Papers
57
Total Citations
753
H-Index
17
About
Davide De Tommaso is a cognitive neuroscientist and human-robot interaction (HRI) researcher whose work sits at the fascinating intersection of social cognition, agency, and artificial agents. His research investigates how humans psychologically and neurologically respond to humanoid robots, asking fundamental questions about what makes us perceive machines as intentional, mind-possessing beings. De Tommaso's most influential contributions explore how robots alter core aspects of human cognition. His widely cited 2019 work (78 citations) demonstrated that attributing intentional agency to robots reduces our own sense of agency — a finding previously associated only with human-human interaction. Complementing this, his research on mutual gaze (50 citations) revealed that eye contact with a humanoid robot measurably affects neural activity and delays human decision-making, underscoring how deeply social our brains are, even toward machines. Across more than 400 cumulative citations, De Tommaso has pioneered neuroscientifically rigorous experimental methods in HRI research, combining reaction times, pupillometry, eye-tracking, and EEG to move beyond subjective self-report. His more recent work explores artificial scaffolding and social inclusion in joint human-robot action, suggesting robots could therapeutically augment human social cognition. His scholarship is essential reading for anyone studying the cognitive and social dimensions of human-AI interaction.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4Measuring engagement elicited by eye contact in Human-Robot Interaction46 citations · 2019
- 5
- 6Neuroscientifically-Grounded Research for Improved Human-Robot Interaction31 citations · 2018
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10