Antonella Marchetti
Papers
28
Total Citations
662
H-Index
12
About
Antonella Marchetti is a prominent developmental and social psychologist whose research sits at the compelling intersection of cognitive development, social cognition, and human-robot interaction. Based at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, she has made significant contributions to understanding how children and adults attribute mental states to humanoid robots — a field of growing urgency as robotic agents become increasingly embedded in educational and clinical settings. Marchetti's work is distinguished by its rigorous developmental lens, examining how Theory of Mind capacities shape human relationships with robots across the lifespan. Her research demonstrates that children's trust in robots is dynamic and nuanced — capable of being gained, lost, and restored — and that physical human-likeness profoundly influences anthropomorphization in both preschoolers and adults. Her papers on child-robot interaction have collectively accumulated hundreds of citations, with her two 2020 studies on mental state attribution and trust each surpassing 100 citations, signaling their foundational influence in the field. Beyond robotics, Marchetti has explored social cognition in relation to religious belief and moral reasoning, including whether children understand robotic deception. Her body of work offers essential frameworks for researchers navigating the psychological dimensions of an increasingly automated world.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Shall I Trust You? From Child–Robot Interaction to Trusting Relationships111 citations · 2020
- 3Theory of Mind and Humanoid Robots From a Lifespan Perspective86 citations · 2018
- 4
- 5Robotics in Clinical and Developmental Psychology36 citations · 2020
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- 9Machines Like Us and People Like You: Toward Human–Robot Shared Experience20 citations · 2021
- 10