Not as bad as it seems: When the presence of a threatening humanoid robot improves human performance.

Spatola, Nicolas; Belletier, Clément; Normand, Alice; Chausse, Pierre; Monceau, Sophie; Augustinova, Maria; Barra, Vincent; Huguet, Pascal et al. · Sci Robot · 2018

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Abstract

"Bad" humanoid robots just paying attention to human performance may energize attentional control-as does human presence.