Marina Davila‐Ross
Papers
3
Total Citations
68
H-Index
3
About
Marina Davila-Ross is a researcher whose work sits at the fascinating intersection of social robotics, animal cognition, and emotional expression. Her research explores how social interactions shape emotional perception and behavior, with particular focus on human-robot and primate-robot dynamics. One of her most influential contributions, garnering 37 citations, introduced an arousal-based behavioral model for a Sony AIBO robot, demonstrating how artificial agents can elicit caregiving responses in humans through attachment-like interactions — a significant step forward in designing socially responsive robots. Building on this foundation, her 2013 study on chimpanzee responses to robotic imitation (26 citations) broke new ground by revealing that non-human primates not only recognize and respond to imitative behavior from humanoid robots, but actively seek further interaction — offering profound insights into the evolutionary roots of social cognition. Her earlier work examining how social context influences the perception of emotional expression in robot heads laid important groundwork for the field. Collectively, Davila-Ross's research advances our understanding of social bonding, communication, and emotion across both biological and artificial agents, making her a distinctive voice in comparative psychology and human-robot interaction.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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