Justin Hart

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Justin Hart is a researcher whose work sits at the compelling intersection of human-robot interaction, cognitive science, and social robotics. His most notable contribution, the 2010 study "No Fair!!", demonstrates a pioneering approach to understanding how humans attribute mental states and intentionality to robotic agents. By designing an elegant experimental framework around the familiar children's game rock-paper-scissors, Hart explored how subtle variations in robot behavior — specifically whether a humanoid robot plays fairly or cheats — influence the degree to which human participants perceive the robot as possessing intention and agency. This work, which has garnered 26 citations, reflects a broader scholarly interest in the psychological and social dimensions of human-robot encounters. Hart's research contributes meaningfully to ongoing conversations about robot trustworthiness, perceived fairness, and the conditions under which humans naturally anthropomorphize machines. By grounding complex theoretical questions about mind perception in accessible, playful experimental scenarios, Hart has made his work approachable yet intellectually rigorous — offering valuable insights for roboticists, cognitive scientists, and designers working to build machines that interact naturally and ethically with people.