Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)

The Human

Communication researchers such as S. Shyam Sundar of Pennsylvania State University and Clifford Nass of Stanford University focus on the nature of users' orientation toward computers and other media technologies—as either independent sources of information or simply mediums between sources and receivers. Under the former conceptualization, the degree to which individuals treat computers as human is an indication of their tendency to view them as autonomous sources. Several experimental studies in the media equation literature document the human tendency to apply rules of human-human interaction to human-computer interaction. For example, research by Byron Reeves and Clifford Nass has shown that we apply politeness norms and gender stereotypes to computers, respond to them as if they had humanlike personality traits such as dominance and submissiveness, and otherwise treat them socially by applying rules pertaining to self-other praise-criticism, self-disclosure reciprocity, and behavioral consistency, among a host of other domains. Research on such social attributions by Clifford Nass and Youngme Moon also suggests that these social attributions arise not from a conscious decision to anthropomorphize computers but rather from an automatic tendency to [Page 390]apply rules of human-human interaction without being mindful of the fact that one is interacting with a nonhuman entity.

In fact, the socialness of human-computer interaction has been a fundamental preoccupation in this subfield. For example, an entire design movement, labeled social computing, is devoted to research and development of interfaces that contribute to compelling and effective social interactions. Emphasis is placed on research related to the social relationships in which users engage with computers and other users via computers when they are online. In his 1994 article “Social Computing,” Doug Schuler has described social computing in terms of software that functions as an intermediate entity in any social interaction. The relationship between social behaviors and interactions with computing technologies has been the focus of research done by Christopher Dryer and colleagues. Another distinctive aspect of social computing is highlighted by some researchers at the IBM Research Division. John Thomas and colleagues emphasize the role of digital systems that can draw upon social information and context. According to these researchers, such social computing enhances the activity and performance of people, organizations, and systems. On a similar note, Adrian Cheok and colleagues call attention to the social, cultural, organizational, and interactional context that social computing brings to mixed-reality environments, which, they argue, is crucial for embodiment in such environments. Microsoft Corporation even has a social computing group, which, according to their website, is devoted to “developing software that contributes to compelling and effective social interactions, with a focus on user-centered design processes and rapid prototyping” (“Microsoft Research Areas,” para. 9).

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