Keyu Mao
Papers
1
Total Citations
2
H-Index
1
About
Keyu Mao is a developmental psychologist whose research sits at the intersection of social cognition, artificial intelligence, and early childhood education. Her most notable contribution is the formulation of the **Theory of Artificial Mind (ToAM)**—a novel framework that examines how young children conceptualize the mental states and capabilities of social robots, distinct from their understanding of human minds. In her landmark 2025 study, *"NAO, I Can Read Your Mind,"* Mao demonstrated that children aged 3 to 6 years can differentiate between a peer’s Theory of Mind and a robot’s ToAM, with systematic developmental patterns emerging across age groups. This work, already garnering early citations, has profound implications for designing developmentally appropriate human-robot interactions in educational settings. By bridging cognitive development and human-robot interaction, Mao provides critical insights into how children attribute intentionality, beliefs, and desires to artificial agents—a pressing question as AI becomes ubiquitous in classrooms. Her research not only advances theoretical understanding of social cognition but also offers practical guidelines for integrating robots as effective learning companions.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
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