Dorothea U. Martin
Papers
2
Total Citations
72
H-Index
2
About
Dorothea U. Martin is a developmental psychologist whose pioneering research explores the intersection of early childhood social cognition and human-robot interaction. Her work centers on understanding the nature and boundaries of young children’s altruistic and helping behaviors, particularly toward non-human agents like social humanoid robots. In her highly cited 2019 study (47 citations), Martin systematically investigated the mechanisms underlying children’s altruism, revealing that even very young children display helping behaviors toward robots, though the quality and motivation differ from human-directed helping. Her 2020 follow-up (25 citations) demonstrated that children’s helping is surprisingly indiscriminate, extending readily to humanoid robots, yet is modulated by the robot’s social characteristics—such as animacy and responsiveness. These findings have profound implications for developmental theory, challenging assumptions about the specificity of early prosociality, and for the design of socially assistive robots in education and therapy. Martin’s work bridges developmental psychology and robotics, offering foundational insights into how children perceive and interact with increasingly social technologies.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Young Children’s Indiscriminate Helping Behavior Toward a Humanoid Robot25 citations · 2020