Publications
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Cordingley, K. J., & Severson, R. L. (in press). The other identity politics: The timing and context of political turning points and political identity development. Psicologia Sociale: Social Psychology Theory & Research, Special Issue on The Development of Political Thought and Action.
Cordingley, K. J., & Severson, R. L. (2024). Identity development in the time of COVID-19: Political identity, mental well-being, and pandemic processing. Discover Psychology, 4, 190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44202-024-00306-3
Danovitch, J., & Severson, R. L. (2021). . Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies. DOI: 10.1002/hbe2.285
Birch, S. A. J., Severson, R. L., & Baimel, A. (2020). . PLOS ONE, 15 (1), e02227026. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227026
Severson, R. L., & Woodard, S. R. (2018). . Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2140. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02140
Severson, R. L., & Lemm, K. M. (2016). . Journal of Cognition and Development, 17, 122-141. doi: 10.1080/15248372.2014.989445
Baimel, A., Severson, R. L., Baron, A. S., & Birch, S. A. J. (2015). . Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 870. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00870
Kahn, P. H., Jr., Kanda, T., Ishiguro, H., Freier, N. G., Severson, R. L., Gill, B. T., Ruckert, J. H., & Shen, S. (2012). . Developmental Psychology, 48, 303-314.
Kahn, P. H., Jr., Kanda, T., Ishiguro, H., Gill, B. T., Ruckert, J. H., Shen, S., Gary, H., Reichert, A. L., Freier, N. G., & Severson, R. L. (2012). Proceedings of the 7th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2012, Boston, MA, March 5-8, 2012) (pp. 22-30) (Best Paper Award). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi: 10.1145/2157689.2157696
Severson, R. L., & Carlson, S. M. (2010).. Neural Networks, Special Issue on Social Cognition: From Babies to Robots, 23, 1099-1103.
Severson, R. L., & Kahn, P. H., Jr. (2010). . Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31, 249-256.
Kahn, P. H., Jr., Ruckert, J. H., Severson, R. L., Reichert, A. L., & Fowler, E. (2010). . Ecopsychology, 2, 59-66.
Kahn, P. H., Jr., Severson, R. L., & Ruckert, J. H. (2009). . Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18, 37-42.
Kahn, P. H., Jr., Friedman, B., Gill, B. T., Hagman, J., Severson, R. L., Freier, N. G., Feldman, E. N., Carrère, S., & Stolyar, A. (2008). . Journal of Environmental Psychology, 28, 192-199.
Kahn, P. H. Jr., Saunders, C. D., Severson, R. L., Myers, O. E., Jr., & Gill, B. T. (2008). . Anthrozoös, 21, 375-386.
Kahn, P. H., Jr., Freier, N. G., Kanda, T., Ishiguro, H., Ruckert, J. H., Severson, R. L., & Kane, S. K. (2008). Design patterns for sociality in human-robot interaction. Proceedings of the 3rd ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2008, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 12-15, 2008) (pp. 97-104). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE. doi: 10.1145/1349822.1349836
Stanton, C. M., Kahn, P. H., Jr., Severson, R. L., Ruckert, J. H., & Gill, B. T. (2008). Robotic animals might aid in the social development of children with autism. Proceedings of the 3rdACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2008, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 12-15, 2008) (pp. 271-278). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE. doi: 10.1145/1349822.1349858
Kahn, P. H., Jr., Ishiguro, H., Friedman, B., Kanda, T., Freier, N. G., Severson, R. L., & Miller, J. (2007). . Interaction Studies: Social Behavior and Communication in Biological and Artificial Systems, 8, 363-390.
Friedman, B., Kahn, P. H., Jr., Hagman, J., Severson, R. L., & Gill, B. (2006). . Human-Computer Interaction, 21, 235-272.
Kahn, P. H., Jr., Freier, N. G., Friedman, B., Severson, R. L., & Feldman, E. (2004). Social and moral relationships with robotic others? Proceedings of the 13th International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (ROMAN 2004, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan, September 20-22, 2004) (pp. 545-550). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE. doi: 10.1109/ROMAN.2004.1374819
Chapters in Edited Volumes
Severson, R. L., Peter, J., Kanda, T., Kaufman, J., & Scassellati, B. (2025). Social robots and children’s development: Promises and implications. In D. Christakis & L. Hale (Eds.), Children and Screens: A Handbook on Digital Media and the Development, Health, and Well-being of Children and Adolescents (pp. 627-633). Springer Nature.
