Richard Ramsey

University of Nottingham, Macquarie University, Bangor University, ETH Zurich

Papers

Total Citations

442

H-Index

About

Richard Ramsey investigates the cognitive and neural mechanisms that underpin how we perceive and interact with both human and non-human agents, bridging social neuroscience, cognitive science, and robotics. His work reveals that the brain’s action observation network (AON)—encompassing parietal, premotor, and occipitotemporal regions—responds preferentially to robotic movement, suggesting that our neural systems for understanding actions are not exclusively tuned to biological motion. This foundational finding, published in 2011 and cited nearly 200 times, set the stage for his broader exploration of human–machine interaction. Ramsey’s highly cited 2020 framework, “Mind Meets Machine,” proposes a cognitive science of human–robot encounters, addressing how we attribute animacy and intentionality to artificial agents. His 2015 review, with over 100 citations, systematically examines how perceptual cues and prior knowledge shape social judgments of humanness. More recently, his 2024 study challenges assumptions about humanoid robots, asking whether they are perceived as “mindless mannequins” and identifying the specific features that drive human–nonhuman categorization. Ramsey’s work is essential for understanding the psychological and neural boundaries between human and machine, with direct implications for designing socially adept robots.