Zach Buchanan

Papers

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About

Zach Buchanan is a researcher in human-robot interaction, with a particular focus on how children perceive and anthropomorphize social robots. His work explores the psychological and social dynamics that emerge when young users engage with autonomous systems, especially in playful or game-based contexts. Buchanan’s most cited paper, “He can read your mind: Perceptions of a character-guessing robot” (2017, 9 citations), investigates how children aged eight to twelve attribute mind-reading abilities to a Nao robot after a brief guessing game. In this study, 30 participants interacted with the robot for five to seven minutes, and their post-interaction responses revealed that even simple, scripted attempts at guessing a character could lead children to perceive the robot as having extraordinary cognitive or even magical capabilities. This work contributes to a growing body of literature on the “uncanny” and “magical” thinking in child-robot interaction, with implications for designing more transparent and ethically responsible social robots. Buchanan’s research is notable for its focus on developmental perspectives, bridging cognitive science, robotics, and education.