The perception of humanness from the movements of synthetic agents

As technology develops, social robots and synthetic avatars might begin to play more of a role in our lives. An influential theory of the perception of synthetic agents states that as they begin to look and move in a more human-like way, they elicit profound discomfort in the observer--an effect known as the Uncanny Valley. Previous attempts to examine the existence of the Uncanny Valley have not adequately manipulated movement parameters that contribute to perceptions of the humanness or eeriness. Here we parametrically manipulated three different kinematic features of two walking avatars and found that, contrary to the Uncanny Valley hypothesis, ratings of the humanness, familiarity, and eeriness of these avatars changed monotonically. Our results indicate that, when a full gradient of motion parameter changes is examined, ratings of synthetic agents by human observers do not show an Uncanny Valley.     

Clusters of Behavioral Coronary Risk Factors in Employed Women and Men1

Clusters of psychosocial variables related to coronary heart disease (CHD) were examined in a sample of 412 university employees. Psychosocial coronary risk was found to vary along three independent dimensions: Anger Suppression, Type A/Anger Expression, and Coffee/Cigarette Use. Women scored lower on Anger Suppression, but higher on Coffee/Cigarette Use than men. When grouped by occupational category, maintenance workers tended to score higher on the dimensions of Anger Suppression and Coffee/Cigarette Use than other categories of workers. These findings show that behaviors related to coronary risk form independent clusters and may need to be considered by interventions designed to reduce CHD morbidity and mortality.     

Self-reinforcement: Appealing misnomer or effective mechanism?1

The purpose of these two experiments was to test the motivational explanation for the effectiveness of self-reinforcement techniques. In each experiment, the classic self-reinforcement procedure (a desirable consequence following a target behavior) was compared with variations. In Experiment 1, undergraduate females (n = 61) showed no more self-recorded exercise when they performed a classic self-reinforcement procedure (high-probability activities following exercising) than when they only self-monitored exercise or engaged in one of three related procedures (high-probability activities preceding exercise, or low-probability activities following or preceding exercise). Indeed, only this last group produced significantly more self-recorded exercise. In Experiment 2, undergraduates (n = 62) attempted more workbook questions following a reading session in which they read a page and then ate a chosen food (classic self-reinforcement procedure) or ate a chosen food and then read a page, than when they read and ate in no particular order. More importantly, more workbook questions were answered correctly by the group who ate a chosen food and then read a page than by the other two groups. No differential results were produced by subjects' level of food deprivation. The classic self-reinforcement procedure showed no advantage over the variations in either experiment. These results call into question the motivational explanation for the effectiveness of self-reinforcement techniques. An alternative stimulus or cuing explanation is offered: that self-reinforcement is effective because it cues the long-term environmental consequences that actually control the frequency of the target behavior.     

Theme and variation in the development of the first transitional object

In our research we have been attempting to elucidate the phenomenon we have labelled the 'first transitional object'. In this paper we have focused primarily on some dimensions along which the child can vary in his use of the first transitional object. We have pointed to the fact that some infants first come in contact with the 'blanket' at the age of three months, and this seems to be a critical time period for regular contact with the first transitional object. While there are variations in the child's attachment to the first transitional object from the very beginning, age two appears to be a crucial time when the intensity of the child's attachment to the 'blanket' becomes established. Most children seem to give up the first transitional object between five and six years of age, and an example of the disruption of this process was presented. An attempt was made to put these findings within a developmental context, while other variables which affect the fate of the first transitional object were also explored.     

The survival of the survival lottery

ABSTRACT In his paper 'The Survival Lottery'John Harris suggested that there could be situations where the rational thing to do would be to kill a healthy person and harvest his organs for transplantation, thereby saving several lives at the cost of one. Anne Maclean claims that such a proposal, far from being rational, does not qualify as a moral proposal at all since what it suggests is 'plain murder'. I argue that she is correct to claim that the proposal is not uniquely rational and that doctors could quite rationally reject it, but that she overreaches herself when she holds it not to be a moral proposal at all.