Ryssa Moffat
Papers
3
Total Citations
28
H-Index
2
About
Ryssa Moffat is an emerging researcher at the intersection of human-robot interaction, educational technology, and cognitive development, with a particular focus on how children engage with social robots in learning contexts. Her work investigates the fundamental psychological and perceptual factors that shape children's relationships with robot companions, most notably how attributions of intelligence and sentience influence the quality of those interactions. Her most cited study (2023, 24 citations) demonstrates that children's beliefs about a robot's cognitive and emotional capacities meaningfully alter how they engage with robot reading companions — a finding with significant implications for the design and deployment of educational robots. Rather than treating robot selection as arbitrary, Moffat advocates for a needs-centered approach that grounds intervention design in learners' own expectations and perspectives. Her mixed-methods work also amplifies children's voices directly, examining what features make robots feel like genuine companions rather than mere tools. Though still early in her career, Moffat's research is helping to establish more rigorous, child-informed frameworks for educational robotics, bridging insights from cognitive science, education, and HRI to meaningfully advance the field.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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