Effects of Task-Dependent Robot Errors on Trust in Human-Robot Interaction: A Pilot Study

The growing diffusion of robotics in our daily life demands a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of trust in human-robot interaction. The performance of a robot is one of the most important factors influencing the trust of a human user. However, it is still unclear whether the circumstances in which a robot fails to affect the user's trust. We investigate how the perception of robot failures may influence the willingness of people to cooperate with the robot by following its instructions in a time-critical task. We conducted an experiment in which participants interacted with a robot that had previously failed in a related or an unrelated task. We hypothesized that users' observed and self-reported trust ratings would be higher in the condition where the robot has previously failed in an unrelated task. A proof-of-concept study with nine participants timidly confirms our hypothesis. At the same time, our results reveal some flaws in the design experimental, and encourage a future large scale study.