Dr. Sarah Sweezy

Hi! I am Sarah Sweezy, an Assistant Professor at Tennessee Tech University. I am a developmental psychologist who studies child-robot interaction, that is, how kids think about and interact with robot. 

I earned my B.S. in Psychology at Tennessee Tech in 2019 and earned my Ph.D. in Experimental (Developmental) Psychology at the University of Montana in 2025. 

My research explores how children make sense of robots, such as having mental states or sociality, and how these ideas shape the way they learn from and trust robots.  For example, if a child believes a robot can think on its own, does that make them more likely to trust what it says? 

Ultimately, I aim to better understand how children navigate a world where technology is becoming increasingly present and social, and what the implication of this new social landscape is on their learning and development.