Zhongjie Lu
Papers
2
Total Citations
4
H-Index
2
About
Zhongjie Lu is a developmental psychologist whose research sits at the intersection of early childhood cognition, human-robot interaction, and educational technology. Her work explores how young children construct mental models of artificial agents—a concept she terms the “Theory of Artificial Mind” (ToAM). In her highly cited 2025 study, “NAO, I Can Read Your Mind,” Lu demonstrated that children aged 3 to 6 apply distinct reasoning frameworks to peers versus social robots, revealing that even preschoolers differentiate between human and artificial minds. This foundational work, which has already garnered significant attention, opens new avenues for designing developmentally appropriate educational robots. Lu also addresses practical challenges in early childhood education through her 2024 pilot study on telepresence observation for kindergarten classroom rating. By investigating remote assessment methods, she tackles the critical shortage of trained observers in rural areas, offering scalable solutions for maintaining educational quality. With her innovative integration of cognitive science and applied technology, Lu is shaping how we understand children’s social-cognitive development in an increasingly AI-mediated world.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
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