Human Cognition in Interaction With Robots: Taking the Robot’s Perspective Into Account

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated whether and how different human–robot interactions in a physically shared workspace influenced human stimulus–response (SR) relationships. BACKGROUND: Human work is increasingly performed in interaction with advanced robots. Since human–robot interaction often takes place in physical proximity, it is crucial to investigate the effects of the robot on human cognition. METHOD: In two experiments, we compared conditions in which humans interacted with a robot that they either remotely controlled or monitored under otherwise comparable conditions in the same shared workspace. The cognitive extent to which the participants took the robot’s perspective served as a dependent variable and was evaluated with a SR compatibility task. RESULTS: The results showed pronounced compatibility effects from the robot’s perspective when participants had to take the perspective of the robot during the task, but significantly reduced compatibility effects when human and robot did not interact. In both experiments, compatibility effects from the robot’s perspective resulted in statistically significant differences in response times and in error rates between compatible and incompatible conditions. CONCLUSION: We concluded that SR relationships from the perspective of the robot need to be considered when designing shared workspaces that require users to take the perspective of the robot. APPLICATION: The results indicate changed compatibility relationships when users share their workplace with an interacting robot and therefore have to take its perspective from time to time. The perspective-dependent processing times are expected to be accompanied by corresponding error rates, which might affect—for instance—safety and efficiency in a production process.