Caroline L. van Straten

About

Caroline L. van Straten is a pioneering researcher in child-robot interaction, with a particular focus on relationship formation, trust, and the ethical dimensions of social robotics for children. Her work sits at the intersection of communication science, developmental psychology, and human-robot interaction, addressing some of the most pressing questions surrounding children's increasingly sophisticated encounters with social robots. Van Straten's most influential contribution — a 2019 narrative review on child-robot relationship formation (151 citations) — synthesized empirical research to identify which robot characteristics drive closeness and trust in children. This foundational work has shaped how scholars approach the field. Her research extends into clinical contexts, examining how robots can support children with Autism Spectrum Disorder through tailored intonation and appearance, and into measurement innovation, developing validated self-report tools for assessing children's robot acceptance and perceived social support. Particularly notable is her sustained inquiry into transparency: across multiple studies, she investigates how informing children about robots' machine nature and psychological limitations affects their perceptions and relationships — a question with profound ethical implications. With nearly 500 cumulative citations, van Straten's body of work is indispensable reading for anyone studying social robotics, child-technology relationships, or the future of human-machine communication.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Child–Robot Relationship Formation: A Narrative Review of Empirical Research

   151 citations · 2019
2. 2
   Effects of robots’ intonation and bodily appearance on robot-mediated communicative treatment outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorder

   57 citations · 2017
3. 3
   Transparency about a Robot's Lack of Human Psychological Capacities

   50 citations · 2020
4. 4
   Closeness, trust, and perceived social support in child-robot relationship formation

   49 citations · 2020
5. 5
   On sharing and caring: Investigating the effects of a robot's self-disclosure and question- asking on children's robot perceptions and child-robot relationship formation

   42 citations · 2021
6. 6
   Intentional acceptance of social robots: Development and validation of a self-report measure for children

   34 citations · 2020
7. 7
   The wizard and I: How transparent teleoperation and self-description (do not) affect children’s robot perceptions and child-robot relationship formation

   32 citations · 2021
8. 8
   Technological and Interpersonal Trust in Child-Robot Interaction

   28 citations · 2018
9. 9
   Transparent robots: How children perceive and relate to a social robot that acknowledges its lack of human psychological capacities and machine status

   27 citations · 2023
10. 10
    Asking Today the Crucial Questions of Tomorrow: Social Robots and the Internet of Toys

    23 citations · 2019

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links