.67 | 1.59 | .015 |
| . | . | VR . | Screen . | . | . | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable . | Scale (from 1 to 7) . | Mean rank . | Median . | Mean rank . | Median . | z-score . | r2 . |
| Viewing experience | |||||||
| 1. I felt that I was involved in the visual world of the movie | not at all–completely | 79.85 | 5 | 86.35 | 5.5 | −.90 | .005 |
| 2. I felt I was inside the story** | not at all–completely | 92.68 | 5 | 72.71 | 5 | −2.74 | .046 |
| 3. I felt I was at the places in the displayed environment*** | not at all–completely | 102.93 | 5 | 61.83 | 4 | −5.62 | .191 |
| 4. I empathized with one or more character(s) | not at all–completely | 87.65 | 6 | 78.06 | 6 | −1.35 | .011 |
| 5. The story affected me emotionally | not at all–completely | 88.43 | 6 | 77.23 | 5 | −1.54 | .014 |
| 6. I became less aware of the real world and my personal problems while watching the movie | not at all–completely | 83.51 | 6 | 82.46 | 5 | −.14 | .00012 |
| 7. When I was watching, time seemed to fly quickly*** | not at all–completely | 95.96 | 5 | 69.23 | 4 | −3.65 | .081 |
| 8. This experience was fascinating*** | not at all–completely | 97.45 | 6 | 67.65 | 4.5 | −4.08 | .101 |
| 9. I felt nauseous while watching the movie* | not at all–completely | 88.74 | 1 | 76.91 | 1 | −2.12 | .027 |
| 10. I felt dizzy while watching the movie | not at all–completely | 86.06 | 1 | 79.75 | 1 | −1.14 | .008 |
| Memory characteristics | |||||||
| 1. When I think of the movie, I can see with my mind's eye what took place* | not at all–as clearly as if I watched it now | 89.92 | 6 | 75.65 | 5.5 | 1.98 | .024 |
| 2. My memory for the movie involves sound | little or none–a lot | 84.39 | 7 | 81.53 | 7 | .44 | .001 |
| 3. The relative spatial arrangement of people and objects in my memory for the movie is*** | vague–clear | 96.64 | 6 | 68.51 | 5 | 3.93 | .094 |
| 4. At parts, the movie made me feel moved. This feeling was | weak–strong | 88.46 | 6 | 77.20 | 5 | 1.55 | .015 |
| 5. At parts, the movie made me feel sad. This feeling was | weak–strong | 86.69 | 4 | 79.08 | 4 | 1.04 | .007 |
| 6. At parts, the movie made me feel happy. This feeling was* | weak–strong | 90.54 | 6 | 74.99 | 5 | 2.13 | .027 |
| 7. The emotions I have when I recall the movie are | not at all intense–extremely intense | 87.52 | 4 | 78.20 | 4 | 1.27 | .010 |
| 8. When I recollect the movie, I have a physical/bodily reaction (e.g., palpitations, sweating, tears, laughter) | not at all–very strongly | 88.66 | 2 | 76.98 | 2 | 1.65 | .017 |
| 9. When I now recall the movie, I primarily see what happened from a perspective as seen from** | inside the story world–as an outside observer looking into the story world | 72.43 | 5 | 84.23 | 6 | −3.00 | .055 |
| 10. I was able to understand the structure and content of the story | not at all–completely | 82.81 | 6 | 83.21 | 7 | −.06 | .00002 |
| Recollection accuracy | |||||||
| 1. Percentage of correct answers** | — | 72.06 | 66.7 | 94.63 | 75 | −3.07 | .057 |
| 2. Percentage of “I don't know” answers | — | 88.61 | 16.67 | 77.04 | 16.67 | 1.59 | .015 |
Note. Analyses were performed using a sample size of n = 85 for the virtual reality condition and n = 80 for the screen condition. Significant at *p < .05, **p < .01, and ***p < .001.