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SUMMARY:Social robots: an experimental apparatus in fundamental psychologi
 cal research and a support tool in healthcare - Agnieszka Wykowska (Italia
 n Institute of Technology)
DTSTART:20240605T140000Z
DTEND:20240605T150000Z
UID:TALK212545@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Yara Kyrychenko
DESCRIPTION:As robots are believed to soon populate human environments\, t
 hey have received enthusiastic support in the scientific community. Most r
 esearch aims at designing robots for assisting humans in daily lives\, hea
 lthcare\, or elderly care. However\, there is also a less explored way of 
 using robots - robots as tools to understand human cognition. We take this
  approach in our lab in examining human socio-cognitive mechanisms in inte
 raction. In this talk\, I will present the work from our lab where we have
  examined whether and how social signals\, such as gaze contact\, initiate
 d by a humanoid robot\, influence attentional orienting and social decisio
 n making. Our results showed\, both at the behavioral and neural level\, t
 hat social gaze modulates attention and efficiency in decision making. In 
 addition\, I will present our work related to the question of whether and 
 under what conditions humans treat robots as social partners and intention
 al agents. I will also discuss the topic of value-aware social robots. The
  talk will conclude with a case of how fundamental research can be applied
  to societal needs – I will share our results of robot-assisted training
  for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. These results will 
 then be discussed in a broader context of  societal implications of resear
 ch on social robots.
LOCATION:Ground Floor Lecture Theatre\, Department of Psychology\, Downing
  Site\, Cambridge
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