Teah-Neal Hicks
Papers
1
Total Citations
21
H-Index
1
About
Dr. Teah-Neal Hicks is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of human-robot interaction (HRI) and educational psychology, whose work fundamentally reshapes how we understand and design for user confidence in robotic systems. Her primary research areas include robot self-efficacy, human-robot trust, and the design of effective, short-term robot-delivered tutorials. Dr. Hicks’s most significant contribution is the development and validation of the Robot Self-Efficacy Scale, a groundbreaking tool that quantifies an individual’s belief in their own ability to successfully interact with a robot. Her landmark 2020 study, cited 21 times, demonstrated that a single, well-designed robot-led tutorial can significantly boost users’ self-efficacy, likability of the robot, and willingness to engage. This finding is critical for real-world robot deployment, proving that positive HRI outcomes are achievable even in brief encounters. By providing a reliable metric for a previously nebulous psychological construct, Dr. Hicks has given the field a vital instrument for evaluating and improving robot design, directly impacting the development of more accessible and user-friendly social robots for education, healthcare, and service settings.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1