Publications

2014
Sonia Chernova and Andrea L. Thomaz. Robot learning from human teachers. Synthesis Lectures on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, 8(3):1–121, 2014.
Maya Cakmak and Andrea L. Thomaz. Eliciting good teaching from humans for machine learners. Artificial Intelligence, 217(0):198 – 215, 2014.
Luis C. Cobo, Kaushik Subramanian, Charles L. Isbell Jr., Aaron D. Lanterman, and Andrea L. Thomaz. Abstraction from demonstration for efficient reinforcement learning in high- dimensional domains. Artificial Intelligence, 216(0):103 – 128, 2014.
T. Chen, A. King, A. L. Thomaz, and C. Kemp. An investigation of responses to robot-initiated touch in a nursing context. International Journal of Social Robotics, 6(1):141–161, 2014.
V. Chu, K. Bullard, and A. L. Thomaz. Multimodal real-time contingency detection for HRI. In Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2014.
V. Chu and A.L. Thomaz. Understanding the role of haptics in affordances. RSS Workshop on Affordances in Vivian for Cognitive Robotics, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2014.
K. Bullard and A.L. Thomaz. Active robot learning for sequential object-directed tasks. RSS Workshop on Learning Plans with Context from Human Signals, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2014.
2013
A. L. Thomaz and M. Cakmak. Active social learning in humans and robots. In Kevin B. Clark, editor, Social Learning Theory: Phylogenetic considerations across animal, plant, and microbial taxa. Nova Publishers, New York, NY, 2013.
S. Griffith, K. Subramanian, J. Scholz C.L. Isbell, and A. L. Thomaz. Policy Shaping: Integrating Human Feedback with Reinforcement Learning." In proceedings of the International Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS), 2013.
M. Gielniak, C. K. Liu, and A. L. Thomaz. Generating Life-like Motion for Robots." International Journal of Robotics Research, Vol 32, No 11, 2013.
C. Chao and A. L. Thomaz. "Controlling Social Dynamics with a Parametrized Model of Floor Regulation" Journal of Human-Robot Interaction, Vol 2, No. 1, 2013.
L. C. Cobo, C.L. Isbell, and A.L. Thomaz. "Object Focused Q-Learning for Autonomous Agents." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS), 2013.
2012
C. Chao and A. L. Thomaz. Timing in multimodal reciprocal interactions: control and analysis using timed Petri nets." Journal of Human-Robot Interaction, Vol. 1 No. 1, 2012.
B. Akgun, M. Cakmak, K. Jiang, and A.L. Thomaz. Keyframe-based learning from demonstration." to appear in International Journal of Social Robotics, 2012.
J. Lee, C. Chao, A. Bobick, and A.L. Thomaz. Multi-cue contingency detection." International Journal of Social Robotics, Vol. 4 No. 2, pg 147-161, 2012.
A. L. Thomaz and C. Chao. Turn-taking based on information flow for fluent human-robot interaction." AI Magazine, 32:53–64, 2012.
B. Akgun, M. Cakmak, J. Yoo and A.L. Thomaz, "Trajectories and Keyframes for Kinesthetic Teaching: A Human-Robot Interaction Perspective." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), 2012. Nominated for best paper.
M. Cakmak and A.L. Thomaz, "Designing Robot Learners that Ask Good Questions." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), 2012.
M.J. Gielniak and A.L. Thomaz, "Enhancing Interaction Through Exaggerated Motion Synthesis." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), 2012.
L. C. Cobo, C.L. Isbell, and A.L. Thomaz. "Automatic task decomposition and state abstraction from demonstration." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS), 2012.
2011
C. Chao, J. Lee, M. Begum and A.L. Thomaz, "Simon plays Simon says: The Timing of Turn-taking in an Imitation Game." In Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), 2011.
M.J. Gielniak and A.L. Thomaz, "Anticipation in Robot Motion." In Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), 2011.
J. Shim and A.L. Thomaz, "Human-like Action Segmentation for Option Learning." In Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), 2011.
Chien-Ming Huang and Andrea L. Thomaz. "Effects of responding to, initiating and ensuring joint attention in human-robot interaction." In Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), 2011.
