At the fringes of normality – a neurocognitive model of the uncanny valley on the detection and negative evaluation of deviations
Year: 2023
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Information violating preconceived patterns tend to be disliked. The term “uncanny valley” is \nused to described such negative reactions towards near humanlike artificial agents as a \nnonlinear function of human likeness and likability. My work proposes and investigates a \nnew neurocognitive theory of the uncanny valley and uncanniness effects within various \ncategories. According to this refined theory of the uncanny valley, the degree of perceptual \nspecialization increases the sensitivity to anomalies or deviations in a stimulus, which leads \nto a greater relative negative evaluation. As perceptual specialization is observed for many \nhuman-related stimuli (e.g., faces, voices, bodies, biological motion) attempts to replicate \nartificial human entities may lead to design errors which would be especially apparent due to \na higher level of specialization, leading to the uncanny valley. The refined theory is \nestablished and investigated throughout 10 chapters. In Chapters 2 to 4, the correlative \n(Chapters 2 and 3) and causal (Chapter 4) association between perceptual specialization, \nsensitivity to deviations, and uncanniness are observed. In Chapters 5 to 6, the refined theory \nis applied to inanimate object categories to validate its relevance in stimulus categories \nbeyond those associated with the uncanny valley, specifically written text (Chapter 5) and \nphysical places (Chapter 6). Chapters 7 to 10 critically investigate multiple explanations on \nthe uncanny valley, including the refined theory. Chapter 11 applies the refined theory onto \necologically valid stimuli of the uncanny valley, namely an android’s dynamic emotional \nexpressions. Finally, Chapter 12 summarized and discusses the findings and evaluates the \nrefined theory of the uncanny based on its advantages and disadvantages. With this work, I \nhope to present substantial arguments for an alternative, refined theory of the uncanny that \ncan more accurately explain a wider range of observation compared to the uncanny valley.
Author: Diel, Alexander
Institution: Cardiff University
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7047327302