Studying Dynamics of Human Information Gathering Behaviors Using Social Robots

Frontiers in Psychology

Goren Gordon¹  Matan Epstein¹  Ada H. Zohar²  Matan Eshed³ 

[1] Curiosity Lab, Department of Industrial Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel;Ruppin Academic Center, Hadera, Israel;Ruppin Academic Center, Hadera, Israel;Curiosity Lab, Department of Industrial Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel;

关键词: social interaction;    dynamics of interaction;    curiosity;    psychological inflexibility;    social robots;    human-robot interaction;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2021.669198

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

A novel social interaction is a dynamic process, in which participants adapt to, react to and engage with their social partners. To facilitate such interactions, people gather information relating to the social context and structure of the situation. The current study aimed to deepen the understanding of the psychological determinants of behavior in a novel social interaction. Three social robots and the participant interacted non-verbally according to a pre-programmed “relationship matrix” that dictated who favored whom. Participants' gaze was tracked during the interaction and, using Bayesian inference models, resulted in a measure of participants' social information-gathering behaviors. Our results reveal the dynamics in a novel environment, wherein information-gathering behavior is initially predicted by psychological inflexibility and then, toward the end of the interaction, predicted by curiosity. These results highlight the utility of using social robots in behavioral experiments.

【 授权许可】

CC BY