Signals of Communicative Intent Enhance the Impact of Emotional Messages from Human Speakers, While Effects for Robots are Attenuated

International Journal of Social Robotics, vol. 18

Abstract

Abstract The present work investigated humans’ responses to robots’ verbal emotional expressions. To this end, the interplay of agent characteristics and signals of communicative intent on emotional word processing was examined. In two behavioral studies (N1 = 36, N2 = 72), participants watched short videos featuring different agents (humans, androids, and humanoid robots) alongside the auditory presentation of single words of varying valence (negative, neutral, and positive). In the communicative condition, the agent signaled communicative intent by looking at the participant while speaking; in the non-communicative condition, the audio played while the agent remained passive with eyes and mouth closed. After each video, participants rated the valence and arousal of the presented word. The results of both studies revealed a consistent pattern, with differences in emotional word processing based on agent type: For human agents, signals of communicative intent enhanced the emotional impact (arousal dimension) of emotional words. In contrast, for android and humanoid robot agents, the corresponding effects were smaller and statistically non-significant, indicating a relatively lower perceived relevance of direct emotional speech from robots. For all agents, the emotional meaning (valence dimension) of words was robustly conveyed without being affected by the communication manipulation. Further analyses identified the dimension of perceived animacy as a basis for the observed arousal effects. In line with theories that emphasize contextual influences on language processing, our results highlight the role of mind attribution and perceived relevance for emotional language processing in human–robot interaction.

Authors 9

1. Anna Eiserbeck corresponding

   Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin · Technische Universität Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Cluster of Excellence Science of Intelligence, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

   Department of Psychology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

2. Olga A. Wudarczyk

   IU International University of Applied Sciences

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Social Sciences, IU International University of Applied Sciences, Erfurt, Germany

3. Anna K. Kuhlen Aachen Institute of Psychology

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

4. Antje ; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0200-1977 Lorenz

   Bielefeld University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Linguistics, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany

5. Doris Pischedda

   University of Pavia

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Germany

6. Murat Kırtay

   Tilburg University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Intelligent Systems, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands

7. Verena V. Hafner

   Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin · Technische Universität Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Cluster of Excellence Science of Intelligence, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

   Department of Computer Science, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

8. John­–Dylan Haynes

   Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin · Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin · Technische Universität Berlin · Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

   Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Charité- Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

   Cluster of Excellence Science of Intelligence, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

   Department of Psychology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

9. Rasha Abdel Rahman

   Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin · Technische Universität Berlin

   Affiliation as printed

   Cluster of Excellence Science of Intelligence , Technische Universität Berlin , Berlin , Germany

   Department of Psychology , Faculty of Life Sciences , Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin , Berlin , Germany