L. C. Cobo, P. Zang, C.L. Isbell, and A.L. Thomaz. "Automatic state abstraction from demonstration." In Proceedings of the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence(IJCAI), 2011.
M.J. Gielniak, C.K. Liu and A.L. Thomaz, "Task-aware Variations in Robot Motion." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2011.
M.J. Gielniak and A.L. Thomaz, "Spatiotemporal Correspondence as a Metric for Human-like Robot Motion." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), 2011. Best student paper award winner.
J. Lee, J.F. Kieser, A.F. Bobick and A.L.Thomaz, "Vision-based Contingency Detection." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), 2011.
M. Cakmak and A.L. Thomaz, "Mixed-Initiative Active Learning." Presented at the ICML Workshop on Combining Learning Strategies to Reduce Label Cost, Bellevue, WA, USA, 2011.
B. Akgun, M. Cakmak, J. Yoo and A.L. Thomaz, "Augmenting Kinesthetic Teaching with Keyframes." In Proceedings of the ICML Workshop on New Developments in Imitation Learning, Bellevue, WA, USA, 2011.
M. Cakmak and A.L. Thomaz, "Active Learning with Mixed Query Types in Learning from Demonstration." In Proceedings of the ICML Workshop on New Developments in Imitation Learning, Bellevue, WA, USA, 2011.
C. Chao, M. Cakmak and A.L. Thomaz, "Towards Grounding Concepts for Transfer in Goal Learning from Demonstration." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL), 2011.
C. Chao and A.L. Thomaz, "Turn-Taking for Human-Robot Interaction." In AAAI Fall Symposium on Dialog with Robots, 2011.
K. Subramanian, C. Isbell, and A.L.Thomaz, “Learning options through human interaction”. Presented at the Agents Learning Interactively from Human Teachers workshop at IJCAI, 2011.
2010
M. Cakmak, C. Chao, and A.L. Thomaz, "Designing Interactions for Robot Active Learners." in IEEE Transactions on Autonomous Mental Development, 2010.
M. Cakmak and A.L. Thomaz, "Exploiting Social Partners in Robot Learning." Autonomous Robots, 2010.
M. Cakmak and A.L. Thomaz, "Optimality of Human Teachers for Robot Learners." in Proceedings of the International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL), 2010.
P. Zang, A. Irani, P. Zhou, C.L. Isbell, and A.L. Thomaz. "Combining function approximation, human teachers, and training regimens for real-world RL.", In Proceedings of the International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS), 2010.
M.J. Gielniak, C.K Liu and A.L. Thomaz, "Stylized Motion Generalization Through Adaptation of Velocity Profiles." In Proceedings of the 19th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), 2010.
M.J. Gielniak, C.K Liu and A.L. Thomaz, "Secondary Action in Robot Motion." In Proceedings of the 19th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), 2010.
C. Chao, M. Cakmak, and A.L. Thomaz, "Transparent active learning for robots." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), 2010.
P. Zang, R. Tian, A.L. Thomaz, and C. Isbell, "Batch versus Interactive Learning by Demonstration." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL), 2010.
2009
A.L. Thomaz and M. Cakmak. Social Learning Mechanisms for Robots. International Symposium on Robotics Research (ISRR), 2009.
M. Cakmak, N. DePalma, A.L. Thomaz and R. Arriaga. "Effects of social exploration mechanisms on robot learning." In Proceedings of the 18th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), 2009.
M. Cakmak, N. DePalma, R. Arriaga, and A.L. Thomaz. "Computational benefits of social learning mechanisms: Stimulus enhancement and emulation." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Developmental Learning (ICDL), 2009. Best student paper award winner.
A.L. Thomaz and M. Cakmak, "Learning about objects with human teachers." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), 2009.
Kyu Hwa Lee, Jinhan Lee, A. L. Thomaz, and A. Bobick. "Effective robot task learning by focusing on task-relevant objects." In Proceedings of the 2009 IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2009.
