Table_1_Are Future Psychologists Willing to Accept and Use a Humanoid Robot in Their Practice? Italian and English Students’ Perspective.DOCX

Despite general scepticism from care professionals, social robotics research is providing evidence of successful application in education and rehabilitation in clinical psychology practice. In this article, we investigate the cultural influences of English and Italian psychology students in the perception of usefulness and intention to use a robot as an instrument for future clinical practice and, secondly, the modality of presentation of the robot by comparing oral vs. video presentation. To this end, we surveyed 158 Italian and British-English psychology students after an interactive demonstration using a humanoid robot to evaluate the social robot’s acceptance and use. The Italians were positive, while the English were negative toward the perceived usefulness and intention to use the robot in psychological practice in the near future. However, most English and Italian respondents felt they did not have the necessary abilities to make good use of the robot. We concluded that it is necessary to provide psychology students with further knowledge and practical skills regarding social robotics, which could facilitate the adoption and use of this technology in clinical settings.

尽管护理专业人士普遍持怀疑态度，但社交机器人学（social robotics）研究已证实，该技术可在临床心理学实践的教育与康复场景中实现成功应用。本文旨在开展两项研究：其一，探究英语与意大利心理学专业学生在将机器人作为未来临床实践工具时的感知有用性与使用意愿所受的文化影响；其二，通过对比口头演示与视频演示两种呈现方式，分析机器人的展示模式对上述感知与意愿的作用。为此，研究团队借助类人机器人（humanoid robot）开展交互式演示后，对158名意大利籍与英籍英语心理学专业学生进行了问卷调查，以评估社交机器人的接受度与使用意愿。结果显示，意大利学生对该机器人在未来心理学实践中的感知有用性与使用意愿呈积极态度，而英籍学生则持负面看法。不过，多数英籍与意大利籍受访者均表示，自身尚不具备充分使用该机器人所需的相关能力。综上，研究团队认为需为心理学专业学生提供更多与社交机器人学相关的理论知识与实操技能，以此推动该技术在临床场景中的采纳与应用。