Journal Article

The Wolfpack Effect: Perception of Animacy Irresistibly Influences Interactive Behavior

Gao, Tao, Scholl, Brian J., McCarthy, Gregory

2010

Overview

Imagine a pack of predators stalking their prey. The predators may not always move directly toward their target (e.g., when circling around it), but they may be consistently facing toward it. The human visual system appears to be extremely sensitive to such situations, even in displays involving simple shapes. We demonstrate this by introducing the wolfpack effect, which is found when several randomly moving, oriented shapes (darts, or discs with \"eyes\") consistently point toward a moving disc. Despite the randomness of the shapes' movement, they seem to interact with the disc—as if they are collectively pursuing it. This impairs performance in interactive tasks (including detection of actual pursuit), and observers selectively avoid such shapes when moving a disc through the display themselves. These and other results reveal that the wolfpack effect is a novel \"social\" cue to perceived animacy. And, whereas previous work has focused on the causes of perceived animacy, these results demonstrate its effects, showing how it irresistibly and implicitly shapes visual performance and interactive behavior.

• Publisher: SAGE Publications,SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subject: Agency / Animacy / Animals / Animation / Attention / Behavior / Behavioural psychology / Computer Simulation / Cues / Experimentation / Humans / Intention / Motion / Motion Perception / Perception / Perceptions / Photic Stimulation / Predators / Predatory Behavior / Psychological effects / Psychology / Psychophysics / Quadrants / Randomness / Sensory perception / Social Behavior / Social interaction / Social perception / Social psychology / Spatial perception / Stalking / Task performance / User-Computer Interface / Visual perception / Visual task performance / Visualization