Valentina Truppa

Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies

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About

Valentina Truppa is a leading researcher in comparative cognition, with a focus on the evolutionary origins of human cognitive abilities. Her work bridges primatology, developmental psychology, and robotics, exploring how primates—including humans—learn and solve problems through intrinsic motivation. She is best known for her innovative use of the “Mechatronic Board,” a tool she co-developed to study spontaneous exploration and curiosity-driven behavior in humans, monkeys, and humanoid robots. This interdisciplinary approach, detailed in her 2012 paper (cited 8 times), has provided a novel framework for understanding how non-human primates engage with complex, self-directed tasks, offering insights into the cognitive mechanisms underlying tool use and social learning. Truppa’s research has significant implications for robotics and artificial intelligence, informing the design of autonomous systems that learn through intrinsic rewards. Her work is widely recognized for its methodological creativity, bridging gaps between species to reveal shared cognitive foundations. With a career dedicated to unraveling the roots of intelligence, Truppa continues to influence fields from evolutionary psychology to human-robot interaction.