Alice Normand

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive

Papers

Total Citations

150

H-Index

About

Dr. Alice Normand is a leading cognitive scientist whose research sits at the exciting intersection of social psychology and human-robot interaction. Her work fundamentally explores how the mere presence and perceived identity of robots shape human cognitive performance and social perception. In her highly cited 2019 paper (64 citations), she demonstrated that anthropomorphized robots can actually *improve* human cognitive control, challenging assumptions about robotic distraction. Her equally impactful 2018 study (49 citations) revealed a counterintuitive effect: even "threatening" humanoid robots, by simply observing human performance, can energize attentional control in a manner similar to human social facilitation. Dr. Normand has also pioneered the study of national stereotypes in robotics, showing in her 2019 work (37 citations) that humans apply social categorization and "made in" biases to robots, influencing how these agents are perceived. By revealing that our social brains treat robots as social actors—for better or worse—Dr. Normand provides critical insights for designing robots that can effectively collaborate with humans in real-world environments.