Prior Work
A. L. Thomaz and C. Breazeal. "Teachable robots: Understanding human teaching behavior to build more effective robot learners" Artificial Intelligence Journal, 172:716-737, 2008. [pdf]
A. L. Thomaz and C. Breazeal. "Experiments in Socially Guided Exploration: Lessons learned in building robots that learn with and without human teachers." Connection Science, Special Issue on Social Learning in Embodied Agents, 20(2&3), pg91-110, 2008. [pdf]
C. Breazeal, M. Berlin, A. Brooks, J. Gray, and A. L. Thomaz. "Using perspective taking to learn from ambiguous demonstrations." Journal of Robotics and Autonomous Systems Special Issue on Robot Programming by Demonstration, 54(5), 2006.
C. Breazeal, A. Brooks, J. Gray, G. Hoffman, J. Lieberman, H. Lee, A. Lockerd (Thomaz), and D. Mulanda. "Tutelage and collaboration for humanoid robots." International Journal of Humanoid Robotics, 1(2), 2004. [pdf]
A. Brooks, J. Gray, G. Hoffman, A. Lockerd (Thomaz), H. Lee, and C. Breazeal. "Robot's play: interactive games with sociable machines." Computers in Entertainment., 2(3):1–18, July 2004. [pdf]
C. Breazeal and A. L. Thomaz. "Learning from human teachers with socially guided exploration." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Robots and Automation (ICRA), 2008. [pdf]
A. L. Thomaz and C. Breazeal. "Asymmetric Interpretations of Positive and Negative Human Feedback for a Social." In Proceedings of the 16th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), 2007. [pdf]
A. L. Thomaz and C. Breazeal. "Robot Learning via Socially Guided Exploration." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Developmental Learning (ICDL), 2007.
A. L. Thomaz, G. Hoffman, and C. Breazeal. "Reinforcement Learning with Human Teachers: Understanding how people want to teach robots." In Proceedings of the 15th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), 2006. [pdf]
A. L. Thomaz, and C. Breazeal. "Reinforcement Learning with Human Teachers: Evidence of feedback and guidance with implications for learning performance." In Proceedings of the 21st National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), 2006. [pdf]
M.Berlin, J. Gray, A. L. Thomaz, and C. Breazeal. "Perspective taking: An organizing principle for learning in human-robot interaction." In Proceedings of the 21st National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), 2006. [pdf]
A. L. Thomaz, and C. Breazeal. "Transparency and Socially Guided Machine Learning." In Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Developmental Learning (ICDL), 2006. [pdf]
A. L. Thomaz, G. Hoffman, and C. Breazeal. "Experiments in Socially Guided Machine Learning: Understanding How Humans Teach." In Proceedings of the 1st Annual conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), 2006. [pdf]
C. Breazeal, C. Kidd, A. L. Thomaz, G. Hoffman, and M. Berlin. "Effects of nonverbal communication on efficiency and robustness in human-robot teamwork." In Proceedings of the IROS, 2005. [pdf]
A. L. Thomaz, M. Berlin, and C. Breazeal. "An embodied computational model of social referencing." In IEEE International Workshop on Human Robot Interaction (RO-MAN), 2005.[pdf]
C. Breazeal, A. Brooks, D. Chilongo, J. Gray, G. Hoffman, C. Kidd, H. Lee, J. Lieberman, and A. Lockerd (Thomaz). "Working collaboratively with humanoid robots." In Proceedings of IEEE-RAS/RSJ International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), Santa Monica, CA, 2004. [pdf]
W. Bluethmann, R. Ambrose, M. Diftler, E. Huber, A. Fagg, M. Rosenstein, R. Platt, R. Grupen, C. Breazeal, A. Brooks, A. Lockerd (Thomaz), A. Peters, O. C. Jenkins, M. Mataric, M. Bugajska. "Building an Autonomous Humanoid Tool User." In Proceedings of IEEE-RAS/RSJ International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), Santa Monica, CA, 2004.
C. Breazeal, G. Hoffman, and A. Lockerd (Thomaz). "Teaching and working with robots as a collaboration." In Proceedings of Third International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS), pages 1030–1037, New York, NY, 2004. [pdf]
A. Brooks, J. Gray, G. Hoffman, A. Lockerd (Thomaz), H. Lee, and C. Breazeal. "Robot's play: interactive games with sociable machines." In Proceedings of the International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment (ACE), June 2004. [pdf]
A. Lockerd (Thomaz) and C. Breazeal. "Tutelage and socially guided robot learning." In IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2004. [pdf]