Dynamics of mental models: objective vs. subjective user understanding of a robot in the wild

In Human-Robot Interaction research, assessing how humans understand the robots they interact with is crucial, particularly when studying the impact of explainability and transparency. Some studies evaluate objective understanding by analysing the accuracy of users' mental models, while others...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gebellí Guinjoan, Ferran, Garrell Zulueta, Anais|||0000-0002-4629-0723, Lemaignan, Séverin, Ros, Raquel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/441432
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/441432
https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2025.3579217
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Social HRI
Long term interaction
Human-centered robotics
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Informàtica::Robòtica
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spelling Dynamics of mental models: objective vs. subjective user understanding of a robot in the wildGebellí Guinjoan, FerranGarrell Zulueta, Anais|||0000-0002-4629-0723Lemaignan, SéverinRos, RaquelSocial HRILong term interactionHuman-centered roboticsÀrees temàtiques de la UPC::Informàtica::RobòticaIn Human-Robot Interaction research, assessing how humans understand the robots they interact with is crucial, particularly when studying the impact of explainability and transparency. Some studies evaluate objective understanding by analysing the accuracy of users' mental models, while others rely on perceived, self-reported levels of subjective understanding. We hypothesise that both dimensions of understanding may diverge, thus being complementary methods to assess the effects of explainability on users. In our study, we track the weekly progression of the users' understanding of an autonomous robot operating in a healthcare centre over five weeks. Our results reveal a notable mismatch between objective and subjective understanding. In areas where participants lacked sufficient information, the perception of understanding, i.e. subjective understanding, raised with increased contact with the system while their actual understanding, objective understanding, did not. We attribute these results to inaccurate mental models that persist due to limited feedback from the system. Future research should clarify how both objective and subjective dimensions of understanding can be influenced by explainability measures, and how these two dimensions of understanding affect other desiderata such as trust or usability.This work was supported in part by Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie under Grant 101072488 (TRAIL) and in part by Horizon 2020 under Grant 857188 (SAFE-LY-PHARAON).Peer ReviewedInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)20252025-08-0120252025-09-09journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501AMhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_ab4af688f83e57aainfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2117/441432https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2025.3579217reponame:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPCinstname:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/4414322026-05-27T15:37:01Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Dynamics of mental models: objective vs. subjective user understanding of a robot in the wild
title Dynamics of mental models: objective vs. subjective user understanding of a robot in the wild
spellingShingle Dynamics of mental models: objective vs. subjective user understanding of a robot in the wild
Gebellí Guinjoan, Ferran
Social HRI
Long term interaction
Human-centered robotics
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Informàtica::Robòtica
title_short Dynamics of mental models: objective vs. subjective user understanding of a robot in the wild
title_full Dynamics of mental models: objective vs. subjective user understanding of a robot in the wild
title_fullStr Dynamics of mental models: objective vs. subjective user understanding of a robot in the wild
title_full_unstemmed Dynamics of mental models: objective vs. subjective user understanding of a robot in the wild
title_sort Dynamics of mental models: objective vs. subjective user understanding of a robot in the wild
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Gebellí Guinjoan, Ferran
Garrell Zulueta, Anais|||0000-0002-4629-0723
Lemaignan, Séverin
Ros, Raquel
author Gebellí Guinjoan, Ferran
author_facet Gebellí Guinjoan, Ferran
Garrell Zulueta, Anais|||0000-0002-4629-0723
Lemaignan, Séverin
Ros, Raquel
author_role author
author2 Garrell Zulueta, Anais|||0000-0002-4629-0723
Lemaignan, Séverin
Ros, Raquel
author2_role author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Social HRI
Long term interaction
Human-centered robotics
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Informàtica::Robòtica
topic Social HRI
Long term interaction
Human-centered robotics
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Informàtica::Robòtica
description In Human-Robot Interaction research, assessing how humans understand the robots they interact with is crucial, particularly when studying the impact of explainability and transparency. Some studies evaluate objective understanding by analysing the accuracy of users' mental models, while others rely on perceived, self-reported levels of subjective understanding. We hypothesise that both dimensions of understanding may diverge, thus being complementary methods to assess the effects of explainability on users. In our study, we track the weekly progression of the users' understanding of an autonomous robot operating in a healthcare centre over five weeks. Our results reveal a notable mismatch between objective and subjective understanding. In areas where participants lacked sufficient information, the perception of understanding, i.e. subjective understanding, raised with increased contact with the system while their actual understanding, objective understanding, did not. We attribute these results to inaccurate mental models that persist due to limited feedback from the system. Future research should clarify how both objective and subjective dimensions of understanding can be influenced by explainability measures, and how these two dimensions of understanding affect other desiderata such as trust or usability.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025-08-01
2025
2025-09-09
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
AM
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_ab4af688f83e57aa
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/2117/441432
https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2025.3579217
url https://hdl.handle.net/2117/441432
https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/LRA.2025.3579217
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
instname:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
instname_str Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
reponame_str UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
collection UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
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repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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