A UC Riverside student has been working on a research project regarding trust in automation as a summer associate at the Institute of Defense Analyses, or IDA, in Alexandria, Virginia.

Arielle Manganiello, a graduate student working toward her doctorate of philosophy in social psychology, developed the research project from the ground up. 

Her work is aimed at validating the measure of a user’s trust in an automatic or autonomous system such as a self-driving car, said Daniel Porter, an IDA research staff member.

The IDA is a nonprofit corporation that operates three federally funded research and development centers that study challenging security and science policy questions with objective analysis leveraging scientific, technical, and analytic expertise.

Manganiello has heard briefings from division directors regarding their work, toured the Pentagon, and learned from staff workshops, briefings, and other opportunities, she said.

“I now have hands-on experience of how to apply the skills honed and gained in my doctoral program to begin to solve real-world problems,” Manganiello said. “Overall, I am very grateful for this opportunity and feel as though my academic program, in combination with my two mentors here at IDA, have prepared me well to thrive in this environment.”