Cognitive Scaffold

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MENTAL MODEL · M0684

Uncanny Valley

Uncanny Valley
CultureHigh supportAesthetics
Included
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

The uncanny valley hypothesis proposes a non-monotonic relationship between human likeness and emotional response: nearly human robots or images with incongruent features may be more unsettling than clearly nonhuman forms. It does not mean a quiet valley.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Evaluate appearance, movement and user responses together when designing avatars or robots.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Perceptual mismatch and violated expectations are proposed explanations. No universal “95% similarity” threshold applies to all observers and stimuli.

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valleyZH · Explicit
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