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Not as bad as it seems: When the presence of a threatening humanoid robot improves human performance

DOI:10.1126/scirobotics.aat5843
Authors:
Nicolas Spatola at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
Nicolas Spatola
Clément Belletier at Université Clermont Auvergne
Clément Belletier
Alice Normand at Université Clermont Auvergne
Alice Normand
Pierre Chausse at Université Clermont Auvergne
Pierre Chausse
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Abstract

“Bad” humanoid robots just paying attention to human performance may energize attentional control—as does human presence.
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Spatola et al., Sci. Robot. 3, eaat5843 (2018) 15 August 2018
SCIENCE ROBOTICS | FOCUS
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HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION
Not as bad as it seems: When the presence of
a threatening humanoid robot improves
human performance
Nicolas Spatola1*, Clément Belletier2, Alice Normand1, Pierre Chausse1, Sophie Monceau1,
Maria Augustinova3, Vincent Barra4, Pascal Huguet1†, Ludovic Ferrand1*†
“Bad” humanoid robots just paying attention to human performance may energize attentional control—as does
human presence.
Millions of people worldwide may soon bene-
fit from the presence of humanoid robots
designed to ensure support to the elderly,
disabled people, or pupils with learning dif-
ficulties (1). Despite this accelerating trend,
little is known about the emotional experi-
ence associated with human-robot interaction
(HRI) and its impact on human cognition.
Because this is a critical issue for the intro-
duction of humanoid robots in our societies
(2), we examined whether (i) socially interac-
tive humanoid robots affect attentional con-
trol (i.e., the paramount cognitive ability) and
(ii) this impact depends on the emotional
valence associated with HRI. To do so, we
used the gold standard of attentional mea-
sures, the Stroop task (3), requiring individ-
uals to identify the color in which a word is
printed, ignoring the word itself. Because
of the automaticity of reading, identifica-
tion times are consistently longer for color-
incongruent words (the word “BLUE” in
green ink) than for color-neutral items (“D ESK ”
in green ink). The amplitude of this well-
known effect, called “Stroop interference,” in-
dicates the efficiency of cognitive-attentional
control. It typically decreases under stress (4),
especially in the presence of others competing
with—or simply paying attention to—our cur-
rent performance (5–7). However, whether
and when the presence of social humanoid
robots also boosts attentional control re-
mains unanswered. We predicted that the
presence of robots simply paying attention to
human performance may energize attentional
control—as human presence does—especially
when these robots are thought to be likely to
produce negative evaluations (8).
To test this hypothesis, we asked young
adults to perform the standard Stroop task twice.
In session 1, all participants performed the
task alone. In session 2, they performed the
task either alone or in the presence of a hu-
manoid robot with which they had previ-
ously interacted either positively (a “good”
robot responding in a nice way, with empa-
thy) or negatively (a “bad” robot respond-
ing with contempt, lack of empathy, and
negative evaluations about participants’ in-
telligence) (see the Supplementary Material s).
In the two robotic presence conditions, the
robot was animated at a distance by using two
smartphones for the control of its gestures
1Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, LAPSCO, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France. 2Laboratoire Psychologie
du Développement Cognitif, Université de Fribourg, Switzerland. 3Normandie Université, UNIROUEN, CRFDP,
F-76000 Rouen, France. 4Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, LIMOS, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.
*Corresponding author. Email: nicolas.spatola@uca.fr (N.S.); ludovic.ferrand@uca.fr (L.F.)
†These authors contributed equally to this work.
Copyright © 2018
The Authors, some
rights reserved;
exclusive licensee
American Association
for the Advancement
of Science. No claim
to original U.S.
Government Works
Fig. 1. Experimental setup and participant performance. (A) We used a MeccanoidG15KS animated at a distance by a human operator using two smartphones
to control the robot’s gestures and speech. In the two presence conditions, the robot was positioned in front of participants (to their right on the edge of their periph-
eral vision) and watched them 60% of the time by turning the head according to a pre-established script. (B) The main effect of condition on Stroop performance improve-
ment (error bars represent 1 SE) indicates that the positive interaction condition did not differ from the control condition, whereas the negative HRI condition differed
from the positive HRI and control conditions averaged (see the Supplementary Materials for detailed statistical analyses).
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Spatola et al., Sci. Robot. 3, eaat5843 (2018) 15 August 2018
SCIENCE ROBOTICS | FOCUS
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and speech based o n a strictly identical script
(e.g., head movement toward the participant
60% of the time, light arm movements)
(Fig.1A). At the end of session 2, participants
in the two robotic conditions rated the ro-
bot present on various personality traits (see
the Supplementary Materials), either pos-
itive (e.g., warm, competent) or negative
(awkward, aggressive).
