Achievement-Based Differences in Cognitive-Emotional Interplay During Classroom Learning: A Multimodal Analysis with Experience Sampling Method

BackgroundThe relationship between cognition and emotion during learning is crucial for educational theories and has been under debate for a long time, from the ancient philosophy to current scientific analyses. However, the relationship may not be uniform and may vary across diverse individual groups. AimsTherefore, this study aims to explore whether the relationship between cognition and emotion varies across different student groups. Furthermore, it examines whether neurophysiological evidence can provide insights into such group differences. SampleThe study involved 22 high school students (11 high-performing and 11 low-performing) over 13 math lessons. Surveys were administered three times during each lesson, yielding a multilevel dataset with 777 samples. MethodsThe experience sampling method was employed to gather data on cognitive and emotional states periodically, as well as their regulations. Simultaneously, multimodal neurophysiological data, including electroencephalograph (EEG), electrodermal activity (EDA), and photoplethysmography (PPG), were collected during classroom learning to analyze the relationship further. ResultsCognitive state, cognitive regulation, emotional state, and emotional regulation were highly correlated overall. In high-performing students, the association was higher than that in low-performing students, especially at the level of within-subject repeated-measures. Multimodal data revealed the common neurophysiological basis of the correlated variation between cognition and emotion, and highlighted different neurophysiological patterns between high and low achievers. ConclusionsThe joint evidence from the experience sampling survey and neurophysiological measures reveals that the cognitive-emotional relationship differs by academic achievement levels, with high achievers revealing a more consistent variation between cognition and emotion. Such co-variation shares a common neurophysiological pattern with features associated with high student-teacher interaction and high concentration, further explaining the group differences.