Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Robots in a domestic setting: a psychological approach

  • Long paper
  • Published:
Universal Access in the Information Society Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The study presented in this paper aims at improving the current understanding of human-robot interaction by adopting a psychological approach. The acceptability of robotic devices in home settings, especially by elderly people, does not depend only on the practical benefits they can provide, but on complex relationships between the cognitive, affective and emotional components of people’s images of robots. This study has investigated the main dimensions of these representations, by comparing the attitudes towards technology in general, and domestic robots in particular, held by people at different stages of the lifespan. The results confirm that age is a critical variable.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

ANOVA:

analysis of variance

df:

degree of freedom

References

  1. Baltus G, Fox D, Gemperl F, Goetz J, Hirsch T, Magaritis D et al (2000) Toward personal service robots for the elderly. In: Proceedings of the Workshop on Interactive Robots and Entertainment (WIRE) 2000. [http://www.cs.cmu.ed/~nursebot/web/papers.html]

  2. Breakwell G (1986) Coping with threatened identity. Methuen, London

    Google Scholar 

  3. Cappelli A, Giovannetti E (2004) Human-robot interaction. Intel Artif 2:18–36

    Google Scholar 

  4. Cesta A (ed) (2003) Proceedings of the First RoboCare Workshop – RC-Ws-1. ISTC-CNR, Roma

  5. Cesta A, Bahadori S, Cortellessa G, Grisetti G, Giuliani MV, Iocchi L, et al (forthcoming) The RoboCare project. Cognitive systems for the care of the elderly. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Aging, Disability and Independence. Washington, D.C.

  6. Dennett DC (1996) Kinds of minds. Basic Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  7. Doughty K (1999) Can a computer be a carer? Paper presented at the 9th Alzheimer europe meeting and Alzheimer’s Disease Society Conference, London, UK

  8. Duffy BR (2003) Anthropomorphism and the social robot. Robot Auton Syst 42:177–190

    Google Scholar 

  9. Elliot R (1991) Assistive technology for the frail elderly: an introduction and overview. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, U.S.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Fong T, Nourbakhsh I (2003) Socially interactive robots. Robot Auton Syst 42:139–141

    Google Scholar 

  11. Gitlin LN (1995) Why older people accept or reject assistive technology. Gener J Am Soc Ag 19:41–46

    Google Scholar 

  12. Giuliani MV (1991) Towards an analysis of mental representations of attachment to the home. J Architec Plann Res 8:133–146

    Google Scholar 

  13. Giuliani MV (2003) Theory of attachment and place attachment. In: Bonnes M, Lee T, Bonaiuto M (eds) Psychological theories for environmental issues. Ashgate, Aldershot, pp 137–170

    Google Scholar 

  14. Goetz J, Kiesler S (2002) Cooperation with a robotic assistant. In: CHI 02 extended abstracts on human factors in computing systems. ACM Press, Minneapolis, MN, pp 578–579

  15. Hancock JA (1987) Housing the elderly. Center for Urban Policy Research, New Brunswick, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  16. Hirsch T, Forlizzi J, Hyder E, Goetz J, Stroback J, Kurtz C (2000) The ELDer Project: social and emotional factors in the design of eldercare technologies. In: Proceedings of the conference on universal usability. Arlington, Virginia, pp 72–80

  17. Hormuth SE (1990) The ecology of self: relocation and self-concept change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  18. Khan Z (1998) Attitude towards intelligent service robots. Technical report No. TRITA-NA-P9821. NADA, KTH, Stockholm

  19. Lawton MP (1985) The elderly in context. Perspectives from environmental psychology and gerontology. J Environ Psych 17:501–519

    Google Scholar 

  20. Mahoney RM (1997) Robotic products for rehabilitation: Status and strategy. In: Proceedings of ICORR ’97 - International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics. Bath, UK, pp 12–22.[http://www.bath.ac.uk/bime/icorrproc/mahoney1.pdf]

  21. Monk AF, Baxter G (2002) Would you trust a computer to run your home? Dependability issues in smart homes for older adults. In: Brewster S and Zajicek M (eds) A new research agenda for older adults. Workshop at BCS HCI 2002, London, UK

  22. Nass C, Moon Y (2000) Machines and mindlessness: Social response to computers. J Soc Issues 56:81–103

    Google Scholar 

  23. Oestreicher L, Hüttenrauch H, Severinsson-Eklund K (1999) Where are you going little robot? CHI 99 Basic Research Symposium, ACM CHI 99 conference on human factors in computing systems 1999. [http://www.nada.kth.se/iplab/hri/publications/chi99/]

  24. Proshansky HM, Fabian AK, Kaminoff R (1983) Place-identity: Physical world socialization of the self. J Environ Psych 3:57–83

    Google Scholar 

  25. Steinfeld E, Shea S (1993) Enabling home environment: Identifying barriers to independence. Technol Disabil 2(4):69–79

    Google Scholar 

  26. Stewart LM, Kaufman SB (1993) High-Tech home care: electronic devices with implications for the design of living environments. In: American Association of Retired Persons and Stein Gerontechnological Institute (ed) Life-span design of residential environments for an aging populations. AARP, Washington DC, pp 57–66

  27. Twigger-Ross CL, Uzzell, DL (1996) Place and identity processes. J Environ Psych 16:205–220

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research is partially supported by MIUR (Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research) under RoboCare project (A Multi-Agent System with Intelligent Fixed and Mobile Robotic Components). We would like to thank Prof. Terence Lee for his helpful assistance during the preparation of this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Via Nomentana, 56, 00161, Rome, Italy

    Massimiliano Scopelliti, Maria Vittoria Giuliani & Ferdinando Fornara

Authors
  1. Massimiliano Scopelliti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Maria Vittoria Giuliani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ferdinando Fornara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Massimiliano Scopelliti.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Scopelliti, M., Giuliani, M.V. & Fornara, F. Robots in a domestic setting: a psychological approach. Univ Access Inf Soc 4, 146–155 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-005-0118-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-005-0118-1

Keywords