samth78

Sam Thellman

Assistant Professor

I am a researcher in cognitive science with a focus on human-robot interaction.

Presentation

What does the robot perceive, know, and desire? My research focuses on folk-psychological interpretations of artificial intelligence, AI, systems such as self-driving vehicles and humanoid robots.

Sam Thellman is an Assistant Professor in Cognitive Science at Linköping University, specializing in human–AI interaction and human–robot interaction. His research focuses on how people intuitively interpret and interact with intelligent systems, particularly how they attribute mental states, intentions, and knowledge to robots and autonomous vehicles. By studying these cognitive processes, his work contributes to the development of AI systems that are more predictable, explainable, and aligned with human expectations. He is also involved in interdisciplinary research on human-vehicle interaction, examining how road users anticipate the behavior of self-driving cars. Through both theoretical and experimental approaches, his research provides insights that support the design of safe and purposeful human–AI interactions.

Two persons holding a robot head that lights up green

Publications

2024

Sam Thellman, Kelvin Koenders, Anouk Neerincx, Maartje de Graaf (2024) Does the Robot Know It Is Being Distracted? Attitudinal and Behavioral Consequences of Second-Order Mental State Attribution in HRI 2024 33RD IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ROBOT AND HUMAN INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION, ROMAN 2024, p. 1134-1141 (Conference paper) Continue to DOI
Franziska Babel, Sam Thellman, Hannah Pelikan, Hatice Sahin Ippoliti, Tom Ziemke (2024) 2nd Workshop on Cars As Social Agents (CarSA): Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Human-Vehicle Interaction ADJUNCT PROCEEDINGS OF THE 13TH NORDIC CONFERENCE ON HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION, NORDICHI 2024, Article 45 (Conference paper) Continue to DOI
Birgitta Thorslund, Sam Thellman, Helena Selander (2024) An Evaluation of Driver Education Goal Fulfillment in a Simulator-Based Driver Screening Test PROCEEDINGS OF THE 19TH SWECOG CONFERENCE, p. 155-160 (Conference paper)
Franziska Babel, Robin Welsch, Linda Miller, Philipp Hock, Sam Thellman, Tom Ziemke (2024) A Robot Jumping the Queue: Expectations About Politeness and Power During Conflicts in Everyday Human-Robot Encounters PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2024 CHI CONFERENCE ON HUMAN FACTORS IN COMPUTING SYTEMS, CHI 2024 (Conference paper) Continue to DOI
Sam Thellman, Franziska Babel, Tom Ziemke (2024) Cycling with Robots: How Long-Term Interaction Experience with Automated Shuttle Buses Shapes Cyclist Attitudes COMPANION OF THE 2024 ACM/IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION, HRI 2024 COMPANION, p. 1043-1047 (Conference paper) Continue to DOI

Teaching

I am Program chair of the Bachelor's programme in Cognitive Science, and course coordinator and teacher on the following courses:

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Bachelor's Programme in Cognitive Science, 180 credits

This programme is not available in English.

About the Division

Colleagues at HCS

About the Department