Michelle Mun

Intern/Mentor
Annotated Source List
Cairns, N. (2014). Satisfaction with cosmesis and priorities for cosmesis design reported by
lower limb amputees in the united kingdom: Instrument development and results. In
Prosthetics and Orthotics International

. 38(6), 467-473.
http://www.doi.dx.org/10.1177/0309364613512149.
This journal explains the importance of cosmesis in the rehabilitation of
amputees, but it mainly provides detailed statistics regarding the most common
preferences amputees requested. The data showed that the higher rankings of the most
desired cosmesis features included color match, shape match, durability, and fit of
clothes over the cosmesis. It also showed that there is no correlation between gender
and preference of prosthetic. The most important aspect of the data given was that the
preference of lifelike was one of the lowest ranked. This demonstrates the idea that
more realistic prostheses do not, in fact, help the psychological state of amputees and
actually deters them from utilizing prostheses.
This document aids in amputee psychology research in that it gave a statistical
representation of previous claims that realistic prostheses are not favored and do not
benefit the amputee, as lifelike prostheses were lower ranked. On top of this, the
datas explanation that gender has no significant role in prosthetic preference allows
research on amputee psychology to be narrowed as there are not as many variables to
consider. Because men and women generally have the same preferences, it is
acceptable to generalize

the fact that all amputees benefit from less realistic

prostheses.
Fan, Y. (2015, May 7). The real need: Interview

of Angel Giuffria [Video file]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwTHpuTHjb8
This video provides an interview of an amputee and her experiences with wearing
a prosthesis. In the video, the amputee explains the three different prosthetic arms she
uses, each holding a different function. The Deka arm which allows basic
hand-shaking and waving; the Bionic arm which allows basic everyday living tasks
(tying shoes, opening doors, etc.); the cosmetic arm which holds no functions but
appears human-like to conceal disability. She describes how she as an amputee needs
all three arms in order to function normally. Her emphasis on each arm shows how she
appreciates functionality in prostheses despite the lacking aesthetic appeal, but at the
same time has an inherent desire to feel a sense of normalcy in society.
Direct insight into an amputees personal experience towards prostheses supports
research involving the role of aesthetic realism in amputee psychology. This form of
qualitative evidence allows research on a personal level to support the importance of

self image in amputees. Angels desire to utilize her cosmetic arm to feel normal
displays hers (and other amputees) underlying insecurities, which supports the notion
that amputees generally feel compelled to demand human-like arms despite its lack of
benefit/functionality. This relates to previous sources that underline the severity of
amputees self identity/image problems that go into the field of aesthetic realism.
IEEE Spectrum. (2013, November 20).

The uncanny valley revisited: Masahiro Mori [Video

file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g0sH3jTaVc
This video provides a lecture given directly by Masahiro Mori, the founder of the
theory The Uncanny Valley. In this video, Masahiro describes how he
conceptualized the theory based off of human psychology. He uses specific examples
such as Bunraku puppets to fully illustrate how humans react to overly realistic
inanimate objects. He refers to several graphs that outline not only the Uncanny
Valley but different factors that can affect it even further (i.e. moving and still).
Masahiro refers to prosthetic hands to support his claims and explain that the
appearance of them is extremely important; there was a prosthetic hand produced in
the 1980s that had human skin tone, fingernails, fingerprints, wrinkles, etc. and highly
resembled a human hand. Masahiro explains that because of these features, humans
lost a sense of affinity after realizing that the prosthetic was in fact not human, which
in turn developed into negativity.
This video provides an in-depth lecture presented by the founder of the Uncanny
Valley himself, including slides and descriptive graphs. This grants viewers a more
three dimensional and informative source for research. Masahiro describes prostheses
and how the more realistic they are, the more negative of a response they gain from
humans. This directly supports the hypothesis that more realistic prostheses do not
benefit amputees. The explanation of the Uncanny Valley as well as reference to
prostheses provides a highly supportive argument for claims against the advantages of
realistic prostheses.
Masahiro, M. (2012, June 12). The uncanny valley [Map]. Retrieved from
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/the-uncanny-valley
This photo depicts a graph that illustrates the Uncanny Valley. Rather than simply
depicting rising and falling lines, the photograph provides specific examples in the
graph that more clearly convey the levels of familiarity and repulsion. The graphs x
and y axes also include different factors: moving and still. It can be seen that
robots/non-human objects receive slightly different responses when they are moving
or still. For example, a corpse is still and is at the bottom of the Uncanny Valley.
However, a zombie is a corpse that moves. This lies even lower on the valley than a
corpse. What this shows is that if something appears somewhat human but is not, the
more human-like actions and movements it mimics the more repulsed other humans
will feel towards it.

