Technology is changing our lives to good effect and, sometimes, to not so good effect. I apply behavioral and social science techniques and theory, especially social psychology, to understanding people and technology. In my early studies with Lee Sproull and our colleagues and students, we learned how computer networking changed group dynamics and social interaction. Our book, Connections, described the indirect, secondary effects of using email in organizations.
I later worked with Bob Kraut on the HomeNet project, a study of the personal and social effects of household technology and the Internet on individuals and families.

My current projects include studies in the social and cognitive dimensions of human-robot interaction and a couple of large projects on collaboration and distributed work teams.

PROJECT URLs:

http://www.peopleandrobots.org

http://www.hcii.cmu.edu/research/designing-online-communities

Primary Interests:

Applied Social Psychology
Communication, Language
Group Processes
Health Psychology
Internet and Virtual Psychology
Interpersonal Processes
Nonverbal Behavior
Organizational Behavior
Social Cognition

Applied Social Psychology
Communication, Language
Group Processes
Health Psychology
Internet and Virtual Psychology

Interpersonal Processes
Nonverbal Behavior
Organizational Behavior
Social Cognition

Research Group or Laboratory:

Project on People and Robots
Interactive Map

Books:

Hinds, P., & Kiesler, S. (Eds.). (2002). Distributed work. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kiesler, S. (Ed.). (1997). Culture of the Internet. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Kraut, R., Brynin, M., & Kiesler, S. (2006). Computers, phones, and the Internet: Domesticating information technology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Sproull, L., & Kiesler, S. (1991). Connections: New ways of working in the networked organization. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Journal Articles:

Bessière, K., Pressman, S., Kiesler, S., & Kraut, R. (2010). Effects of Internet use on health and depression: A longitudinal study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 12, e6.
Boh, W-F, Ren, Y., Kiesler, S., Bussjaeger, R. (2007). Expertise and collaboration in the geographically dispersed organization. Organization Science, 18, 595-612.
Cummings, J. N., & Kiesler, S. (2007). Coordination costs and project outcomes in multi-university collaborations. Research Policy, 36, 1620-1634.
Cummings, J. N., & Kiesler, S. (2006). Collaborative research across disciplinary and organizational boundaries. Social Studies of Science, 35, 703-722. [Reprinted in Olson, G., Zimmerman, A., Finholt, T. (eds.) (2008) Scientific Collaboration on the Internet, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.]
Kiesler, S., Lee, S-L., & Kramer, A. (2007). Relationship effects in psychological explanations of nonhuman behavior. Anthrozoos, 19, 335-352.
Kiesler, S., Powers, A., Fussell, S. R., & Torrey, C. (2008). Anthropomorphic interactions with a robot and robot-like agent. Social Cognition, 26(2), 168-180.
Ren, Y., Kiesler, S., & Fussell, S. (2008). Multiple group coordination in complex and dynamic task environments: Interruptions, coping mechanisms, and technology recommendations. Journal of Management Information Systems, 25, 107-133.
Shklovski, I., Burke, M., Kiesler, S., & Kraut, R. (2010). Technology adoption and use in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. American Behavioral Science, XX(X), 1-19.

Other Publications:

Balakrishnan, A. D., Fussell, S., & Kiesler, S., Kittur, A. (2010). Pitfalls of information access with visualizations in remote collaborative analysis. Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work CSCW10. New York: ACM Press.
Lee, M. K., Kiesler, S., & Forlizzi, J. (2010). Receptionist or information kiosk: How do people talk with a robot? Proceedings of the Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW ’10), New York: ACM Press.
Lee, M. K., Kiesler, S., Forlizzi, J., Srinivasa, S., & Rybski, P. (2010). Gracefully mitigating breakdowns in robotic services. Proceedings of the Conference on Human-Robot Interaction '10.
Scupelli, P., Xiao, Y., Fussell, S. R., Kiesler, S., & Gross, M. (2010). Supporting coordination in surgical suites: Physical aspects of common information spaces. Proceedings of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems CHI10, New York: ACM Press.

Courses Taught:

Applied Research Methods
Human Factors
Introduction to Human Computer Interaction
Project in Human Computer Interaction

Applied Research Methods
Human Factors

Introduction to Human Computer Interaction
Project in Human Computer Interaction

Sara Kiesler
Human-Computer Interaction Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3891
United States

Phone: (412) 268-2848
Fax: (412) 268-1266