Abstract

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is emerging as an important factor in high performance at work, at school, collage, or at home. Learner performances depend on the external conditions or circumstances that exist when learning occurs. Recent research results indicate that cognitive processes are related to emotions and it play a powerful role in cognitive processes. Since emotions are omnipresent in any kind of interaction it can be advantageous to take them into account, particularly in the context of an intelligent tutoring system (ITS). In traditional learning environments, the teacher attempts to ensure the best conditions for learning and especially the emotional conditions. For Example, he introduces a joke in the classroom, in order to change the current emotions of the learners, if they are bored or frustrated. Whereas the existing Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) are lacked of considering the emotional conditions of learning that should exist in order to motivate the learners and to facilitate the achievement of learning. In the present paper we propose a way to detect and manage learner’s emotions in order to improve the learning process and the emotional conditions of learning that should exist in a learning activity according to the cognitive process activated. Also, we demonstrate that adding an emotional charge to a learning content additionally helps the learning process, in particular the memorization process, which is known to be of central importance in any form of learning. These mark a significant step towards Intellectual Intelligent Tutoring Systems that are emotionally intelligent and hence cope in a beneficiary w ay with a learner’s emotions.