CHS: Small: Applying Intergroup Psychology to Overcome Barriers in Human-Robot Interaction

预计机器人将在家庭、医院、学校和其他日常空间无处不在，在这些地方，它们将不再与专家互动，而是与来自不同文化背景的普通人--成年人、老年人和儿童--互动。但由于不熟悉，未经培训的用户可能对机器人有负面的信念、情绪和态度，这对他们的接受构成了潜在的挑战。此外，多人将与多个机器人交互。人类和机器人群体之间的互动可能特别有问题，因为人类之间的群体间互动通常比个人之间的互动更负面、不合作和更具攻击性，而且人类对技术人工制品的反应通常类似于他们对其他人类的反应。在这个项目中，PI将借鉴研究刻板印象、偏见和群体间冲突的社会心理学的研究，并将应用已建立和验证的理论和方法来开发：(A)可用于了解人们对机器人负面反应的程度、性质和基础的衡量标准；(B)这些负面反应的原因和后果的理论模型；以及(C)可明显减少群体间人-机器人交互(HRI)中的负面信念、态度和行为的干预措施。项目成果将提出减少或消除未来机器人应用的关键障碍的方法，这些障碍是由于人们的信仰、态度和情绪造成的。九项研究将在三年内进行。在第一年，将进行在线和面对面的测量，以了解参与者对机器人的态度，并调查导致负面反应的基本因素。在第二年，将探索小组接触、观点采纳和长期接触作为减少对机器人的偏见的方法。在第三年，将测试另外两种减少人权倡议中偏见的方法：重新分类和基于规范的干预。最后一项研究将评估被发现在促进积极的组间HRI方面最成功的互动和设计策略，方法是在自然环境中与人互动的机器人中实施这些策略。这些研究将涉及不同年龄、社会经济地位和文化背景的参与者(包括在日本的四项研究)。由于到目前为止，HRI主要关注人与机器人之间的一对一互动，因此将心理学理论应用于群体HRI具有巨大的变革潜力。

Robots are projected to become ubiquitous in homes, hospitals, schools, and other everyday spaces, where they will have to interact not with experts but rather with ordinary people - adults, the elderly, and children, from different cultural backgrounds. But untrained users may have negative beliefs, emotions, and attitudes about robots, due to lack of familiarity, which present potential challenges to their acceptance. Furthermore, multiple people will interact with multiple robots. Interaction between human and robot groups may be especially problematic, because intergroup interactions among humans are generally more negative, uncooperative, and aggressive than interactions between individuals, and human reactions to technological artifacts often resemble their reactions to other humans. In this project the PI will draw upon research from social psychology that has examined stereotyping, prejudice, and intergroup conflict, and will apply established and validated theories and methods to develop: (a) measures that can be used to understand the extent, nature, and bases of people's negative reactions to robots; (b) theoretical models of the causes and consequences of these negative reactions; and (c) interventions that demonstrably reduce negative beliefs, attitudes, and behavior in intergroup human-robot interaction (HRI). Project outcomes will suggest ways to reduce or eliminate crucial barriers to future robotics applications that are due to people's beliefs, attitudes, and emotions. Nine studies will be conducted over three years. In Year 1, online and in-person measures will be administered to understand participant attitudes toward robots, and investigate fundamental factors that contribute to negative reactions. In Year 2, group contact, perspective taking, and long term exposure will be explored as ways to reduce prejudice toward robots. In Year 3, two more approaches to prejudice reduction in HRI will be tested: recategorization and norm-based intervention. A final study will evaluate the interaction and design strategies found to be most successful in fostering positive intergroup HRI by implementing them in robots interacting with people in a naturalistic setting. The studies will involve participants of different ages, socio-economic status, and cultural background (including four studies in Japan). Because HRI has mostly focused to date on one-on-one interactions between people and robots, this application of psychological theory to HRI in groups has vast transformative potential.