Epistemic Emotions in Collaborative Problem Solving Analyzed via Ordered Networks

A new study published on arXiv (2607.23317) uses ordered network analysis (ONA) to examine how epistemic emotions like confusion and frustration persist and transition during collaborative problem solving (CPS). Researchers collected affective states through retrospective cued-recall during an in-person CPS task. The analysis compared self-caught and probe-caught reporting methods, and examined differences between slower and faster groups. ONA revealed distinct persistence and transition patterns not apparent from descriptive summaries, including a stable epistemic core linking curiosity and optimism. The study highlights the challenge of accurately identifying affective states due to the lack of a gold-standard truth.