To be considered socially intelligent, agents must be able to adjust their behavior to different social contexts. However, those adjustments must be recognized and understood by other agents and humans, particularly to identify the social motivations that triggered such changes. In this work, we report on an experimental study that explores how external observers attribute social motivations to behavior and appearance changes that agents make to adapt to the context. Furthermore, we study how the presence of other agents in the context might impact the attribution of motivations to specific changes. Our results indicate that participants identify agents’ appearance changes as more socially and spatially motivated than behavioral changes. Additionally, agents’ awareness is rated higher when the agents adjust their physical characteristics compared to behavioral changes.

Social agents should exhibit socially adequate behavior to fit the context they meet. Fitting the context is particular relevant for interactive agents that interact and are being observed by people. Hence, the perceptions of people of such social capabilities are an important concern. Exhibiting socially adequate behavior can more easily be identifiable when in the presence of other social actors. However, even alone, one’s ability to adjust to the context might be socially motivated and interpreted as such. Similarly, intelligent agents may be identified as social beings when acting alone. Moreover, social context is triggered in different ways. In this study, we explore if adaptation to the physical surroundings (e.g., the agent’s location) is enough to shape the perceptions of people observing the agent. We contribute to the study of situated cognition’s role in interpreting an autonomous agent’s behavior. In particular, we explore the impact of behavior changes grounded on the location as a contextual cue on the motivation ascribed by an observer to the agent’s behavior.