Jordy Kaufman
Papers
2
Total Citations
72
H-Index
2
About
Dr. Jordy Kaufman is a pioneering developmental psychologist whose research sits at the intersection of early childhood social cognition and human-robot interaction. His work fundamentally explores the origins of human altruism, asking whether and how young children extend their prosocial instincts to non-human agents. In his highly cited 2019 study, "Investigating the nature of children's altruism using a social humanoid robot" (47 citations), Kaufman demonstrated that children as young as toddlers exhibit helping behaviors toward robots, challenging traditional views that such actions require a fully developed theory of mind. His subsequent 2020 paper (25 citations) revealed that young children’s helping is remarkably indiscriminate, extending even to humanoid robots regardless of the robot’s social characteristics. This finding has profound implications for understanding the innate versus learned components of morality and for designing educational technologies. Kaufman’s work bridges developmental science and robotics, offering a unique window into how children perceive and interact with intelligent machines. His research is essential reading for anyone interested in the evolution of prosocial behavior, child development, or the ethical design of social robots.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Young Children’s Indiscriminate Helping Behavior Toward a Humanoid Robot25 citations · 2020