Torr Polakow

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About

Torr Polakow is a researcher at the intersection of cognitive psychology and human-robot interaction, whose work illuminates how judgmental biases shape decision-making in both human and technological contexts. His primary research areas include the conjunction fallacy, social robotics, and the psychology of ranking and choice. Polakow’s most notable contribution is his 2022 study on "Social robot advisors," which demonstrated that people are susceptible to robot judgmental fallacies depending on contextual cues—a finding that has garnered 16 citations and opened new dialogues on trust in autonomous systems. His earlier work on "Free ranking vs. rank-choosing" (2021) introduced a novel paradigm where participants choose between two rank orders, revealing that presentation mode significantly influences fallacy rates. This research challenges traditional assumptions about how people evaluate probabilities and offers fresh insights into decision architecture. Polakow’s work bridges cognitive biases with applied robotics, making him a key voice in understanding how fallacious reasoning persists—and can be exploited—in human-machine interactions. His findings hold implications for designing more transparent AI and for educational interventions to improve critical thinking.