Not surprisingly, the bad robot was rated as
less warm, friendly, and pleasant than the good
robot. Participants also attributed fewer hu-
man nature traits (e.g., “cognitive openness”)
and more mechanical dehumanization traits
(e.g., “rigidity”) to the bad robot compared
with the good robot (see the Supplementary
Materials). More importantly, individuals’
attentional control improved notably in the
presence of the bad robot. Planned compari-
sons were used to analyze relevant between-
group contrasts (alone versus pleasant robot;
alone and pleasant social robot averaged
versus unpleasant social robot) on Stroop
interference [response times (RTs) for color-
incongruent words minus RTs for color-
neutral items] at session 2 minus interference
at session 1 (baseline). A positive value (see
Fig.1B) means reduced interference (improved
performance) at session 2 relative to baseline.
As expected, Stroop performance improved
exclusively in the presence of the unpleasant
robot. This condition differed from the two
other conditions averaged (alone and pleasant
social robot), which did not differ from one
another (see the Supplementary Materials for
detailed statistical analyses).
These findings run counter to a purely
mechanistic approach that reduces the ef-
fects of robotic presence to physical action
or noise distraction, which may facilitate or
inhibit performance depending on task dif-
ficulty (9). According to this approach, both
robotic presence conditions—regardless of
their emotional tone (positive or negative)—
should have resulted in a performance change
compared with isolation (all the more so be-
cause the robot’s appearance and behavior
during task performance were identical in
both conditions). Instead, Stroop performance
changed exclusively in the bad social robot
condition.
Perhaps even more striking, the bad so-
cial robot had the same impact on Stroop per-
formance as in earlier research with human
presence (5–7). This presence reduced, rather
than increased, Stroop interference, which
extends the relevance of the attentional view
of social facilitation from humans to social
robots. According to this view (5, 6), the pres-
ence of potentially threatening others im-
proves the selectivity of attention to relevant
information at the expense of competing cues
(in the Stroop task, the color in which a word
is printed at the expense of the word itself).
This is what happened in the bad social robot
condition. Therefore, not only can the be-
havior of robots change humans’ perception
of robots during HRI (10), but these attribu-
tions are susceptible to making the simple
pre sence of robots likely to affect human
cognition as a function of the interaction
type. Thus, the present findings constitute
evidence that the presence of social robots may
energize attentional control, especially when
the emotional valence and anthropomorphic
inferences associated with the robot being
present require a heightened state of alertness.
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS
robotics.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/3/21/eaat5843/DC1
Methods
Results
Fig. S1. The experimental installation.
Table S1. Verbal exchange script.
Table S2. Mean correct response times (in milliseconds), SDs
(in parentheses), and error rates as a function of the type of
stimuli, session, and group.
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Acknowledgments: This study was carried out in
accordance with the provisions of the World Medical
Association Declaration of Helsinki. Funding: This work
was supported by a grant (Social_Robot_2017-2018) from
the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Clermont-Ferrand,
France. Data and materials availability: All data are
publicly available via the Open Science Framework and can
be accessed at https://osf.io/djgqh/.
10.1126/scirobotics.aat5843
Citation: N. Spatola, C. Belletier, A. Normand, P. Chausse,
S. Monceau, M. Augustinova, V. Barra, P. Huguet, L. Ferrand,
Not as bad as it seems: When the presence of a threatening
humanoid robot improves human performance. Sci. Robot. 3,
eaat5843 (2018).
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human performance
Not as bad as it seems: When the presence of a threatening humanoid robot improves
Barra, Pascal Huguet and Ludovic Ferrand
Nicolas Spatola, Clément Belletier, Alice Normand, Pierre Chausse, Sophie Monceau, Maria Augustinova, Vincent
DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.aat5843
, eaat5843.3Sci. Robotics
ARTICLE TOOLS http://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/3/21/eaat5843
MATERIALS
SUPPLEMENTARY http://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2018/08/13/3.21.eaat5843.DC1
REFERENCES http://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/3/21/eaat5843#BIBL
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... Robots' anthropomorphism is not anecdotal as it entails not only how humans consider robots (Darling, 2017;Eyssel & Kuchenbrandt, 2012;Kuchenbrandt et al., 2013;Spatola et al., 2019a) but also how robots impact humans own cognition and behaviours (Riether et al., 2012;Spatola et al., 2018aSpatola et al., , 2019a. In this paper, we propose to investigate how cognitive control mechanisms influence robots' anthropomorphism. ...
... Finally, they completed a questionnaire adapted from Haslam dehumanization taxonomy (Haslam, 2006;Spatola et al., 2018aSpatola et al., , 2019a and the Robotic Social Attribute Scale (RoSAS) (Carpinella et al., 2017). We used these questionnaires as a measure of the conceptual distance between participants and robots and anthropomorphic attributions respectively. ...
