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ERIC Number: EJ1468130
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Dec
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-2365-7464
Available Date: 2025-04-17
Can Humanoid Robots Be Used as a Cognitive Offloading Tool?
Shari Cavicchi1; Abdulaziz Abubshait1; Giulia Siri1,2; Magda Mustile1,3; Francesca Ciardo1,4
Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, v10 Article 17 2025
Cognitive load occurs when the demands of a task surpass the available processing capacity, straining mental resources and potentially impairing performance efficiency, such as increasing the number of errors in a task. Owing to its ubiquity in real-world scenarios, the existence of offloading strategies to reduce cognitive load is not new to experts and nonexperts, and many of these strategies involve technology (e.g., using Calendar Apps to remember scheduled events). Surprisingly, little is known about the potential use of humanoid robots for cognitive offloading. We will examine studies assessing the influence of humanoid robots on cognitive tasks requiring the resolution of cognitive conflict to determine whether their presence facilitates or hinders cognitive performance. Our analysis focuses on standardized cognitive conflict paradigms, as these effectively simulate real-life conflict scenarios (i.e., everyday challenges in focusing on the task and ignoring distractions). In these studies, robots were involved by either participating in the tasks, providing social cues, or observing human performance. By identifying contexts where humanoid robots support cognitive offloading and where they may undermine it, this work contributes to a deeper understanding of cognitive processes in human--robot interaction (HRI) and informs the design of interventions aimed at improving task performance and well-being in professional HRI settings.
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link-springer-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Social Cognition in Human-Robot Interaction, Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, Italy; 2University of Ferrara, Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, Ferrara, Italy; 3University of Louvain, The Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium; 4University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Psychology, Milan, Italy