This source aids in the development of the research of the role of aesthetic realism
in amputee psychology through illustrating the various factors that apply to prostheses.
Most prostheses have to be mobile in order to function properly. If the prosthetic is
both realistic and mobile, the amputee will feel an intense amount of repulsion
towards it, as shown by the source. This supports part of the hypothesis that, due to the
Uncanny Valley, the more realistic a prosthetic is the less it will benefit the amputee.
Masahiro, M. (2005.). The uncanny valley. [PDF] Energy. 7(4), 33-35. Retrieved from
http://www.comp.dit.ie/dgordon/Courses/CaseStudies/CaseStudy3d.pdf
This reprinted PDF file of Mori Masahiros work gives reliable and primary
background into the Uncanny Valley. Mori Masahiro is the Japanese roboticist who
founded the concept of the Uncanny Valley. His reprinted/translated explanation
allows viewers to gain greater insight into his ideas and how they relate to prostheses.
The file includes graphs that depict and even point out where prosthetic hand would
be located: nearly at the trough of the Uncanny Valley. The reason for this is because
prostheses are essentially limbs of humanoid robots. These prostheses are human-like
yet clearly not human and retain human-like movements. This confusion of reality
induces fear in humans and a decrease in familiarity. Mori Masahiro goes into
prosthetic design and urges designers to consider producing prostheses that have less
human-like qualities so they do not receive a repulsed response.
Understanding the connection between prostheses and the Uncanny Valley
directly from the man who developed the concept himself gives viewers an in-depth
comprehension and explanation of the theory. Mori Masahiro directly supports the
research hypothesis that amputees with less realistic prostheses are impacted more
positively psychologically than amputees with very realistic prostheses by calling less
realistic designs safer options. This type of statement presents support that the
Uncanny Valley makes use of realistic of prostheses less beneficial to amputees.
Because amputees will feel repulsion, it is likely their rehabilitation will be prolonged.
Utilizing this support in research of amputee psychology provides reliable sources and
introduces correlativity between aesthetic realism and psychological states of
amputees.
McCullough, E. (1922, December 15). Can intelligence be measured? The Survey. Retrieved
from http://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/issues/can-intelligence-measured/
Ernest McCullough in this reprinted article defines the multifaceted aspects of
intelligence and discusses its ambiguity. He explains his perspective and brings forth a
new, untouched concept revolving around Gumption, a mixture of energy and
common sense. McCullough suggests that intelligence is made of both natural and
acquired intelligence, as a sort of super intelligence. He thoroughly explains the
difficulty in defining intelligence, as it has so many different dimensions; McCullough
provides an example of a businessman who was considered so dull as a child that his

peers and family were surprised to see him become successful. McCullough explains
that this business man, though slow in understanding and taking in concepts, was
nonetheless sharp and this underlying intelligence was proved through his success.
Nguyen, D. (2013). The beauty of prostheses: Designing for female amputees (Master's thesis,
MIT, Boston, MA). Retrieved from
https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/81617/859144464-MIT.pdf?sequence=2
This document is a professional study revolving around the female psychology after
amputation and how cosmesis/aesthetic design goes into relieving some of the
stresses. It specifically describes some factors of prosthetic design that apply to
women, but not necessarily to men. Some of these factors include accessories (purses,
necklaces, rings, etc.) and feminine clothing. These factors are important because if
the prosthetic does not meet these standards, women are less able to identify with
themselves and feel normal. These factors are individual idiosyncrasies and qualities
that are tweaked or personalized to make the amputee feel unique, representing that
self identity is a significant factor in amputee psychology/rehabilitation. The study
mentions that although women desire a sense of normalcy, they still prefer to have a
defined, bionic prosthetic with accessories as opposed to an extremely
realistic/human-like prosthetic.
This document provides support in amputee psychology research in that it supports
previous sources; amputees desire unique and personalized aspects of prostheses, not a
prosthetic that hides their disability. The source relates back to previous experiments
with similar results; children with arm prostheses preferred human-shaped arms with
extravagant colors that suited their tastes as opposed to skin toned arms. The fact that
the document focuses specifically on women gives a more centralized perspective on
amputee psychology and the feminine factors that play into the role of aesthetic
realism. The document forms questions involving whether there are masculine factors
that play in the psychology of male amputees. Do men prefer bulkier prostheses?
Prostheses with muscular-like features?
Papavassiliou, E. (2015, April 10). Uncanny prosthetics. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from
http://www.interactivearchitecture.org/uncanny-in-prosthetics-a-survey-through-j-stuart-b
lacktons-short-movie-the-thieving-hand.html
This article defines the concept of the Uncanny Valley specifically in prostheses.
Generally, those who witness too realistic prostheses respond negatively towards
them and experience a wave of terror. This terror comes from the fear of the prosthetic
possibly being able to act on its own or go independent. The fear that a lifeless object
could, in fact, be animate. The Uncanny Valley contributes to this fear due to the
abnormal appearance of the prosthetic. It is clearly lifeless, yet still appears
extremely human. This author explains that this uncertainty and eeriness is what
amplifies/intensifies the highly negative response towards too human-like prostheses.