Xu, Y., Prado, Y., Severson, R. L., Lovato, S., & Cassell, J. (2025). Growing up with artificial intelligence: Implications for child development. In D. Christakis & L. Hale (Eds.), Children and Screens: A Handbook on Digital Media and the Development, Health, and Well-being of Children and Adolescents (pp. 611-618). Springer Nature.
Severson, R. L., Sweezy, S. E., Macko, T. M. (2024). Real or pretend? How children ontologize social robots as mental and moral others. In L. Fortunati & A. Edwards (Eds.), The Handbook of Robots in Society and Culture (pp. 295-310). De Gruyter. Doi: 10.1515/9783110792270-016
Severson, R. L., Bean, P., & Caughie, C. (2020). The emergence of concern for the natural environment: Farm worker children, pesticides, and direct experience with nature. In V. Derr & Y. Corona (Eds.), Latin American Transnational Children and Youth: Experiences of Nature and Place, Culture, and Cares Across the Americas (pp. 186-198). Routledge.
Kahn, P. H., Jr., Severson, R. L., & Ruckert, J. H. (2009). Experiencing technological nature – and the problem when good enough becomes good. In M. Drenthen, J. Keulartz, & J. Proctor (Eds.), New Visions of Nature (pp. 145-176). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Friedman, B., Kahn, P. H., Jr., Hagman, J., Severson, R. L., & Gill, B. (2009). The watcher and the watched: Social judgments about privacy in a public place. Reprinted in R. Harper (Series Ed.), S. Harrison (Vol. Ed.), Media Space 20 + Years of Mediated Life. London: Springer.
Kahn, P. H., Jr., & Severson, R. L. (2008). Environmental education. In F. C. Power, R. J. Nuzzi, D. Narvaez, D. K. Lapsley, & T. C. Hunt (Eds.), Moral education: A handbook (Vol. 1, pp. 166-167). Westport, CT: Praeger.
Invited Reviews and Commentaries
Severson, R. L. (2015). [Review of the book Who’s asking? Native science, Western science, and science education, by D. L. Medin & M. Bang]. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 38, 70-71. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2014.11.003
Severson, R. L. (2015). Film review: “School’s Out: Lessons from a Forest Kindergarten.” Journal of Educational Controversy 9. Open access:
Severson, R. L. (2014). . Human Development, 57, 26-29. doi:10.1159/000357792
Presentations
Invited Talks
Lee, S., Zuroff, H., Herbert-Meny, J., Carlton, P., & Severson, R. L. (2022, Aug). Create, collaborate, and grow under one roof. NLA Library Tri-Conference, Missoula, MT.
Severson, R. L. (2022, May). Children’s understanding of robots and voice-based assistants. Panel on Here, there, and everywhere: Emerging technologies and the future of children. Children and Screens “” webinar series.
Severson, R. L. (2022, May). Women scientists. Annual speaker for the As You Like It Club, Missoula, MT.
Severson, R. L., Bray, H., & Truitt, H. (2021, August). How to celebrate our wins: Under one roof. Public Service Academy, 91次元 Max S. Baucus Institute’s Department of Public Administration & Policy.
Cochran, B., Fiore, C., & Severson, R. L. (2020, May). Panel on Alumni Virtual Engagement, 91次元 Alumni Association.
Severson, R. L. (2019, October). Panel on (with Jonathan Gratch and Sidney D’Mello). USC Visions and Voices, Los Angeles, CA.
Severson, R. L. (2019, April). “Alexa, are you spying on me?” Identity, privacy, and technology Panel. 91次元 College of Humanities & Sciences Dialogue, Missoula, MT.
Severson, R. L. (2019, February). Screen Time and Green Time: Effects of Increased Technology on Children’s Development.Bringing the U to You Lecture Series, UM and MSU Alumni Associations, Great Falls, MT. [access ]
Severson, R. L. (2018, October). Panel on Emerging Technologies: Children's Engagement with Intelligent and Interactive Media. Digital Media and Developing Minds: Second National Congress. Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory (Cold Springs Harbor, NY).
Severson, R. L. (2016, May). Discerning minds: Children’s developing skepticism of an unjustifiably confident model.Centre for the Study of Mind in Nature, University of Oslo (Oslo, Norway).
Severson, R. L. (2016, April).Discerning minds: Children’s developing skepticism of an unjustifiably confident model.Department of Psychology Colloquium, 91次元 (Missoula, MT).
