Investigation of the interaction of teacher candidates' executive function skills with emotions in computer simulation environment

Caglar-Ozhan S., ALTUN A.

TEACHING AND TEACHER EDUCATION, 2025 (SSCI) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Publication Date: 2025
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.tate.2025.104970
  • Journal Name: TEACHING AND TEACHER EDUCATION
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, ASSIA, IBZ Online, Periodicals Index Online, EBSCO Education Source, Education Abstracts, Educational research abstracts (ERA), ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Psycinfo
  • Hacettepe University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The study investigates the interaction between executive functions and affect transitions in a computer simulation-based teaching task. Pre-service teachers from a state university participated and data were collected using EEG, EDA and facial expression analysis. The collected data were analyzed using event-related oscillations, sequential pattern mining and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks tests. The results show that pre-service teachers tend to use correct interventions when they are happy, but incorrect interventions when they are surprised or angry. Executive functions, especially working memory, perform better under negative emotions than under neutral conditions. The results highlight the importance of understanding emotional influences on teaching interventions.