The novelty effect, in the context of
human performance, is the tendency for performance to initially improve when new technology is instituted, not because of any actual improvement in learning or achievement, but in response to increased interest in the new technology.
The Metropolitan Education and Research Consortium of the
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...
states, "While it is possible that higher
attention spans can be attributed to novelty effect, even after the initial novelty wears off, the level of interest in the automated
workbook
Workbooks are paperback textbooks
A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational i ...
is still greater than that in the regular workbook. The increased attention by students sometimes results in increased effort or persistence, which yields achievement gains. If they are due to a novelty effect, these gains tend to diminish as students become more familiar with the new medium. This was the case in reviews of
computer-assisted instruction
Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, edtech, it often refer ...
at the secondary school level, grades 6 to 12".
In context of (clinical or biological) psychology
The novelty effect is the tendency for an individual to have the strongest
stress response
The fight-or-flight or the fight-flight-or-freeze response (also called hyperarousal or the acute stress response) is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. It was first des ...
the first time that individual is faced with a potentially threatening experience. Over time, as the novelty wears off, the stress response decreases. This is a threat to external validity when individuals participating in a research study (a novel situation) perceive and respond differently than they would in the normal real world.
See also
*
Hawthorne effect
The Hawthorne effect is a type of reactivity in which individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed. The effect was discovered in the context of research conducted at the Hawthorne Western Electri ...
(observer effect)
References
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External links
https://web.archive.org/web/20070503091246/http://www.soe.vcu.edu/merc/briefs/brief4.htm(accessed April 14, 2007)
Learning