... Fifth, we agree that other factors that we did not investigate in present study, such as the human-like appearance (Nyangoma et al., 2017;Salem et al., 2013), the motor resonance process (Chaminade et al., 2010(Chaminade et al., , 2012, the social context (Spatola et al., 2018a(Spatola et al., , 2019a, the observer's knowledge about robots (Epley et al., 2007(Epley et al., , 2008Waytz et al., 2010), could reinforce or interfere with the control of the social vs physical information weight. In other words, the more the context provides social information or triggers social processing, the more it is difficult for the cognitive control to inhibit the default social cognition path. ...
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  • Nov 2021
Over the past decade, substantial progress have been made in the development of humanoid robots. However, it remains challenging to achieve walking modes that are as efficient and steady as in human or animal walking. One of the outstanding challenges in gait optimization of humanoid robots is to find gait parameters that can optimize a desired performance metric, such as walking modes, robustness, and energy efficiency. To construct a robot that can walk as efficiently and steadily as humans and design robots that match the agility of animals, we develop an enhanced elitist-mutated ant colony optimization~(EACO) algorithm with genetic and crossover operators in real-time applications to humanoid robotics. This work presents promoting global search capability and convergence rate of the EACO applied to humanoid robots in real-time by estimating the expected convergence rate using Markov chain. Furthermore, we put a special focus on the EACO algorithm on a wide range of problems, from ACO, real-coded GAs, GAs with neural networks (NNs), particle swarm optimization (PSO) to complex robotics systems including gait synthesis, dynamic modeling of parameterizable trajectories and gait optimization of humanoid robotics. The experimental results demonstrate the capability of this method to discover the premature convergence probability, tackle successfully inherent stagnation, and promote the convergence rate of the EACO-based humanoid robotics systems and validate the applicability and the effectiveness of our strategy for solving sophisticated optimization tasks. We found reliable and fast walking gaits with a velocity of up to 0.47m/s using the EACO optimization strategy. These findings have significant implications for understanding and tackling inherent stagnation and poor convergence rate of the EACO and provide new insight into the genetic architectures and control optimization of humanoid robotics.
The Grand Challenges of Science Robotics
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2018
One of the ambitions of Science Robotics is to deeply root robotics research in science while developing novel robotic platforms that will enable new scientific discoveries. Of our 10 grand challenges, the first 7 represent underpinning technologies that have a wider impact on all application areas of robotics. For the next two challenges, we have included social robotics and medical robotics as application-specific areas of development to highlight the substantial societal and health impacts that they will bring. Finally, the last challenge is related to responsible innovation and how ethics and security should be carefully considered as we develop the technology further.
The Robotic Social Attributes Scale (RoSAS): Development and Validation
Conference Paper
Full-text available
  • Mar 2017
Accurately measuring perceptions of robots has become increasingly important as technological progress permits more frequent and extensive interaction between people and robots. Across four studies, we develop and validate a scale to measure social perception of robots. Drawing from the Godspeed Scale and from the psychological literature on social perception, we develop an 18-item scale (The Robotic Social Attribute Scale; RoSAS) to measure people's judgments of the social attributes of robots. Factor analyses reveal three underlying scale dimensions-warmth, competence, and discomfort. We then validate the RoSAS and show that the discomfort dimension does not reflect a concern with unfamiliarity. Using images of robots that systematically vary in their machineness and gender-typicality, we show that the application of these social attributes to robots varies based on their appearance.
Upward Social Comparison Generates Attentional Focusing When the Dimension of Comparison is Self-Threatening
Article
Full-text available
The present research examines when and how upward social comparison (USC) affects basic attentional processing. We first propose that USC affects attention only when the dimension of comparison is self-threatening. Sec- ond, using a visual probe task, two studies tested whether self-threatening USC results in withdrawing attention from peripheral elements of the task (attentional focusing) or potentiation of prepotent responses (mere effort). results support the attentional focusing hypothesis: USC resulted in less attention being devoted to a peripheral element, even though typically as- sociated with prepotent responses. Moreover, and in contradiction with a mere effort account, findings did not show a general decrease in response latencies (Study 2). This attentional focusing nevertheless only occurred when the task was self-threatening (i.e., presented as a measure of intel- lectual ability). results are discussed with regard to the potential role of anxiety and arousal in attention narrowing under self-threat.
Measurement Instruments for the Anthropomorphism, Animacy, Likeability, Perceived Intelligence, and Perceived Safety of Robots
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2008
This study emphasizes the need for standardized measurement tools for human robot interaction (HRI). If we are to make progress in this field then we must be able to compare the results from different studies. Aliterature review has been performed on the measurements of five key concepts in HRI: anthropomorphism, animacy, likeability, perceived intelligence, and perceived safety. The results have been distilled into five consistent questionnaires using semantic differential scales. We report reliability and validity indicators based on several empirical studies that used these questionnaires. It is our hope that these questionnaires can be used by robot developers to monitor their progress. Psychologists are invited to further develop the questionnaires by adding new concepts, and to conduct further validations where it appears necessary.