The article does not simply define the Uncanny Valley but applies it through use of
old concepts and examples. It brings to light a new idea of uncertainty that provides
further explanation as to why humans respond the way they do to aesthetic designs
that fall into the Uncanny Valley. Humans do not irrationally or senselessly feel
disgust towards too human-like prostheses. There is reasoning behind it: fear and
uncertainty. This background contributes to the overall picture of the research topic
and intrinsically magnifies the importance of the role of aesthetic realism in
human/amputee psychology.
Reilly, J. (2013). Father builds prosthetic hand for son with 3-D printer after watching DIY
video. Daily Mail. Retrieved from
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2478750/Father-builds-prosthetic-hand-son-3-D
-printer-watching-online-DIY-video.html (Reprinted from The Daily Mail, 2013)
This reprinted article describes a man who built a prosthetic hand for his son, rather
than purchasing an already made prosthetic. It shows pictures of the multi-colored
human-shaped prosthetic and explains that the father and son plan to add more
features and preferred designs as his sons interests change and grow. Although the
son was initially apprehensive, the article states that once he saw and used the
prosthetic, he had an extremely positive response.
This article serves as an additional piece of evidence in representing the importance of
personalization/identification with prostheses in amputee psychology. The boy
responded positively to the prosthetic because his own father built it for him and he is
able to add features, colors, designs that align with his interests. This gives him
freedom to identify with the prosthetic and feel a sense of uniqueness. The prosthetic
was not skin-colored, which also correlates with previous sources and hypotheses
regarding positive response. It holds the same pattern as the experiment held with
children: colors/designs that suit the childs interests and somewhat human-shaped.
Sansoni, S. (2014). Psychological distress and well-being in prosthetic users - the role of realism
in below-knee prostheses. In The Colors of Care (pp. 552-561). Retrieved from
http://www.academia.edu/8921686/Psychological_distress_and_well-being_in_prosthetic
_users_-_the_role_of_realism_in_below-knee_prostheses
This reprinted article outlines the psychological effects of realism in prostheses; the
well-being of users is affected by factors including the time elapsed since amputation
and acceptance of limb loss. It clearly defines each factor and its impact on the
individuals response to the trauma of the loss of a limb. It asserts that, contrary to
popular belief, more realistic or human-like appearing prostheses largely do not
improve the psychological state of users. There are two phases that go into the coping
process of amputation; phase 1 is the users initial response to amputation and desire
to have a realistic prosthetic as a nostalgic and almost desperate effort to have a human
limb again. Phase 2 is the users gradual acceptance of the loss and sudden repulsion

to human-like prostheses as it reminds them of what they no longer have and has no
real impact on his/her self confidence. The article concludes that non-realistic
prostheses have a more positive effect on users psychological state.
This source aids to the research of amputee psychology in that it counters the original
idea that more realistic/human-like prostheses would have a more positive effect on
users mentalities than non-realistic prostheses. It informs the reader of different
factors that go into the varying experiences (but overall similar) of amputees and how
despite that the factors may vary among individuals, in the end they all fall into phase
1 then phase 2. The article provides diagrams and graphs of data and research that
support its claims and illustrate the concepts of its research clearly, allowing the
audience to better understand the idea of the psychological states of prostheses and
amputees.
Sansoni, S., Wodehouse, A., McFadyen, A., & Buis, A. (2015). The aesthetic appeal of
prosthetic limbs and the uncanny valley: The role of personal characteristics in attraction.
International Journal of Design, 9(1), 67-81. Retrieved from
http://www.ijdesign.org/ojs/index.php/IJDesign/article/viewFile/1450/661
This journal defines a Japanese theory pertaining to the role of aesthetic in prostheses
known as the Uncanny Valley: the level of identification and familiarity that humans
feel towards human-like, inanimate objects. This concept suitably applies to the issue
with aesthetic realism and prostheses. The Uncanny Valley asserts that humans feel
attraction towards prostheses with human-like characteristics that also possess defined
robotic and artificial qualities, while we feel repulsion towards too human-like
prostheses and too artificial prostheses. The level of realness must come to a middle
range in order to appeal to the user: this ties in with my other source in that it supports
the claim that less realistic prostheses positively impact amputees mental health more
than realistic prostheses.
The source aids to amputee psychology research in that it defines specific theories that
revolve around the concept of aesthetic realism: it centralizes its focus around the
topic of amputee psychology and correlates its ideas with ideas from other researches.
This gives the reader a broader picture of the topic as a whole and adds a solid base for
an individuals own research. Learning of the Uncanny Valley allows the reader to
look deeper into the psyche of the human mind regarding what is too human or too
artificial and why humans search for that perfect middle range. The viewer forms
questions such as why do we want certain robotic features? why wouldnt we want
a more realistic prosthetic? why cant we identify with highly human-like
prostheses?
Stangor, C. (2003). Defining and measuring intelligence 9.1. In Introduction to psychology.
Retrieved from
http://open.lib.umn.edu/intropsyc/chapter/9-1-defining-and-measuring-intelligence/