Severson, R. L. (2014, February).Seeing human: Children’s anthropomorphic conceptions of robots.Department of Psychology, Developmental Area Colloquium, University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC, Canada).
Severson, R. L. (2013, May). Growing up green: What does time in nature do for your child?Department of Psychology Family Academy Lecture Series. Western Washington University (Bellingham, WA).
Severson, R. L. (2012, August). Children’s conceptions of robots as life-like: Are they just pretending?Conference on Perceiving and Conceiving Natural and Non-natural Agents: From People to Computers to Gods. Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN).
Severson, R. L. (2011, March). Thinking “as” or thinking “as if”: The role of pretense in children’s and young adults’ attributions to a robot dinosaur.Paper presented at the HRI Pioneers Workshop at the 6thACM/IEEE International Conference on Human Robot Interaction (HRI 2011), Lausanne, Switzerland.
Severson, R. L. (2011, April).The intrinsic value of animals and robots: On the development of moral conceptions of non-human others.Social Choice Research Group, Department of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (Bergen, Norway).
Severson, R. L. (2010, December). Comment on A. Wax and M. Farah, The Neuroscience of Deprivation: Implications for Law and Policy (with an initial focus on sentencing). Center for the Study of Mind in Nature Conference on Law and the Science of Moral Judgment, University of Oslo (Oslo, Norway).
Severson, R. L. (2010, November). Thinking as or thinking as if: The role of pretense in children’s attributions to robots.Center for the Study of Mind in Nature Language and Rationality Seminar, University of Oslo (Oslo, Norway).
Severson, R. L. (2010, September). The intrinsic value of animals and robots: On the development of moral conceptions of non-human others.Centre for the Study of Mind in Nature Colloquium, University of Oslo (Oslo, Norway).
Severson, R. L. (2008, September). Robotic Others: The Emergence of a New Technological Genre? Seattle Robotics Society (Seattle, WA).
Kahn, P. H., Jr., & Severson, R. L. (2008, March). Designing for the human relation with nature and technological nature. The Portico Group: Architects, Landscape Architects, Interpretive Planners, & Exhibit Designers(Seattle, WA).
Conference Presentations (since 2015)
Paulson, N., Sweezy, S. E., & Severson, R. L. (2024, April). Examining the relationship between anthropomorphism and theory of mind. Paper presented at the 91次元 Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR), Missoula, MT.
Cordingley, K. J., & Severson, R. L. (2024, March). The other identity politics: Political turning points and political identity development in college-going emerging adults. Paper presented at the 91次元 Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon), Missoula, MT.
Sweezy, S. E., & Severson, R. L. (2024, March). Children’s trust of people and smart speakers for factual information and moral decisions. Paper presented at the 91次元 Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon), Missoula, MT.
Cordingley, K. J., & Severson, R. L. (2023, November). Identity, Well-Being, and Political Ideology Affect Emerging Adults’ Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Poster presented at National Collegiate Honors Council Conference, Chicago, IL.
Severson, R. L., Sweezy, S. E., Macko, T. M., & Woodard, S. R. (2023, March). Poster presented at the biennial meeting of Society for Research in Child Development, Salt Lake City, UT.
Sweezy, S. E., Macko, T. M., & Severson, R. L. (2023, March). Poster presented at the biennial meeting of Society for Research in Child Development, Salt Lake City, UT.
Smith, K., & Severson, R. L. (2022, April). Learning to see human: universal aspects and cultural variations in the development of anthropomorphism. Paper presented at the 91次元 Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR), Missoula, MT.
Cordingley, K. J., & Severson, R. L. (2022, February). Emerging adults and identity development in the time of COVID-19. Paper presented at 91次元 Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon), Missoula, MT.
Woodard, S. R., Sweezy, S. E., & Severson, R. L. (2021, April). Are robots morally culpable? The role of intentionality and anthropomorphism. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of Society for Research in Child Development (online).
Taylor, K., & Severson, R. L. (2020, April). Inaccuracy mentalizing humans predicts greater mentalizing of nature and technology. Paper presented at the 91次元 Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR), Missoula, MT.
Denny, M. E., & Severson, R. L. (2020, April). The right job for me: The motivation, support network, and emotional fortitude of crisis workers. Paper presented at the 91次元 Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR), Missoula, MT.
Bean, P., Caughie, C., & Severson, R. L. (2020, Feb). Making a case for nature. Paper presented at 91次元 Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon), Missoula, MT.
