Rachel L. Severson

About

Rachel L. Severson is a leading developmental psychologist whose pioneering research explores how children form social and moral relationships with robots and other technologies. Her landmark 2012 study, cited over 400 times, revealed that children as young as nine develop meaningful social bonds with humanoid robots like Robovie, even attributing moral standing to them. Severson’s work on “technological nature” (279 citations) examines how simulated natural experiences—from robotic pets to virtual landscapes—shape human connection to the environment. She demonstrated that robotic dogs like AIBO can aid social development in children with autism (176 citations), opening new avenues for therapeutic intervention. Her research also investigates whether people hold robots morally accountable for harm (162 citations), and she has developed frameworks for understanding children’s ontological categories of personified robots. Severson’s contributions bridge developmental psychology, human-robot interaction, and environmental psychology, with over 1,600 total citations. She is particularly known for adapting adult measures of anthropomorphism for child samples, enabling systematic study of how young minds perceive and relate to increasingly humanlike technologies. Her work has profound implications for designing robots that interact ethically and effectively with children.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   “Robovie, you'll have to go into the closet now”: Children's social and moral relationships with a humanoid robot.

   416 citations · 2012
2. 2
   The Human Relation With Nature and Technological Nature

   279 citations · 2009
3. 3
   Robotic animals might aid in the social development of children with autism

   176 citations · 2008
4. 4
   Design patterns for sociality in human-robot interaction

   172 citations · 2008
5. 5
   Do people hold a humanoid robot morally accountable for the harm it causes?

   162 citations · 2012
6. 6
   What is a Human?

   143 citations · 2007
7. 7
   Behaving as or behaving as if? Children’s conceptions of personified robots and the emergence of a new ontological category

   108 citations · 2010
8. 8
   Kids See Human Too: Adapting an Individual Differences Measure of Anthropomorphism for a Child Sample

   97 citations · 2015
9. 9
   Social and moral relationships with robotic others?

   68 citations · 2005

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links