This reprinted chapter of a university Psychology textbook describes the various

fields of intelligence, characteristics of valid IQ tests, and biological/environmental
factors that affect intelligence. It lists the major aspects of intelligence: spatial ability,
verbal intelligence, perceptual intelligence, algorithmic skill, etc. The chapter explains
general intelligence, g, which is what has been measured in all IQ tests thus far, and
specific intelligence, s (a measure of specific skills in narrow domains). Though the
existence of general intelligence is accepted due to its wide-ranged qualities, the
existence of specific intelligence is far more complex and obscure. This specific
intelligence is difficult to study and measure because it covers creativity and
naturalistic facets, which many argue are not analogous to analytical intelligence.
This source aids research on measurement of intelligence in that it outlines the
guidelines necessary to create an IQ test, which provides useful background on what
types of questions are thought to be able to measure specific skills that insinuate high
intelligence. These specific skills are not mentioned in the source, but a variable, g,
was introduced. This piece of information narrows research down to revolve around a
specific unit of analytical intelligence as opposed to the various other forms of
intelligence, allowing a more centralized view on the hypothesis.
Terman, L. M. (1916). The uses of intelligence tests. In The measurement of intelligence (pp.
4-21). Retrieved from
https://books.google.com/books?id=26l9AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs
_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
This book - reprinted from 1916 - gave extremely detailed and relevant information
regarding not only past researches from the 18th century on intelligence but insight on
the Alfred-Simon IQ scale. The author explains general intelligence and the first
methods used to measure it. He describes tests performed on children varying from
ages 5-14 and how the childrens responses were recorded verbatim, making it
possible to score the records according to any desired standards. After this discovery,
standardizing general intelligence tests became far more centralized and realistic. The
researchers would generally test a large group of children and separate the two into
groups of superior intelligence and inferior intelligence - if there was not a higher
proportion of passes in the superior intelligence group, the test was deemed
unsatisfactory and liable for revision.
This book provides step by step experiments and tests from the early 1900s (including
the Stanford IQ test). This allows viewers to see the growth from the pioneer IQ tests
and modern IQ tests. It points out the flaws and changes made to the early tests, giving
me highly detailed insight into each explanation. This book provides information on
what has already been discovered in the realm of the measurement of intelligence and
how general intelligence came to be as a result of hundreds of complex experiments.

Walters, M. L., Syrdal, D. S., Dautenhahn, K., Te Boekhorst, R., & Koay, K. L. (2008).
Avoiding the uncanny valley: Robot appearance, personality and consistency of behavior
in an attention-seeking home scenario for a robot companion. Autonomous Robots, 24(2),
159-178. http://www.doi.dx.org/10.1007/s10514-007-9058-3
This reprinted article describes the Uncanny Valley through various experiments and
research studies. It specifically explains the different reasons as to why people feel a
sudden repulsion towards too human appearing prostheses. Some of these reasons
include behavior matter and perception of humans or what humans should be. Robots,
despite appearing human, normally have very stiff movements which produces
feelings of eeriness. This causes a distinguishment between the human and robot; an
inability to identify. This ties in with human perception of other humans. Robots can
never look fully human, no matter how much design goes into them. Because of this,
humans connect these kinds of humanoid robots to humans with illnesses. (What is
wrong with them? Why do they look like that?) As humans feel a slight discomfort
around amputees, paralyzed patients etc, the same feeling forms in us around
humanoids.
This article more thoroughly explains the specific reasons as to why humans feel
repulsion towards human-like robots than previous sources and provides useful
background behind amputee psychology research. Prostheses generally do not have
smooth movements human limbs would, and no matter how realistically they are
designed, they are clearly inhuman. This produces feelings of detachment and an
inability to identify, relating back to the hypothesis that cosmesis and identification
with prostheses is highly impactful.