The more humanlike, the better? How speech type and users cognitive style affect social responses to computers
The present experiment investigated if anthropomorphic interfaces facilitate peoples tendency to project social expectations onto computers and how such effects might vary depending on users cognitive style. In a 2 (synthetic vs. recorded speech)2 (flattering vs. generic feedback)2 (low vs. high rationality)2 (low vs. high experientiality) experiment, participants played a trivia game with a computer. Use of recorded speech did not amplify the previously documented flattery effects (Fogg & Nass, 1997), challenging the notion that anthropomorphism will promote social responses to computers. Participants evaluated the human-voiced computer more positively and conformed more to its suggestions than the one using synthetic speech, but such effects were found only among less analytical or more intuition-driven individuals, suggesting dispositional differences in peoples susceptibility to anthropomorphic cues embedded in the interface.
anthropomorphism experientiality computers are social actors (casa) rationality