When categorization-based stranger avoidance explains the uncanny valley: A comment on MacDorman and Chattopadhyay (2016)

Kawabe, Takahiro; Sasaki, Kyoshiro; Ihaya, Keiko; Yamada, Yuki

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2016.09.001

Cited by 17 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Importantly, Yamada et al (2012) showed that individual differences in food neophobia (which leads to trait avoidance of novel foods) predict the degree to which hard-to-categorize objects are perceived negatively. In line with these studies, the categorization-difficulty hypothesis assumed a two-stage process (for more detailed discussions: Kawabe et al, 2017 ). In the first stage, if the appearance of the hard-to-categorize objects is improbable, then observers cannot categorize such objects into already acquired classes of objects but categorize them into a novel class.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…These studies suggest that high BIS scorers are sensitive and respond negatively to potential threats. If the hypothesis that the uncanny valley partly results from avoiding strangers ( Yamada et al, 2012 , 2013 , 2014 ; Kawabe et al, 2017 ) is true, then individuals with high BIS scores should feel a strong sense of eeriness from hard-to-categorize objects. On the other hand, the effect of BIS would not appear with easy-to-categorize objects because the category of these objects is obvious, and thus these objects are not novel and seen as potential threats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Avoidance of Novelty Contributes to the Uncanny Valley

2017

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A hypothesis suggests that objects with a high degree of visual similarity to real humans trigger negative impressions (i.e., the uncanny valley). Previous studies have suggested that difficulty in object categorization elicits negative emotional reactions to enable the avoidance of potential threats. The present study further investigated this categorization-difficulty hypothesis. In an experiment, observers categorized morphed images of photographs and human doll faces as “photograph” or “doll” and evaluated the perceived eeriness of the images. Additionally, we asked the observers to answer questionnaires on behavioral inhibition systems (BIS). The results indicated that individual differences in the BIS score were associated with enhanced eeriness in the objects with a specific human likeness. These findings suggest that the tendency to avoid a potentially threatening novel experience contributes to promoting the perceived eeriness of objects with some degree of visual similarity to real humans.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Avoidance of Novelty Contributes to the Uncanny Valley

2017

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“…In the behavioral immune system ( Park, Schaller, & Crandall, 2007 ; Schaller, 2011 ; Schaller & Park, 2011 ), perceptual cues of infectious pathogens elicit aversive emotions, and, in turn, these emotions facilitate behavioral avoidance. Likewise, the concept of stranger avoidance ( Kawabe et al, 2017 ; Yamada et al, 2012 , 2013 , 2014 ) supposes that when objects are apparently uncertain and difficult to categorize into already acquired classes, we judge the objects as potentially harmful ones to be avoided. Consequently, negative reactions are elicited.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, some situations (such as a dirty toilet), animals (such as spiders and birds), or wounded people can induce strong negative emotions ( Caseras et al, 2007 ; Curtis, Aunger, & Rabie, 2004 ; Sawchuk, Lohr, Westendorf, Meunier, & Tolin, 2002 ). Humans also respond negatively to objects that are difficult to categorize ( Kawabe, Sasaki, Ihaya, & Yamada, 2017 ; Yamada, Kawabe, & Ihaya, 2012 , 2013 ; Yamada, Sasaki, Kunieda, & Wada, 2014 ). These observations suggest the existence of a system to avoid things that may be perceived as unpleasant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trypophobic Discomfort is Spatial-Frequency Dependent

Sasaki

Yamada

Kuroki

et al. 2017

ACP

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Clusters of holes, such as those in a lotus seedpod, induce trypophobic discomfort. Previous research has demonstrated that high-contrast energy at midrange spatial frequencies in images causes trypophobic discomfort. The present study examined the effects on discomfort of eliminating various spatial frequency components from the images to reveal how each spatial frequency contributes to the discomfort. Experiment 1 showed that eliminating midrange spatial frequencies did not affect trypophobic discomfort, while Experiment 2 revealed that images of holes that consisted of only high-spatial frequencies evoked less discomfort than other images and that images containing only low or midrange spatial frequencies induced as much trypophobic discomfort as did the original images. Finally, Experiment 3 found that participants with a high level of the trypophobic trait experienced stronger discomfort from the original images and the images containing only low or midrange spatial frequencies than participants with a low level of the trypophobic trait. Our findings thus suggest that trypophobic discomfort can be induced by middle and low spatial frequencies.

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“…Stimuli whose truncated range precludes observing the Uncanny Valley itself may also disrupt assessment of category confusion in the Uncanny Valley. Second, most studies have generated stimuli through digital image morphing, a method that risks producing unrealistic transitional images exhibiting, for example, partially transparent facial features or incompatible combinations of features that would be avoided in real-world robot design (Kätsyri et al, 2015;Kawabe, Sasaki, Ihaya, & Yamada, 2017). It is plausible that these unrealistic features themselves, rather than the stimuli's degree of human-likeness, might produce artifactual confusion or aversion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uncanny but not confusing: Multisite study of perceptual category confusion in the Uncanny Valley

Mathur¹,

Reichling²,

Lunardini³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Android robots that are close, but imperfect, likenesses of humans can provoke negative feelings of dislike and eeriness in humans (“Uncanny Valley” effect). We investigated whether category confusion between the perceptual categories of “robot” and “human” contributes to Uncanny Valley aversion. Using a novel, validated corpus of 182 images of real robot and human faces, we precisely estimated the shape of the Uncanny Valley and the location of the perceived robot/human boundary. To implicitly measure confusion, we tracked 358 subjects’ mouse trajectories as they categorized the faces. We observed a clear Uncanny Valley and a pattern of categorization supporting a perceived categorical boundary. Yet, in contrast to predictions of the category confusion mechanism hypothesis, the Uncanny Valley and category boundary locations did not coincide, and mediation analyses further failed to support a causal role of category confusion. These results suggest category confusion does not explain the Uncanny Valley effect.

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When categorization-based stranger avoidance explains the uncanny valley: A comment on MacDorman and Chattopadhyay (2016)

Cited by 17 publications

References 15 publications

Avoidance of Novelty Contributes to the Uncanny Valley

Avoidance of Novelty Contributes to the Uncanny Valley

Trypophobic Discomfort is Spatial-Frequency Dependent

Uncanny but not confusing: Multisite study of perceptual category confusion in the Uncanny Valley

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