Pascal Huguet

About

Pascal Huguet is a leading cognitive psychologist whose research lies at the intersection of social cognition and human-robot interaction. His work investigates how the mere presence of humanoid robots—particularly those perceived as threatening or competent—can paradoxically enhance human attentional control and cognitive performance. In his most cited study (64 citations), Huguet demonstrated that anthropomorphized robots improve cognitive control, challenging assumptions that robots are inherently distracting. His 2018 paper (49 citations) further revealed that "bad" humanoid robots, simply by observing human performance, can energize attentional control much like human presence does. Huguet has also explored how national stereotypes shape robot perception, showing that social categorization processes influence how we view "Made in" robots (37 citations). His more recent work (2021) isolates robot gaze as a critical determinant of attentional modulation. With cumulative citations exceeding 160, Huguet’s research bridges social psychology and robotics, offering profound insights into how humans cognitively engage with increasingly social machines—a contribution essential for designing effective human-robot collaborations.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Improved Cognitive Control in Presence of Anthropomorphized Robots

   64 citations · 2019
2. 2
   Not as bad as it seems: When the presence of a threatening humanoid robot improves human performance

   49 citations · 2018
3. 3
   National Stereotypes and Robots' Perception: The “Made in” Effect

   37 citations · 2019
4. 4
   Cognitive Impact of Anthropomorphized Robot Gaze

   13 citations · 2021
5. 5
   Impact of Social Presence of Humanoid Robots: Does Competence Matter?

   3 citations · 2021

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links