Coordinators:

• Cinzia Di Dio (CoHead, Faculty of Education)
• Federico Manzi (CoHead, Faculty of Education)

Members:

• Andrea Gaggioli (Full Professor, Faculty of Arts)
• Antonella Marchetti (Full Professor, Faculty of Education)
• Davide Massaro (Full Professor, Faculty of Education)
• Giuseppe Riva (Full Professor, Faculty of Psychology)

Presentation

The Research Unit in Psychology and Robotics in the Lifespan (PsyRoLife) arises from the need to bring together researchers in the Department of Psychology interested in the study of robotics in a life-span perspective. The creation of PsyRoLife responds to the social and cultural demands that technological innovation in the field of robotics is raising at both national and international level and that increasingly require the contribution and involvement of psychology.

The goal of PsyRoLife is to create a meeting and discussion space to develop research projects related to the psychological processes and mechanisms involved in the interaction between people of different ages and various robot technologies. In addition to basic research, PsyRoLife aims to develop intervention projects in education and rehabilitation in a lifespan perspective, promoting the transfer of scientific knowledge to mainstream society through training in formal and informal contexts. The encounter between psychology and robotics in a life-span perspective has already resulted in a number of publications in national and international journals as well as in collaborations with various national and international research centres.

Aims

• To provide a space for meeting and dialogue to share ideas and research lines on the topic of psychology and robotics among researchers;
• to optimise the communication of the Department's research on the topic both inside and outside the University;
• more easily intercept opportunities arising from competitive calls for proposals and requests for action for the third mission;
• devising training courses and initiatives for the dissemination of science;
• organise seminars, workshops, study days and cycles of meetings with national and international guests;
• participating in events of scientific societies dealing with psychology and robotics;
• to mark the Department's presence on the subject within scientific societies and among stakeholders.

Areas of activity

• To promote research that can deepen the psychological processes and mechanisms in humanrobot interaction in a life-span perspective;
• to develop educational intervention tools for social skills at different ages and in different contexts using and comparing the robot technologies;
• develop protocols to support different psychological skills, with a focus on social skills, through the use of different robot technologies;
• implement artificial models for humanrobot interaction in a life-span perspective;
• monitor the impact of robot technologies on development in different contexts.

Contact: Cinzia Di Dio cinzia.didio@unicatt.it | Federico Manzi federico.manzi@unicatt.it

Telephone number: +39 02 7234 2034.

Website:  https://dipartimenti.unicatt.it/psicologia-unita-di-ricerca-psicologia-e-robotica-nel-ciclo-di-vita-psyrolife