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Robotic agents designed to assist people across a variety of social and service settings are becoming increasingly prevalent across the world. Here we synthesise two decades of empirical evidence from human–robot interaction (HRI) research to focus on cultural influences on expectations towards and responses to social robots, as well as the utility of robots displaying culturally specific social cues for improving human engagement. Findings suggest complex and intricate relationships between culture and human cognition in the context of HRI. The studies reviewed here transcend the often-studied and prototypical east–west dichotomy of cultures, and explore how people’s perceptions of robots are informed by their national culture as well as their experiences with robots. Many of the findings presented in this review raise intriguing questions concerning future directions for robotics designers and cultural psychologists, in terms of conceptualising and delivering culturally sensitive robots. We point out that such development is currently limited by heterogenous methods and low statistical power, which contribute to a concerning lack of generalisability. We also propose several avenues through which future work may begin to address these shortcomings. In sum, we highlight the critical role of culture in mediating efforts to develop robots aligned with human users’ cultural backgrounds, and argue for further research into the role of culturally-informed robotic development in facilitating human–robot interaction.

Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) is one of the least researched and most poorly understood psychiatric disorders. Very little is known about the prevalence and stability of RAD symptoms over time. Until recently it has been difficult to investigate RAD due to limited tools for informing a diagnosis. Utilising a newly developed observational tool along with the Disturbances of Attachment Interview. this short-term prospective longitudinal study explored RAD symptoms in maltreated young children in Scotland (n=100, age range =12-62 months) over 12 months. Children were recruited as part of The Best Services Trial (BeST), in which all infants who came in to the care of the local authority in Glasgow due to child protection concerns were invited to participate. Prevalence of RAD was found to be 5.0% (n=5, 95% CI [0.7-9.3]) when children were first placed in to foster care. Following at least 1 year of improved care conditions, prevalence in the 76 children remaining in the study was 2.1% (n=2, 95% CI [below 0-4.7]). RAD was associated with some mental health and cognitive difficulties. While levels of carer-reported RAD symptoms decreased significantly over time, observed symptoms did not. Findings suggest that RAD resolved in a small majority of cases but further exploration in larger samples would be invaluable.