Kim Astor

Kim Astor is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Uppsala University's Department of Psychology, specializing in Developmental Psychology. Based at Von Kraemers allé 1A och 1C in Uppsala, Astor conducts empirical research at the intersection of child development and artificial intelligence.

Research interests span two primary domains:

• Children's Interaction with AI: Investigating trust in AI systems, learning impacts, and developmental implications of screen-based AI/social robots
• Social Development in Infants: Examining gaze following mechanisms, nonverbal communication, cultural variations, and influences of parental mental health

Methodologically focused on eye-tracking and cross-cultural studies, including fieldwork in Bhutan.

Recent publications (2018-2025) reveal strong trends in:

• AI-manipulated video techniques for infant gaze analysis
• Cross-cultural resilience studies amid war/climate change
• Maternal depression impacts on joint attention
• Theoretical frameworks for gaze following development

Work appears in top journals including Psychological Science, Developmental Psychology, and Child Development.

Altmetric attention shows significant engagement:

• 8 news outlet pickups for 2022 Bhutan study
• 92 Mendeley readers for 2020 Royal Society paper
• 31 X/Twitter mentions across multiple publications

Astor's collaborative network includes Gustaf Gredebäck (Uppsala), Herbert Ainamani (Uganda), Linda van den Berg (Netherlands), and Joshua Juvrud (Bhutan studies). Current projects focus on establishing empirical guidelines for children's AI interactions before societal entrenchment of these technologies.