Modeling the Human-Robot Trust Phenomenon

Abstract

This article presents a conceptual framework for human-robot trust which uses computational representations inspired by game theory to represent a definition of trust, derived from social psychology. This conceptual framework generates several testable hypotheses related to human-robot trust. This article examines these hypotheses and a series of experiments we have conducted which both provide support for and also conflict with our framework for trust. We also discuss the methodological challenges associated with investigating trust. The article concludes with a description of the important areas for future research on the topic of human-robot trust.