Rabble of Robots Effects

Abstract

Robots are expected to become present in society in increasing numbers, yet few studies in human-robot interaction (HRI) go beyond one-to-one interaction to examine how emotions, attitudes, and stereotypes expressed toward groups of robots differ from those expressed toward individuals. Research from social psychology indicates that people interact differently with individuals than with groups. We therefore hypothesize that group effects might similarly occur when people face multiple robots. Further, group effects might vary for robots of different types. In this exploratory study, we used videos to expose participants in a between-subjects experiment to robots varying in Number (Single or Group) and Type (anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, or mechanomorphic). We then measured participants' general attitudes, emotions, and stereotypes toward robots with a combination of measures from HRI (e.g., Godspeed Questionnaire, NARS) and social psychology (e.g., Big Five, Social Threat, Emotions). Results suggest that Number and Type of observed robots had an interaction effect on responses toward robots in general, leading to more positive responses for groups for some robot types, but more negative responses for others.

Empathic Robot for Group Learning

“…In addition to workshops organized regarding this topic [Jung et al 2017], relevant studies have been conducted. For example, a study by Fraune et al [2015b] showed that different number of robots (namely, a single robot or a group of robots) and the type of robots (anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, or mechanomorphic), determine the attitudes, emotions, and stereotypes that people hold when interacting with them, with anthropomorphic robots in groups being one of the preferred choices. In a field study at a university, Fraune et al…”

Conceptual Framework to Study Team Cohesion in Human-Robot Teams

“…Verbal support from a robot positively shaped psychological safety and inclusion, and verbal support from the robot inhibited the verbal backchannels that ingroup members directed toward outgroup members (Sebo et al, 2020). The number and type of robots observed by humans had an interactive effect on responses toward robots, leading to more positive and negative responses for groups for some robot types (Fraune et al, 2015). A recent paper by Abrams and der Pütten (2020) proposed the I-C-E framework to distinguish between Ingroup Identification, Cohesion and Entitativity in developing an understanding of a robot's positioning within a group from an individual or group-level perspective.…”

I–C–E Framework: Concepts for Group Dynamics Research in Human-Robot Interaction

“…Other research groups concentrate on humans' perception of entitativity of robot groups or social effects in minimal group paradigms. In online studies featuring pictures or videos of single and groups of robots, Fraune et al [30] examined when a quantity of robots is perceived as a group and found that number, type, similar colour and synchronized behaviour lead to higher "groupness" (entitativity) perceptions of the observed robots. Synchronicity in movement and similarity in appearance in a group of robots was found to be perceived more negatively, i.e.…”