S4HRI

w/ Cecilia Roselli, Uma Prashant Navare, Francesca Ciardo, Davide De Tommaso, Sonja A. Kotz, @awykowska.bsky.social @iitalk.bsky.social

Interestingly, while individual SoA was linked to early neural markers (N1), vicarious sense of agency relied on later cognitive processes indexed by P2 - suggesting different underlying mechanisms despite similar behavioral outcomes.

In this study, we investigated the minimal conditions for vicarious sense of agency toward artificial agents. Across two experiments using intentional binding and EEG, we found that access to a proximal action effect, even without motor execution, was sufficient for vicarious SoA to emerge.

🧠 New paper out in Cognition!

Can we feel a sense of agency over the actions of an artificial agent, even when we’re not acting ourselves?

Read the full paper here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@awykowska.bsky.social, head of the IIT @s4hri.bsky.social unit and coordinator of the IIT Center for Human Technologies, is this year’s winner of the André Mischke Prize.

#HumanRobotInteraction #sciencecommunication #policyengagement

yacadeuro.org/andre-mischk...

We’re thrilled to share that our PI @awykowska.bsky.social is this year’s winner of the André Mischke Prize by Young Academy of Europe for outstanding contributions to science.

The award will be presented at Building Bridges Conference on Oct 17 in Barcelona.

🔗 yacadeuro.org/andre-mischk...

2 postdoc positions on the topic of cognitive neuroscience methods for studying mental workload in human-robot collaboration Commitment & contract: Collaborator, temporal contract, up to 16 months Location: IIT CHT – Via Enrico Melen 83, Genova Step into a world of endless possibilities, together let’s leave something...

📢 We’re #hiring 2 postdocs to join our research on mental workload in human-robot collaboration!

The positions are part of the Social Cognition in Human-Robot Interaction unit at the @iitalk.bsky.social in Genoa, coordinated by @awykowska.bsky.social

Apply here 👉 app.ncoreplat.com/jobposition/...

Our findings highlight the importance of considering social norms in the design of value-aware AI systems and introduce a new, ecologically valid approach for studying human values in action.

w/ Kinga Ciupińska, Hannah Wiedemann, Davide De Tommaso, @awykowska.bsky.social

@iitalk.bsky.social

We found that people were most likely to tolerate behaviours that infringed on freedom, and least likely to accept behaviours violating social norms. These results were replicated with a human agent, showing that people’s value priorities are not limited to robot behaviour alone.

In our study, we developed and validated an implicit method to assess how people respond to value-laden decisions made by the humanoid robot iCub in everyday scenarios. Participants listened as iCub described actions that varied in the degree of value violation.

New paper out in AI and Ethics! 🦾

How do people react when a humanoid robot makes decisions that challenge our values, such as privacy, freedom, or social norms?

Read more here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Lastly, we were happy to see our book Intentional Stance Towards Humanoid Robots, edited by Agnieszka Wykowska, on display at the Springer stand -always great to spot your work out in the wild 😊

@mmwozniak.bsky.social presented a recent study, "How to Measure Sense of Control Using Explicit Reports", which investigated the reliability of explicit reports across different measurement scales and found that explicit reports of sense of control were consistent across these scales.

In the symposium, @serehal.bsky.social gave a talk titled "Adopting the Intentional Stance Towards Humanoid Robots", presenting the tool developed for measuring adoption of the intentional stance and empirical findings of the recent studies.

This week we are at ESCOP 2025 in Sheffield! ⭐ Here are some highlights from us:

Our PI, Prof. @awykowska.bsky.social introduced the symposium "Perception of Artificial Agents as Social or Self-Aware Others", co-organised with Tony Prescott.

#SAVETHEDATE 🇪🇺🗞️"Why fund frontier research? The role of journalism in answering a crucial question for society"
🗓️September 5, 2025 🕙 10:00 a.m.
📍Auditorium, CCT@Morego
➡️ free entry upon registration: forms.office.com/pages/respon...

opentalk.iit.it/en/why-fund-...

Cecilia Roselli presented "The Duration of Robot Gaze Affects People’s Attitudes towards Humanoid Robots", showing that longer robot gaze durations lead to more positive attitudes from participants.

@mmwozniak.bsky.social presented "We-Information Can Facilitate Performance in Joint Teleoperation Over a Humanoid Robot", demonstrating that providing information about co-actors can improve joint control and increases self-other overlap.

We enjoyed sharing our research and catching up with the community at IEEE RO-MAN 2025!

Our PI @awykowska.bsky.social gave a keynote at the “Movement Matters” workshop on "Joint action with a humanoid: how robot’s behavioural human-likeness affects human cognitive mechanisms".

w/ Davide Ghiglino, Federica Floris, Davide De Tommaso, Nicola Severino Russi, Alessia Frulli, Silvia Moretti & @awykowska.bsky.social Wykowska

The results showed significant improvements in social cognition following robot-assisted training compared to both standard therapy and a human-assisted control condition. Our findings highlight the unique potential of humanoid robots in therapeutic settings.

In this randomized controlled trial, we integrated robot-assisted training with Applied Behavior Analysis. Children engaged in structured role-play sessions with the humanoid robot iCub to practice social skills such as perspective-taking, joint attention, and recognizing intentions.

New paper out in Scientific Reports! 🤖

Can humanoid robots enhance social cognition in children with autism beyond traditional interventions?

Read full paper here 👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🤖 We’re excited to be part of Living Machines!

Our PI, @awykowska.bsky.social will give a plenary talk on “Using robots to understand human cognition” on July 17th.

Looking forward to the discussions ahead!

Great to be part of #JAMX in Turin and to share our recent work!

Many thanks to the organizers and community for the thoughtful discussions throughout the event!

Applications are still open!

Please repost to share!

w/ @serehal.bsky.social, Kyveli Kompatsiari, Davide de Tommaso, @awykowska.bsky.social

In this study, we combined a shared activity with the iCub robot and a gaze cueing task. When participants were more likely to see the robot as intentional, they responded to its gaze cues in both mutual and avoiding gaze conditions, suggesting both were interpreted as communicative signals.

🆕 New paper in Technology, Mind, Behavior!

How does perceiving a robot as intentional shape joint attention?

👉 tmb.apaopen.org/pub/dg8p1kxu...

POSTDOC in Neuro-cognitive mechanisms in human-robot interaction (ID: 2400000Y) Project: Neuro-cognitive mechanisms in human-robot interaction Commitment & contract: 2 years, temporary Location: Genoa, Italy, via Enrico Melen 83   WHO WE ARE At IIT we work enthusiastically t...

📢 We’re looking for a postdoc with strong EEG expertise to join our research on neuro-cognitive mechanisms in human-robot interaction in Genoa!

Please share!

app.ncoreplat.com/jobposition/...

@iitalk.bsky.social
@awykowska.bsky.social