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About

Jonathan Streater’s research lies at the intersection of computational social science, cognitive modeling, and social robotics, with a particular focus on how agents—both human and artificial—navigate and internalize social norms. His most cited work, “Towards a computational model of social norms” (2018, 18 citations), introduces a groundbreaking framework for quantifying cultural values—such as dignity, generosity, and politeness—through what he terms Culture-Sanctioned Social Metrics (CSSMs). This model treats norms as computational requirements, offering a formal basis for simulating norm-guided behavior in artificial systems. Streater has also made notable contributions to autism research and human-robot interaction. In his 2011 paper on triadic interactions, he creatively applies the psychoanalytic concept of transitional objects to social robotics, suggesting that such objects can scaffold joint attention and affective engagement in autistic individuals. His work on Embodied Cognitive Fidelity (ECF) further advances the design of human-robot team simulations by grounding them in contemporary cognitive theory. Though his citation counts are modest, Streater’s interdisciplinary approach—bridging psychoanalysis, cognitive science, and robotics—marks him as an innovative thinker whose ideas are gaining traction in the growing field of socially aware AI.