Papers
5
Total Citations
91
H-Index
3
About
Magalie Ochs is a leading researcher at the intersection of social neuroscience and human-robot interaction. Her work fundamentally investigates the neural mechanisms underlying reciprocal social exchanges, using conversational robots as a unique experimental tool. By pioneering fMRI paradigms that directly compare human-human interaction (HHI) with human-robot interaction (HRI), Ochs has created a novel "second-person neuroscience" approach to objectively assess the social competence of artificial agents. Her most cited work (74 citations) demonstrates that whole-brain activity can be recorded during natural, bidirectional conversations, allowing for a direct neurophysiological comparison between interacting with a human confederate and a robotic partner. This methodological breakthrough enables researchers to move beyond subjective questionnaires, using brain activity as an objective metric to evaluate what makes an artificial agent socially engaging. Ochs has also developed a multimodal corpus of synchronized brain and behavioral data during these interactions, providing a critical resource for the field. Her contributions are pivotal for designing more socially competent conversational agents and for understanding the fundamental neural processes that distinguish human-human from human-machine social bonds.
Research Focus
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