18 Questions
According to the Media Equation theory, how do people tend to respond to computers and other media?
By assigning human characteristics and treating them as real social actors
What did Reeves and Nass establish before the Media Equation test in 1996?
When a computer asks a user about itself, the user will give more positive responses than when a different computer asks the same question
What do numerous studies indicate about people's response to media, based on the Media Equation theory?
The type of reaction is automatic, unavoidable, and happens more often than people realize
According to Reeves and Nass, how do individuals' interactions with computers, television, and new media compare to interactions in real life?
Fundamentally social and natural, just like interactions in real life
What does anthropomorphism suggest?
We recognize human qualities in technical beings
What does mindlessness refer to?
Unconscious automatic reactions to human-like cues
What did Johnson and Gardner test mindlessness as one of the explanations for?
Media equation theory
What did the results show about female participants in a positive mood interacting with computers?
They showed more tendency to gender-stereotype computers
What did another study find about the influence of cognitive evaluation on the media equation effect?
It may influence the effect of the media equation
What did participants from the avatar condition report after group exclusion?
They reported being sadder due to the exclusion and more confident due to the inclusion
What did the real-life social behavior tests indicate about participants excluded by avatars?
They took significantly longer time to perform helping behavior
What did the study find about the media equation's validity for immediate response to social exclusion?
The media equation is valid for immediate response to social exclusion
What was the main focus of Reeves and Nass's experiment?
Evaluating social responses to computers
How did participants' evaluations of computer #1 differ based on the evaluation method?
More positive on the same computer, more varied and negative on a different computer or pen-and-paper questionnaire
What did the addition of a voice speaker to both computers reveal about people's behavior?
People are polite to computers in both verbal and textual scenarios
What does the media equation propose?
Social rules can apply to media, and computers can be social initiators
What is the basis of the media equation?
The idea that everyone responds socially and naturally to media, regardless of their experience or cultures
According to Nass and Reeves, what is an innate human response to media?
Assigning social roles, emotions, and human characters to media
Study Notes
The Social Response to Computers and Media
- Reeves and Nass conducted an experiment with 22 participants to evaluate the social responses to computers.
- The experiment involved participants interacting with two computers and a pen-and-paper questionnaire.
- Participants were asked to evaluate the computer's performance and describe it using adjectives.
- The evaluations of computer #1 were more positive when done on the same computer, and more varied and negative when done on a different computer or pen-and-paper questionnaire.
- The addition of a voice speaker to both computers yielded almost identical results, indicating that people are polite to computers in both verbal and textual scenarios.
- The experiment supports the hypothesis that social rules can apply to media, and computers can be social initiators.
- The media equation relies on eight propositions derived from the research, including the automatic nature of social responses to media and the tendency to respond to what is present.
- The media equation is based on the idea that everyone responds socially and naturally to media, regardless of their experience or cultures.
- According to Nass and Reeves, assigning social roles, emotions, and human characters to media is an innate human response, with three proposed explanations: anthropomorphism, the computer-as-proxy, and mindlessness.
Test your knowledge of the social response to computers and media with this quiz. Explore the findings of Reeves and Nass' experiment, the media equation, and the innate human response to assigning social roles to media.
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