When we press a light switch and a bulb illuminates, the relationship between action and effect is predictable. Human interaction is different. If we wave at someone and they wave back, the response is not automatic. Yet we can still experience their response as something shaped by our own actions. My research investigates how people experience this sense of influence and connection during social interaction, an area of psychology known as Social Agency.

My ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship will support the completion and publication of a three-experiment study examining how people judge whether observed behaviour is human or computer-generated. I will also develop an international fellowship application extending my research into virtual reality, where the timing of interactions can be precisely manipulated to investigate how people experience control and connection. Alongside this, I aim to communicate my research to academic and wider audiences, particularly communities involved in developing emerging technologies.