Anthropomorphism and mechanomorphism: Two faces of the human machine

https://doi.org/10.1016/0747-5632(86)90004-XGet rights and content

Abstract

This paper explores the ambiguity of the “human machine”. It suggests that anthropomorphism results from a “default schema” applied to phenomena, including machines, that a perceiver finds otherwise inexplicable. Mechanomorphism, the attribution of machine characteristics to humans, is a culturally derived metaphor that presently dominates cognitive science. The relationships between anthropomorphism and mechanomorphism pose a special difficulty for the question, “Can machines think?” Does a positive response reflect a cognitive bias on the part of the perceiver or a genuine attribute of the computer? The problem is illustrated for Turing's “imitation game” for thinking machines, and a strategy for constraining anthropomorphic attributions is proposed.

References (88)

  • R.M. Burian

    A methodological critique of sociobiology

  • L.R. Caporael

    Computers, prophecy and experience: A historical perspective

    Journal of Social Issues

    (1984)
  • Caporael, L.R. (in press). Homo sapiens, Homo faber, Homo socians: Technology and the social animal. In W. Callebaut...
  • L.R. Caporael et al.

    Introduction: Toward the social psychology of computering

    Journal of Social Issues

    (1984)
  • R.A. Dawkins

    The selfish gene

    (1976)
  • D.C. Dennett

    True believers: The intentional strategy and why it works

  • R.O. Duda et al.

    Expert systems research

    Science

    (1983)
  • C.S. Dweck

    The role of expectations and attributions in the alleviation of learned helplessness

    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    (1975)
  • J. Feiffer

    The lonely machine

  • K. Fiedler

    Causal schemata: Review and criticism of research on a popular construct

    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    (1982)
  • S.T. Fiske

    Schema-triggered affect: Applications to social perception

  • J.G. Frazer

    The golden bough

    (1963)
  • S. Giedeon

    Mechanization takes command

    (1948)
  • S.J. Gould et al.

    The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: A critique of the adaptationist programme

    S.J. Gould et al.
  • J.H. Greist et al.

    A computer interview for suicide-risk prediction

    American Journal of Psychiatry

    (1973)
  • M.D. Hakel

    Significance of implicit personality theories for personality research and theories

  • B. Hawkins

    Breslin—the home computer that runs my house

    Popular Science

    (1980, January)
    B. Hawkins

    Breslin—the home computer that runs my house

    Popular Science

    (1980, January)
  • F. Heider

    The psychology of interpersonal relations

    (1958)
  • F. Heider et al.

    An experimental study of apparent behavior

    American Journal of Psychology

    (1944)
  • J.M. Henslin

    Craps and magic

    American Journal of Sociology

    (1967)
  • A. Hodges

    Alan Turing: The enigma

    (1983)
  • D.R. Hofstadter et al.

    The mind's I

    (1981)
  • V. Holland et al.

    Distribution of the feature [+ animate] in the lexicon of the child

    Journal of Psycholinguistic Research

    (1979)
  • E.B. James et al.

    Machine intelligence: The best of both worlds?

    International Journal of Man-Machine Studies

    (1972)
  • I.L. Janis et al.

    Decision making

    (1977)
  • S.M. Kassin et al.

    On the development of the augmentation principle: A perceptual approach

    Child Development

    (1979)
  • E.J. Langer

    The illusion of control

    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    (1975)
  • E.J. Langer et al.

    Heads I win, tails it's change: The illusion of control as a function of the sequence of outcomes in a purely chance task

    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    (1976)
  • W.G. Lehnert

    The process of question answering

    (1978)
  • P.S. Linville

    Affective consequences of complexity regarding the self and others

  • B. Malinowski

    Magic, science and religion

    (1954)
  • C.M. Massad et al.

    Selective perception of events

    Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

    (1979)
  • Cited by (98)

    • Cognitive load increases anthropomorphism of humanoid robot. The automatic path of anthropomorphism

      2022, International Journal of Human Computer Studies
      Citation Excerpt :

      {H2}: Under high cognitive load, the higher the level of cognitive load felt by participants, the higher the anthropomorphism Caporael (1986), Hansen et al. (1976) argued that, observing and forming a representation of an agent, the goal of the observation has to be taken into account. For instance, Spunt and Lieberman (2013) showed that attributing mental properties to an agent was modulated by cognitive load only when participants were prompted to attributed a motive to observed action (“Try to understand why the agent is doing this action”) but not when the observer adopts a more descriptive perspective (“Try to understand how the agent is doing this action”).

    • More-than-human Perspective on the Robomorphism Paradigm

      2024, ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction
    View all citing articles on Scopus

    Preparation of this article was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant IST 8110625.

    I am indebted to Glen Culbertson, Robyn Dawes, C.M. Heyes, and Warren Thorngate for their comments and criticisms. I also thank the Department of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History, New York City, for their hospitality during the completion of this work.

    View full text