On Tuesday, September 8, starting at 5.00 p.m., the doctoral thesis defense of the PhD candidate Selene Caro Via will take place in the Sala de Graus of La Salle Campus Barcelona. The thesis, entitled 'From robot interaction to connecting with people: Opening sociocommunicative pathways in ASD diversity', has been carried out under the direction of Dr Xavier Canaleta Llampallas and Dr Javier Herrero Martín. The PhD student is part of the HER research group.
The court is made up of the president, Dr Ariadna Maria Llorens Garcia; the secretary, Dr Josep Campos Rius; and the member, Dr Miguel Ángel Conde González.
Thesis summary
This doctoral thesis examines the potential of social robotics as a mediating tool in psychoeducational interventions aimed at students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Framed within the DivInTech project, the research explores how the integration of social robots in real educational settings can support communicative, attentional, and social interaction processes.
The study is based on the hypothesis that social robotics contributes to the improvement of instrumental skills through personalized activities. To address this, three research questions are posed: (1) to compare the effectiveness of robot-assisted intervention with teacher-only intervention, (2) to analyze differences in task performance between students with ASD and neurotypical students, and (3) to evaluate the impact of triadic interaction (robot-educator-device) on attentional modulation. Methodologically, the research is structured in two phases: an exploratory phase focused on the design and validation of robot-based activities, and an evaluative phase aimed at expanding empirical evidence across different educational contexts. Data collection combines behavioral and physiological measures, including audiovisual recordings and physiological variables such as heart rate (HR) and electrodermal activity (EDA).
The results indicate that the robot acts as a complementary mediator that enhances communicative spontaneity and verbal participation without replacing the teacher’s role. In addition, a reduction in stress indicators is observed during robot-mediated interaction, along with an attentional anchoring effect that positions the robot as the central axis of the triadic interaction.
Given its exploratory nature (with a total sample of 7 students with ASD and 7 neurotypical students), the findings should be interpreted with caution. Nevertheless, the thesis concludes that social robotics represents a promising pedagogical resource for facilitating the transition toward social interaction with people, highlighting the importance of activity personalization and offering practical guidelines for its implementation in inclusive educational contexts.