Severson, R. L., Woodard, S. R., & Birch, S. A. J. (2019, October). . Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, Louisville, KY.
Woodard, S. R., Severson, R. L., & Birch, S. A. J. (2019, October). . Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, Louisville, KY.
Beall, A., Ryan, C., Barker, R., & Severson, R. L. (2019, April). Do young children treat a robot as having intentions and being culpable for its actions? Poster presented at the 91次元 Conference on Undergraduate Research, Missoula, MT.
Taylor, K. B., Ryan, C., Beall, A., Woodard, S. R., & Severson, R. L. (2019, April). Context Matters in Children’s Reasoning about Confident and Hesitant Individuals. Paper presented at the 91次元 Conference on Undergraduate Research, Missoula, MT.
Severson, R. L., Li, H., Birch, S. A. J., & Lillard, A. (2019, March). The Role of Culture in Anthropomorphic Beliefs Among White-Canadian, Asian-Canadian, and Chinese Children and Adults. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD.
Lau, P., Severson, R. L., Woodard, S. R., & Birch, S. A. J. (2018, June). Children’s context-dependent interpretations of confidence cues. Paper presented at the Development 2018 Conference, St. Catharines, ON, Canada.
Barker, R., Lindner, B., & Severson, R. L. (2018, April). Children’s Understanding of Robots: A New Ontological Category or Just Pretend? Poster presented at the 91次元 Conference on Undergraduate Research, Missoula, MT.
Cooke, S., & Severson, R. L. (2018, April). Are robots animate or inanimate? Children’s pronoun use provides insight into categorization challenge. Poster presented at the 91次元 Conference on Undergraduate Research, Missoula, MT.
Taylor, K. B., Schuster, D., Rosston, S., Gillespie, C., Woodard, S. R., & Severson, R. L. (2018, April). Sometimes hesitancy is key: Effects of moral deliberations on children's interpretation of credibility cues. Poster presented at the 91次元 Conference on Undergraduate Research, Missoula, MT.
Woodard, S. R., & Severson, R. L. (2018, April). Do children always trust confident individuals? Not when it comes to moral deliberations. Poster presented at the 91次元 GradCon – A Graduate Student Research Conference, Missoula, MT.
Severson, R. L., Lau, P., Li, V., & Birch, S. A. J. (2017). . Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, Portland, OR.
Severson, R. L., Baimel, A., & Birch, S. A. J. (2017). Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, Portland, OR.
Baimel, A., Severson, R. L., & Birch, S. A. J. (2017). Children and adult’s theory of mind supports anthropomorphic tendencies. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Austin, TX.
Birch, S. A. J, Baimel, A., & Severson, R. L. (2017). Children and adult’s understanding of unjustified confidence. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Austin, TX.
Severson, R. L. (2016, October). Young children attribute less to a robot when asked to take a peer’s perspective. Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Special Topics Meeting on Technology and Media in Children’s Development, Irvine, CA.
Severson, R. L., & Birch, S. A. J. (2016, June). Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Chicago, IL.
Severson, R. L., Birch, S. A. J., Tahiroglu, D., Moses, L. J., Ghrear, S., & Haddock, T. (2016, June). . Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Chicago, IL.
Haddock, T., Ghrear, S., Brousseau-Liard, P., Severson, R., Birch, S., & Li, V. (2016, June). The curse of knowledge across development: A fluency misattribution account. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Chicago, IL.
Baimel, A., Severson, R., Birch, S., & Norenzayan A. (2015, May). Synchronous ritual and mental state reasoning. Presented at the Cultural Evolution of Religion Consortium’s 2015 Plenary Meeting (Religion in the text and on the ground), Montreal, Canada.
Severson, R. L., Li, H., & Lillard, A. (2015, March). Cultural contributions to anthropomorphic beliefs. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.
Severson, R. L., & Birch, S. A. J. (2015, March). Discerning minds: Older children become skeptical of an unjustifiably confident informant. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.
Baimel, A., Severson, R. L., & Birch, S. A. J. (2015, March). The ‘eyes’ have it: Predicting individual differences in anthropomorphism. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.
Ghrear, S., Haddock, T., Severson, R. L., Penner, E., & Birch, S. A. J. (2015, March). Developmental changes in children's curse of knowledge bias. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.
Baimel, A., Severson, R., Birch, S., & Norenzayan, A. (2015, February). Synchronous ritual and mental state reasoning. Poster presented at the 16th annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Long Beach, CA.