Humans are Well Tuned to Detecting Agents Among Non-agents: Examining the Sensitivity of Human Perception to Behavioral Characteristics of Intentional Systems

Wykowska, Agnieszka; Kajopoulos, Jasmin; Obando-Leitón, Miguel; Chauhan, S.; Cabibihan, John-John; Cheng, Gordon

doi:10.1007/s12369-015-0299-6

Cited by 45 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…More recently, particular interest has been driven towards how and when humanoid robots evoke mentalistic explanations of behavior [11][12][13][14]. Research with this type of robots is crucial as those share the most physical features and behavior with human agents and also because these robots would be the first ones that will interact with people in social contexts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

More Than You Expect: Priors Influence on the Adoption of Intentional Stance Toward Humanoid Robots

Perez-Osorio

Marchesi

Ghiglino

et al. 2019

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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Expectations about other's behavior based on mental states modulate the way we interact with people. On the brink of the introduction of robots in our social environment, the question of whether humans would use the same strategy when interacting with artificial agents gain relevance. Recent research shows that people can adopt the mentalistic statement to explain the behavior of humanoid robots [1]. Adopting such a strategy might be mediated by the expectations that people have about robots and technology, among others. The present study aims to create a questionnaire to evaluate such expectations and to test whether these priors in fact modulate the adoption of the intentional stance. We found that people's expectations directed to a particular robot platform have an influence on the adoption of mental state based explanations regarding an artificial agent. Lower expectations were associated with anxiety during interaction with robots and neuroticism. Meanwhile, high expectations are linked to feeling less discomfort when interacting with robots and a higher degree of openness. Our findings suggest that platform-directed expectations might also play a crucial role in HRI and in the adoption of intentional stance toward artificial agents.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

More Than You Expect: Priors Influence on the Adoption of Intentional Stance Toward Humanoid Robots

Perez-Osorio

Marchesi

Ghiglino

et al. 2019

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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“…The ability to convey emotions, exhibiting different personalities, employing communication cues, and forming social relationships are some of the traits that make social robots different from typical toys [8][9] [10]. Introducing a new stimuli (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Safety experiments for small robots investigating the potential of soft materials in mitigating the harm to the head due to impacts

et al. 2019

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There is a growing interest in social robots to be considered in the therapy of children with autism due to their effectiveness in improving the outcomes. However, children on the spectrum exhibit challenging behaviors that need to be considered when designing robots for them. A child could involuntarily throw a small social robot during meltdown and that could hit another person's head and cause harm (e.g. concussion). In this paper, the application of soft materials is investigated for its potential in attenuating head's linear acceleration upon impact. The thickness and storage modulus of three different soft materials were considered as the control factors while the noise factor was the impact velocity. The design of experiments was based on Taguchi method. A total of 27 experiments were conducted on a developed dummy head setup that reports the linear acceleration of the head. ANOVA tests were performed to analyze the data. The findings showed that the control factors are not statistically significant in attenuating the response. The optimal values of the control factors were identified using the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio optimization technique. Confirmation runs at the optimal parameters (i.e. thickness of 3 mm and 5 mm) showed a better response as compared to other conditions. Designers of social robots should consider the application of soft materials to their designs as it help in reducing the potential harm to the head.

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“…In terms of experimental control, precise behavioral parameters of the robot can be manipulated, and subsequently, influence of these parameters on the social cognition mechanisms of humans can be examined [10]. Although lowlevel social processes are typically evoked when robots are used as interaction partners [6][7][8], they can be modulated by human-likeness of the robot, as people are sensitive to subtle human-like features in robot's behavior [11][12]. Therefore, increasing human-likeness of humanoid robots, should allow for more natural HRI on the one hand, and for understanding social cognition in more natural interactive scenarios on the other.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Importance of Mutual Gaze in Human-Robot Interaction

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Mutual gaze is a key element of human development, and constitutes an important factor in human interactions. In this study, we examined -through analysis of subjective reports-the influence of an online eyecontact of a humanoid robot on humans' reception of the robot. To this end, we manipulated the robot gaze, i.e., mutual (social) gaze and neutral (non-social) gaze, throughout an experiment involving letter identification. Our results suggest that people are sensitive to the mutual gaze of an artificial agent, they feel more engaged with the robot when a mutual gaze is established, and eye-contact supports attributing human-like characteristics to the robot. These findings are relevant both to the human-robot interaction (HRI) research -enhancing social behavior of robots, and also for cognitive neuroscience -studying mechanisms of social cognition in relatively realistic social interactive scenarios. Keywords: Social Human-Robot interaction, iCub, Mutual Gaze IntroductionOne of the major research topics in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) research is designing robots that react to human needs, coordinate with humans by means of human-like actions, appear intentional, and behave like social agents. These features would allow for a better social attunement with humans and would facilitate their smooth integration into society. Besides design of robots for optimal adaptation in everyday environments, developments in HRI could benefit from investigation of social cognition in humans. More specifically, empirical findings in social neuroscience indicate the need for investigating social cognition during involvement in truly real-time interactive scenarios rather than through mere observation of social stimuli on a screen [1][2][3]. In order to examine mechanisms of social cognition in various naturalistic settings, humanoid robots consist an ideal trade-off between ecological validity and experimental control, for a review see [4]. In terms of ecological validity, humanoid robots increase perception of social presence due to their embodiment [5]. They can induce both low-level social cognition mechanisms (perceptual and motor processes) [6-8] and higher-order mechanisms, such as mentalizing [9]. In terms of experimental control, precise behavioral parameters of the robot can be manipulated, and subsequently, influence of these parameters on the social cognition mechanisms of humans can be examined [10]. Although lowlevel social processes are typically evoked when robots are used as interaction partners [6][7][8], they can be modulated by human-likeness of the robot, as people are sensitive to subtle human-like features in robot's behavior [11][12]. Therefore, increasing human-likeness of humanoid robots, should allow for more natural HRI on the one hand, and for understanding social cognition in more natural interactive scenarios on the other. One of the most crucial cues of typically human communication is mutual gaze or eye contact; a reciprocal exchange of gaze between two people. The effect of eye cont...

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Humans are Well Tuned to Detecting Agents Among Non-agents: Examining the Sensitivity of Human Perception to Behavioral Characteristics of Intentional Systems

Cited by 45 publications

References 30 publications

More Than You Expect: Priors Influence on the Adoption of Intentional Stance Toward Humanoid Robots

More Than You Expect: Priors Influence on the Adoption of Intentional Stance Toward Humanoid Robots

Safety experiments for small robots investigating the potential of soft materials in mitigating the harm to the head due to impacts

The Importance of Mutual Gaze in Human-Robot Interaction

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