Subgroup Formation in Human-Robot Teams

Subgroup formation is vital in understanding teamwork. It was not clear whether subgroup formation takes place in human-robot teams and what the implications of the subgroups might be for the team’s success. Therefore, we conducted an experiment with 44 teams of two people and two robots, where each team member worked with a robot to accomplish a team task. We found that subgroups were formed when team members identified with their robots and were inhibited when they identified with their team as a whole. Robot identification and team identification moderated the negative impacts of subgroup formation on teamwork quality and subsequent team performance

Trusting Robots in Teams: Examining the Impacts of Trusting Robots on Team Performance and Satisfaction

Despite the widespread use of robots in teams, there is still much to learn about what facilitates better performance in these teams working with robots. Although trust has been shown to be a strong predictor of performance in all-human teams, we do not fully know if trust plays the same critical role in teams working with robots. This study examines how to facilitate trust and its importance on the performance of teams working with robots. A 2 (robot identification vs. no robot identification) × 2 (team identification vs. no team identification) between-subjects experiment with 54 teams working with robots was conducted. Results indicate that robot identification increased trust in robots and team identification increased trust in one’s teammates. Trust in robots increased team performance while trust in teammates increased satisfaction

Subgroup Formation in Teams Working with Robots

Teams are increasingly adopting robots to accomplish their work. Despite this, more research is needed to understand what makes these teams effective. One such topic not fully explored is the formation of subgroups in teams that work with robots. We conducted a pilot study to explore this topic. The study examined 15 teams of 2 people, each team member working with a robot to accomplish a team task. Results of the pilot study showed that subgroups formed between humans and their robots were negatively correlated with various team outcomes. Although our results are preliminary, we believe our findings can initiate future research on the topic of subgroup formation in teams working with robots.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111882/1/Robert and You 2015 WIP.pd

A Working Framework for Human– Robot Teamwork

This paper provides a framework for understanding teamwork with robots.Despite the established volume of literature on human–robot interaction, the ways in which humans and robots work together as a team have been relatively understudied. This paper proposes a working framework for human–robot teams as a theoretical guide, based on IMOI (Inputs-Mediators-Outputs- Inputs) framework for teamwork in human teams. The proposed framework describes the developmental process of human–robot teams, in which different characteristics regarding humans and robots produce team outcomes through various mediators within organizational contexts.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135719/1/CSCW2017 Robot Workshop Final Jan 13.pd

Trusting Robots in Teams: Examining the Impacts of Trusting Robots on Team Performance and Satisfaction

Despite the widespread use of robots in teams, there is still much to learn about what facilitates better performance in these teams working with robots. Although trust has been shown to be a strong predictor of performance in all-human teams, we do not fully know if trust plays the same critical role in teams working with robots. This study examines how to facilitate trust and its importance on the performance of teams working with robots. A 2 (robot identification vs. no robot identification) × 2 (team identification vs. no team identification) between-subjects experiment with 54 teams working with robots was conducted. Results indicate that robot identification increased trust in robots and team identification increased trust in one’s teammates. Trust in robots increased team performance while trust in teammates increased satisfaction.http://doi.org/10.24251/hicss.2019.031Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145619/1/You and Robert 2019 (Preprint).pd

Curiosity vs. Control: Impacts of Training on Performance of Teams Working with Robots

Training robot operators is one approach to promoting better performance in teams working with robots. Yet, training does not always result in better performance. This study conducts a preliminary analysis of why by examining two psychological states of use: control and curiosity. An experimental study involving 30 teams two humans and two robots employing robots was conducted. Results showed that training minimized the negative impacts of curiosity and heightened the positive impacts of control on task involving the use of a robot.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116395/1/You and Robert 2016.pd

Technology with Embodied Physical Actions: Understanding Interactions and Effectiveness Gains in Teams Working with Robots

