Robot's Inner Speech Effects on Human Trust and Anthropomorphism.

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Cognitive Psychology
• Robotics

Background:

• Inner speech is a covert internal conversation crucial for human cognition.
• Simulating inner speech in robots may enhance human trust and perception of robot qualities.
• Existing research lacks empirical evidence on the impact of robot inner speech on user perception.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of a robot's overt inner speech system on human users' perceptions.
• To assess the impact on trust, anthropomorphism, animacy, likeability, intelligence, and safety.
• To compare user perceptions between robots with and without inner speech simulation.

Main Methods:

• A pre-test/post-test control group design was employed.
• Participants interacted with either a robot with an overt inner speech system (experimental) or a robot with only outer speech (control).
• Questionnaires measured perceptions of inner speech and trust before and after interaction.

Main Results:

• The experimental group, interacting with the robot exhibiting inner speech, showed significant differences in pre-test and post-test assessments.
• Robot inner speech positively influenced participants' perceptions of the robot's animacy and intelligence.
• No significant differences were noted in other measured perceptions like anthropomorphism, likeability, or safety.

Conclusions:

• Implementing overt inner speech systems in robots can enhance user perception of robot intelligence and animacy.
• This finding has implications for designing more engaging and trustworthy human-robot interactions.
• Further research is needed to explore the nuances of inner speech simulation in diverse robotic applications.