Paul Vallejo

Graduate Professional Assistant

Human Factors/Applied Cognition: Human Machine Interaction, Training & Performance, AI, Military and Defense Research

Paul Vallejo is a researcher and graduate student at George Mason University, where he pursued a Master of Arts in Human Factors and Applied Cognition. He served as a Research Assistant in the Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Lab and contributed to the university’s Student Success Coaching initiative.

His work focuses on evaluating blame attribution in robotic entities, creating and validating scales, situational awareness, and data visualization, and evaluating AI-driven systems through usability testing, experimental research, and psychometric analysis. Paul’s research interests specifically target trust, situational awareness, and human-AI interaction within high-stakes environments such as defense and healthcare.

Human-Robot Interaction: Paul has co-authored peer-reviewed research published in the ACM Digital Library, focusing on robot blame attributions and the validation of the Negative Attitudes toward Robots Scale (NARS).

Departmental Contributions: He assisted in the evidence-based redesign of the GMU Human Factors & Applied Cognition department website, utilizing heuristic evaluations and usability testing.

Naval Research: He previously served as a Human Factors Research Intern for the Department of the Navy Research Laboratory as part of the Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program, where he conducted systematic literature reviews on situational awareness, data visualization strategies, and insight assessment methods.

Education & Future Outlook
Paul holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from James Madison University. He is a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) and is proficient in English, German, and Spanish.

Upon completing his graduate degree in May 2026, Paul plans to transition into military service as a candidate for the Army Officer Candidate School (OCS)

Selected Publications

Pithayarungsarit, P., Kannan, N., Williamson, P., Vallejo, P., Saad, L., Trafton, G., & Roesler, E. (2026). A systematic validation and review of the Negative Attitudes Toward Robots Scale (NARS). Companion Proceedings of the 21st ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, 730–735. https://doi.org/10.1145/3776734.3794492

Parikh, H., Vallejo, P., Phillips, E., Roesler, E., Trafton, J. G., & Saad, L. (2026). Who’s the boss? Attributions of control influence blame toward robot decision-makers. Companion Proceedings of the 21st ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, 844–848. https://doi.org/10.1145/3776734.3794514

Grants and Fellowships

As a Graduate Professional Assistant, Paul Vallejo was awarded a grant to support his Master's work.

Education

George Mason University:

M.A. Human Factors & Applied Cognition

James Madison University:

B.S. Psychology