Anthropomorphism and the social robot
Article
Full-text available
This paper discusses the issues pertinent to the development of a meaningful social interaction between robots and people through employing degrees of anthropomorphism in a robot’s physical design and behaviour. As robots enter our social space, we will inherently project/impose our interpretation on their actions similar to the techniques we employ in rationalising, for example, a pet’s behaviour. This propensity to anthropomorphise is not seen as a hindrance to social robot development, but rather a useful mechanism that requires judicious examination and employment in social robot research.
Human-Robot Interaction in Social Robotics
Book
  • Sep 2012
Social (interactive) robots are a frontier research area in robotics and human-computer interaction. This book summarizes the research of the ATR Intelligent Robotics Laboratory on the ROBOVIE project, a series of robots designed to interact with the elderly and disabled on a daily basis. This laboratory is one of the world's leaders in Humanoid Interactive Robotics. The text covers interdisciplinary topics related to interactive robots, including human behavior recognition and behavior based control. It also presents the results of long-term usability studies and discusses the implementation of robots that interact with sensors and users over a telecommunications network.
The influence of mere social presence on Stroop interference: New evidence from the semantically-based Stroop task
Article
  • Sep 2012
Several studies have shown that mere social presence reduces Stroop interference but processes underlying such effect are still poorly understood. Given that the standard Stroop task used in those studies confounds semantic and response competition, it remains unclear whether Stroop words are processed normally (Sharma, Booth, Brown, & Huguet, 2010) or whether the processing of their semantic representations is altered (Huguet, Galvaing, Monteil, & Dumas, 1999, Exp. 1). The direct evidence from the semantically-based Stroop task (i.e., a task that is free of response competition and thus isolates the semantic component of the Stroop interference, Neely & Kahan, 2001) provided in this paper attests normal semantic processing. Such result refutes the idea that semantic activation can be prevented or controlled by social presence and thus adds to the growing body of evidence showing that semantic activation is indeed automatic. Also importantly, this paper offers an alternative explanation of past findings, which holds that social presence simply reduces the response competition that occurs in the standard Stroop task and sheds some light on the processes that underlie social-facilitating effects of mere presence in the Stroop task.
Dehumanization and Infrahumanization
Article
We review early and recent psychological theories of dehumanization and survey the burgeoning empirical literature, focusing on six fundamental questions. First, we examine how people are dehumanized, exploring the range of ways in which perceptions of lesser humanness have been conceptualized and demonstrated. Second, we review who is dehumanized, examining the social targets that have been shown to be denied humanness and commonalities among them. Third, we investigate who dehumanizes, notably the personality, ideological, and other individual differences that increase the propensity to see others as less than human. Fourth, we explore when people dehumanize, focusing on transient situational and motivational factors that promote dehumanizing perceptions. Fifth, we examine the consequences of dehumanization, emphasizing its implications for prosocial and antisocial behavior and for moral judgment. Finally, we ask what can be done to reduce dehumanization. We conclude with a discussion of limitations of current scholarship and directions for future research. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology Volume 65 is January 03, 2014. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/catalog/pubdates.aspx for revised estimates.
The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness: A Procedure and Some Preliminary Findings
Article
A practical methodology is presented for creating closeness in an experimental context. Whether or not an individual is in a relationship, particular pairings of individuals in the relationship, and circumstances of relationship development become manipulated variables. Over a 45-min period subject pairs carry out self-disclosure and relationship-building tasks that gradually escalate in intensity. Study 1 found greater postinteraction closeness with these tasks versus comparable small-talk tasks. Studies 2 and 3 found no significant closeness effects, inspite of adequate power, for (a) whether pairs were matched for nondisagreement on important attitudes, (b) whether pairs were led to expect mutual liking, or (c) whether getting close was made an explicit goal. These studies also illustrated applications for addressing theoretical issues, yielding provocative tentative findings relating to attachment style and introversion/extraversion.
Distraction-Conflict Theory: Progress and Problems
Article
This chapter discusses the progress and problems of distraction–conflict theory. Distraction–conflict theory suggests that attentional conflict might be the key mediator of drive in research settings. This chapter reviews the research and argues that—despite a good deal of corroborating data for some of the major contentions of distraction–conflict theory—attentional mechanisms may offer a more parsimonious account of social facilitation phenomena than does a drive perspective. Distraction–conflict theory can account post hoc for the findings that indicate that evaluative or competitive pressure heightens social facilitation or impairment; mere presence occasionally produces social facilitation in the absence of evaluative or competitive pressure; social loafing can occur on simple well-learned tasks; and hidden audiences produce social facilitation. The attentional emphasis suggests that distraction may have a variety of effects on cognition, attitude change, and social behavior.