How human–robot interaction can influence task performance and perceived cognitive load at different support conditions

Varrasi, S, Vagnetti, R, Camp, N ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0972-9722, Hough, J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6970-5779, Di Nuovo, A, Castellano, S and Magistro, D ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2554-3701, 2025. How human–robot interaction can influence task performance and perceived cognitive load at different support conditions. Information, 16 (5): 374. ISSN 2078-2489

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Abstract

Cognitive load refers to the mental resources used for executing simultaneous tasks. Since these resources are limited, individuals can only process a specific amount of information at a time. Daily activities often involve mentally demanding tasks, which is why social robots have been proposed to simplify them and support users. This study aimed to verify whether and how a social robot can enhance the performance and support the management of cognitive load. Participants completed a baseline where a cognitive activity was carried out without support, and three other conditions where similar activities of increasing difficulty were collaboratively made with the NAO robot. In each condition, errors, time, and perceived cognitive load were measured. Results revealed that the robot improved performance and perceived cognitive load when compared to the baseline, but this support was then thwarted by excessive levels of cognitive load. Future research should focus on developing and designing collaborative human–robot interactions that consider the user’s mental demand, to promote effective and personalized robotic help for independent living.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Information
Creators:	Varrasi, S., Vagnetti, R., Camp, N., Hough, J., Di Nuovo, A., Castellano, S. and Magistro, D.
Publisher:	MDPI AG
Date:	May 2025
Volume:	16
Number:	5
ISSN:	2078-2489
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3390/info16050374 DOI 2435389 Other
Rights:	© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	06 May 2025 10:58
Last Modified:	06 May 2025 10:58
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/53527

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