Sonja Pedell
Papers
4
Total Citations
103
H-Index
4
About
Sonja Pedell is a leading researcher at the intersection of human-robot interaction, child development, and gerontechnology. Her work explores how social robots can foster prosocial behavior in young children and enhance wellbeing in older adults. In a landmark 2019 study (47 citations), she investigated the nature of children's altruism using a social humanoid robot, revealing that young children’s helping behavior extends even to robots—a finding that reshaped our understanding of indiscriminate altruism in early childhood. Her 2020 follow-up (25 citations) further demonstrated that children help robots relatively regardless of the robot’s characteristics, offering profound insights into developmental psychology and human-robot relationships. Pedell also addresses the digital divide for older adults, as shown in her 2016 work (21 citations) on social participation, where she highlights how ICTs can combat isolation. More recently, she designs meaningful human-robot interactions for care activities (2021, 10 citations), aiming to increase wellbeing among seniors. Her contributions bridge robotics, psychology, and inclusive design, making her a pivotal figure in creating technology that serves both the very young and the very old.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Young Children’s Indiscriminate Helping Behavior Toward a Humanoid Robot25 citations · 2020
- 3Older People and Social Participation21 citations · 2016
- 4