Teams in different areas are increasingly adopting robots to perform various mission operations. The inclusion of robots in teams has drawn consistent attention from scholars in relevant fields such as human-computer interaction (HCI) and human-robot interaction (HRI). Yet, the current literature has not fully addressed issues regarding teamwork by mainly focusing on the collaboration between a single robot and an individual. The limited scope of human-robot collaboration in the existing research hinders uncovering the mechanism of performance gains in teams that involve multiple robots and people. This dissertation research is an effort to address the issue by achieving two goals. First, this dissertation examines the impacts of interaction between human teammates alone and interaction between humans and robots on outcomes in teams working with robots. Second, I provide insight into the development of teams working with robots by examining ways to promote a team member’s intention to work with robots. In this dissertation, I conducted three studies in an endeavor to accomplish the aforementioned goals. The first study, in Chapter 2, turns to theory trust in teams to explain outcome gains in teams working with robots. This study reports result from a lab experiment, in which two people fulfilled a collaborative task using two robots. The results show that trust in robots and trust in teammates can be enhanced by a robot-building activity and team identification, respectively. The enhanced trust revealed unique impacts on different team outcomes: trust in robots increased only team performance while trust in teammates increased only satisfaction. Theoretical and practical contributions of the findings are discussed in the chapter. The second study, in Chapter 3, uncovers how team member’s efficacy beliefs interplay with team diversity to promote performance in teams working with robots. Results from a lab experiment reveal that individual operator’s performance is enhanced by team potency perception only when the team is ethnically diverse. This study contributes to theory by identifying team diversity as a limiting condition of performance gains for robot operators in teams. The third study, in Chapter 4, focuses on factors leading to the development of teams working with robots. I conducted an online experiment to examine how surface-level and deep-level similarity contribute to trust in a robotic partner and the impact of the trust on a team member’s intention to work with the robot in varying degrees of danger. This study generally shows that the possibility of danger regulates not only the positive link between the surface-level similarity and trust in robot and but also the link between intention to work with the robot and intention to replace a human teammate with the robot. Chapter 5, as a concluding chapter of this dissertation, discusses the theoretical and practical implications drawn from the three studies.PHDInformationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138514/1/sangyou_1.pd

Emotional Attachment, Performance, and Viability in Teams Collaborating with Embodied Physical Action (EPA) Robots

Although different types of teams increasingly employ embodied physical action (EPA) robots as a collaborative technology to accomplish their work, we know very little about what makes such teams successful. This paper has two objectives: the first is to examine whether a team’s emotional attachment to its robots can lead to better team performance and viability; the second is to determine whether robot and team identification can promote a team’s emotional attachment to its robots. To achieve these objectives, we conducted a between-subjects experiment with 57 teams working with robots. Teams performed better and were more viable when they were emotionally attached to their robots. Both robot and team identification increased a team’s emotional attachment to its robots. Results of this study have implications for collaboration using EPA robots specifically and for collaboration technology in general

Facilitating Employee Intention to Work with Robots

Organizations are adopting and integrating robots to work with and alongside their human employees. However, their human employees are not necessarily happy about this new work arrangement. This may be in part due to the increasing fears that robots will eventually take their jobs. Organizations are now facing the challenge of integrating robots into their workforce by encouraging humans to work with their robotic teammates. To address this issue, this study employs similarity and attraction theory to encourage humans to work with and alongside their robotic co-worker. Our research model asserts that surface and deep level similarity with the robot will impact a human’s willingness to work with a robot. We also seek to examine whether risk moderates the importance of both surface and deep level similarity. To empirically examine this model, this proposal presents an experimental design. Results of the study should provide new insights into the benefits and limitations of similarity to encourage humans to work with and alongside their robot co-worker

Alternative Group Technologies and Their Influence on Group Technology Acceptance

There is a long history of study to understand why work groups do or do not adopt new collaboration technologies. However, research has focused on only one technology. The underlying assumption is that work groups can adopt or not adopt that one technology based on that technology alone. In making this assumption, many researchers have failed to realize the importance of alternative technologies in the adoption process or the fact that groups can adopt more than one technology. To address this issue, we examined an attempt by a scientific research organization to have its work groups adopt a particular group-collaboration technology. Although the target technology was more than appropriate for the task and the organization provided all the resources needed for work groups to adopt the technology, i largely failed. This was in large part because of two alternative collaboration technologies that acted as substitutes.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144537/1/AJIS_7000100087_20180619_1.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144537/4/Ammari et al. 2018.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144537/6/Ammari et al. 2018 (Published).pdfDescription of Ammari et al. 2018.pdf : Forthcoming versionDescription of Ammari et al. 2018 (Published).pdf : Final Versio