Tell me more! Assessing interactions with social robots from speech

Laban, G. , George, J.-N., Morrison, V. and Cross, E. (2021) Tell me more! Assessing interactions with social robots from speech. Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics, 12(1), pp. 136-159. (doi: 10.1515/pjbr-2021-0011)

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Abstract

As social robots are increasingly introduced into health interventions, one potential area where they might prove valuable is in supporting people’s psychological health through conversation. Given the importance of self-disclosure for psychological health, this study assessed the viability of using social robots for eliciting rich disclosures that identify needs and emotional states in human interaction partners. Three within-subject experiments were conducted with participants interacting with another person, a humanoid social robot, and a disembodied conversational agent (voice assistant). We performed a number of objective evaluations of disclosures to these three agents via speech content and voice analyses and also probed participants’ subjective evaluations of their disclosures to three agents. Our findings suggest that participants overall disclose more to humans than artificial agents, that agents’ embodiment influences disclosure quantity and quality, and that people are generally aware of differences in their personal disclosures to three agents studied here. Together, the findings set the stage for further investigation into the psychological underpinnings of self-disclosures to artificial agents and their potential role in eliciting disclosures as part of mental and physical health interventions.

Item Type:Articles
Keywords:Social robots, human–robot interaction, self-disclosure, voice assistant, voice analysis, embodiment, test analysis, HRI.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Laban, Mr Guy and Cross, Professor Emily
Authors: Laban, G., George, J.-N., Morrison, V., and Cross, E.
Subjects:B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
T Technology > T Technology (General)
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
Research Group:Social Brain in Action Lab
Journal Name:Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics
Publisher:De Gruyter
ISSN:2080-9778
ISSN (Online):2081-4836
Published Online:12 December 2020
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2021 Guy Laban et al.
First Published:First published in Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics 12(1):136-159
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons license
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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
306871The European Training Network on Informal CareEmily CrossEuropean Commission (EC)814072NP - Centre for Neuroscience
303930SOCIAL ROBOTSEmily CrossEuropean Research Council (ERC)677270NP - Centre for Neuroscience
304215Philip Leverhulme Prize - ECEmily CrossLeverhulme Trust (LEVERHUL)PLP-2018-152NP - Centre for Neuroscience