Six theories of anthropomorphism explaining why learners attribute human characteristics to nonhuman entities¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 5 claims (5 for) · 2 studies (1 causal, 1 theoretical), q1–q2 · 1 of 2 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article reviews six accounts of anthropomorphism, defined as "the tendency to atribute human motvaton, characteristcs, or behavior to nonhuman enttes". The familiarity thesis is a primarily cognitive motivation: we anthropomorphize to explicate what we do not comprehend using the mental model we know best, ourselves. The comfort thesis is the prime emotional motivation; the best-bet thesis is a cognitive and game-theoretic approach under chronic uncertainty; the social thesis (Caporael and Heyes' Species-Specific Group-Level Coordination System) holds anthropomorphism is value laden with potential social consequence; object-subject interchangeability and phenomenological intersubjectivity treat anthropomorphism as constructing the self and as a pragmatic response to experienced objects.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Understanding of a phenomenon through conceptual and scientific explanation via learning experience, which the article says diminishes anthropomorphism as cognition matures

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• science learners at secondary and tertiary levels

Target Learning Objectives¶

• understanding the origins of anthropomorphic reasoning in science concept elicitation

Claims¶

• Different humanlike design dimensions cue distinct classes of anthropomorphism inferences [+W]
• A conceptual framework paper reports, citing a meta-analysis (Roesler et al., 2021), that anthropomorphism benefits human-robot interaction with effects varying across task contexts and design implementations [+W]
• Students' teleologic explanations and anthropomorphic languages correlate with age and are associated with curricular undertaking [+W]
• Classroom pedagogical interventions significantly reduce teleologic and anthropomorphic language, with curricular exposure but not age as a significant factor [+W]
• Anthropomorphic explanations of 15 abstract physics concepts differ significantly before and after classroom pedagogical interventions [+W]

Related Theories¶

• Integrated conceptual framework distinguishing humanlikeness as design property from anthropomorphism as attribution process
• Humanlikeness as a multidimensional design construct extending beyond physical appearance
• Four-quadrant inferential framework for interpreting human attribution responses to robot design
• DiSalvo et al. taxonomy of four anthropomorphic design forms

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Bautista, R. G. (2015). Students' affordance of teleologic explanations and anthropomorphic language in eliciting concepts in physics. Journal of Technology and Science Education, 5(1), 31-40. doi:10.3926/jotse.137