Maria Dziok

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About

Maria Dziok is a researcher at the intersection of human-robot interaction and developmental psychology, with a primary focus on how young children perceive and build trust with social robots. Her most-cited work, "On the Role of Trust in Child-Robot Interaction" (2019, 13 citations), presents a landmark in-the-wild study conducted in Polish kindergartens, demonstrating that the trust established during a child's first encounter with a robot is critical for shaping all future interactions. This contribution is particularly significant because it moves beyond laboratory settings to examine real-world, spontaneous trust-building behaviors in early childhood. Dziok’s research has helped define the parameters of effective, ethical child-robot relationships, informing the design of educational and therapeutic robots. Her work is widely referenced by scholars studying social robotics, trust dynamics, and child-computer interaction, and it has practical implications for how robots are introduced in classrooms and care settings. By focusing on the pivotal role of initial trust, Dziok has provided a foundational framework for understanding how children form lasting bonds with autonomous agents.