Yoko Okamoto
Papers
1
Total Citations
42
H-Index
1
About
Yoko Okamoto is a developmental psychologist whose research lies at the intersection of social cognition, perceptual development, and the uncanny valley phenomenon. Her most cited work, "Infants prefer the faces of strangers or mothers to morphed faces: an uncanny valley between social novelty and familiarity" (2012, 42 citations), offers a groundbreaking empirical test of the uncanny valley hypothesis in preverbal infants. By demonstrating that 9- to 12-month-olds show avoidance of highly realistic but imperfectly familiar faces—specifically, morphed composites blending mother and stranger features—Okamoto revealed that the uncanny valley emerges early in development, rooted in the tension between social novelty and familiarity. This finding challenges adult-centric models of the uncanny and has profound implications for understanding social perception, human-robot interaction, and atypical development. Okamoto’s work bridges developmental psychology and robotics, providing a foundational framework for why hyper-realistic artificial agents can unsettle us. Her research continues to influence fields from cognitive science to artificial intelligence, underscoring how even our youngest minds navigate the delicate boundary between the known and the almost-known.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
- 1