Computers are social actors (CASA) was coined by Clifford Nass and his research team to refer to a range of experiments and paradigm of thought looking at the way humans often interact with machines in ways that are very similar to the ways they do with people, including emotional responses. For example, if humans are asked to rate a system using a computer administered questionnaire, they are far more positive when asked on the same computer than if a second computer is used; it is as if they were being polite to the computer.
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