Paul L. Harris

About

Paul L. Harris is a pioneering developmental psychologist whose research explores how young children learn from and interact with social robots. His key research areas include children’s trust in robotic informants, the role of non-verbal cues in learning, and the psychological and moral dimensions of child-robot relationships. Harris’s major contributions demonstrate that children as young as three treat robots as credible sources of information, retaining knowledge from them and even distinguishing intentional lies from mistakes. His work on robot storytelling shows that dialogic reading with robots can enhance vocabulary acquisition, mirroring benefits seen in human interaction. With highly cited papers—including “Young Children Treat Robots as Informants” (155 citations) and “Flat vs. Expressive Storytelling” (128 citations)—Harris has shaped the field of human-robot interaction. He has also investigated trust dynamics, revealing how children acquire, lose, and restore trust in robots over time. Notably, his research bridges developmental psychology and robotics, offering insights for educational technology and clinical applications. Harris’s studies, such as “Can a robot lie?” (2023), continue to push boundaries, making him a leading voice in understanding how children conceptualize robotic minds.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Young Children Treat Robots as Informants

   155 citations · 2016
2. 2
   Flat vs. Expressive Storytelling: Young Children’s Learning and Retention of a Social Robot’s Narrative

   128 citations · 2017
3. 3
   Shall I Trust You? From Child–Robot Interaction to Trusting Relationships

   111 citations · 2020
4. 4
   Children use non-verbal cues to learn new words from robots as well as people

   92 citations · 2017
5. 5
   Can a robot lie? Young children's understanding of intentionality beneath false statements

   19 citations · 2023
6. 6
   Come i bambini pensano alla mente del robot. Il ruolo dell’attaccamento e della Teoria della Mente nell’attribuzione di stati mentali ad un agente robotico (How children think about the robot’s mind. The role of attachment and Theory of Mind in the attribution of mental states to a robotic agent)

   10 citations · 2020
7. 7
   Shall I trust you? From child human-robot interaction to trusting relationships

   2 citations · 2019

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links