Post-session subjective ratings favored the adaptive system for the expressive persona but showed a reversed adaptivity disadvantage for the guarded persona¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r2 · q2 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i2 For the expressive persona (Alex), the adaptive condition significantly outscored static on character consistency (d = 0.40) with a medium realism effect (d = 0.47). → Angela Chen 2026 q2 i2 For the guarded persona (Sam), the adaptive condition showed a reversed medium-sized disadvantage in perceived adaptivity (d = −0.50), not statistically significant. → Angela Chen 2026 (2)

Evidence¶

Angela Chen 2026¶

Angela Chen, Siwei Jin, Catherine Bao, Canwen Wang, Robert E. Kraut, Tongshuang Wu, and Haiyi Zhu. (2026). The Empirically Grounded Adaptive Virtual Patient for Psychotherapy Training: Disclosure That Responds to Therapist Micro-Skills. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.10051 doi:10.48550/arxiv.2606.10051

q2 · i2 · causal · r2

Post-interaction survey with 20 participants rating each condition on 5-point Likert items; for Alex the adaptive condition "received numerically higher ratings on all four dimensions". Printed effect sizes d = 0.40 (consistency) and d = 0.47 (realism) code medium impact.

"the consistency advantage was significant (W= 0 ,p=.046 ,d= 0.40 ), and realism showed a medium effect (d= 0.47 )."

Angela Chen 2026 (2)¶

Angela Chen, Siwei Jin, Catherine Bao, Canwen Wang, Robert E. Kraut, Tongshuang Wu, and Haiyi Zhu. (2026). The Empirically Grounded Adaptive Virtual Patient for Psychotherapy Training: Disclosure That Responds to Therapist Micro-Skills. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.10051

q2 · i2 · design · r2

Same survey, Sam persona: participants rated perceived adaptivity lower for adaptive (M= 2.70) than static (M= 3.20), p=.077, d=−0.50. The article interprets this as participants reading calibrated restraint as unresponsiveness within a ≈10-turn window.

"a reversed medium-sized disadvantage in perceived adaptivity (M= 2.70 adaptive vs.M= 3.20 static;W= 36 , p=.077 , d=−0.50 )"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The adaptive virtual patient produces a steadily climbing disclosure trajectory across a session while a prompt-only baseline with the same LLM and persona stays flat — related
• In the AVP, per-turn disclosure change responds to trainee exploration but not measurably to trainee empathy, and the static baseline shows no significant joint response — related
• Expert evaluation found the virtual patient realistic and immediate ACT feedback increased therapists' awareness of intervention choices — related