Francesco Walker
Assistant Professor
- Name
- Dr. F. Walker
- Telephone
- 071 5272727
- f.walker@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
Francesco Walker is an assistant professor of cognitive psychology and head of the Humans Art and Technology Lab (HATlab) at Leiden University. He leads a research team that investigates how people engage with art and technology, with a strong focus on art perception and trust in automated systems. His research combines experimental approaches with tools such as mobile eye tracking to study attention and behaviour in real-world settings. He has worked closely with leading cultural institutions such as the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam, helping them understand their visitors and rethink how they connect with diverse audiences.
More information about Francesco Walker
News
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In this museum, psychologists explore how to bring abstract art closer to children -
Francesco Walker in The Conversation on how children look at art -
Five tips for The Night of Discoveries -
The new self-evaluation of the Institute of Psychology: ‘The quality of the academic culture is more important’ -
What do children see in art? Psychologists are studying this at the Rijksmuseum
Research
Francesco’s research focuses on Human Factors challenges in the design of automated vehicles. Key themes include trust in automation, vehicle interactions with vulnerable road users and new solutions for Human-Machine-Interfaces. In parallel with this work, he maintains a deep interest in art perception and neuroaesthetics.
Teaching
In the Cognitive Psychology Unit of Leiden University, Francesco coordinates the Applied Cognitive Psychology Master track, and the Bachelor’s course in Applied Cognitive Psychology. He also teaches several courses related to applied cognition and Human Factors, at the bachelor’s and master’s level.
Awards
- Award for Best Poster 2018 (6th BMW Summer School: Emotion Aware Vehicle Assistants, Raitenhaslach, Germany).
- Award for Best Presenter 2018 (6th Humanist Conference, Den Haag, The Netherlands).
- The Robert Francès Award: Most Outstanding Student Research Contribution 2016 (24th IAEA Congress of Empirical Aesthetics, Vienna, Austria).
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Research Fellowship 2014/2015, awarded by Prof. Jan Theeuwes: 10000 euro.
Working days
Monday to Friday.
Assistant Professor
- Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
- Psychology
- Cognitive Psychology
- Pilz Z.P., Kret M.E. & Walker F. (2026), How child-friendly are art museums?: A landscape review of programs and initiatives in the 100 most visited art museums. Journal of Museum Education. Taylor and Francis Group. [working paper].
- Pilz Z.P., Kret M.E., Helleman T., Simkonyte G., Wizke S., Broekgaarden A., Kintz P., Broek L. van den & Walker F. (2026), Reading between the lines: how visitor type and label design shape engagement with art in the museum, Journal of Cultural Cognitive Science : .
- Walker F., Favetta M., Hasker L. & Walker R. (2024), They prefer humans!: Experimental measurement of student trust in ChatGPT. CHI EA '24: Extended Abstracts of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 11 May 2024 - 16 May 2024. Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 1-7.
- Walker F., Forster Y., Hergeth S., Kraus J., Payre W., Wintersberger P. & Martens M. (2024), Trust in automated vehicles, Frontiers in Psychology 15: 1404200.
- Bazilinsky P., Ebel P., Walker F., Dey D. & Tran T.T.M. (2024), It is not always just one road user: workshop on multi-agent automotive research. 16th International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications 22 September 2024 - 25 September 2024 268-272.
- Lohaus L., Woide M., Damm N., Demiral Z., Friedrich H., Petáková A. & Walker F. (2024), Automated or human: which driver wins the race for the passenger's trust? Examining passenger trust in human-driven and automated verhicles following a dangerous situation, Computers in Human Behavior Reports 161: 108387.
- Walker F., Bucker B., Snell J., Anderson N., Pilz Z., Houwaart K., Brink R. van den, Kintz P., Vries I. de & Theeuwes J. (2024), Age-adapted painting descriptions change the viewing behavior of young visitors to the Rijksmuseum, Scientific Reports 14(1): 22880.
- Walker F., Forster Y.: Hergeth S., Kraus J.M., Payre W., Wintersberger P. & Martens M. (2023), Trust in automated vehicles: constructs, psychological processes and assessment, Frontiers in Developmental Psychology 14: 1279271.
- Dong J., Nadri C., Alvarez I., Diels C., Lee M., Li J., Jeon M., Liao P.H., Manger C., Sadeghian S., Schuß, Walker B.N., Walker F., Wang Y. & Jeon M. (2023), "Play your anger": a report on the empathic in-vehicle interface workshop. Adjunct Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications 18 September 2023 - 22 September 2023. Adjunct Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications.
- Walker F., Morgenstern O., Avila J.M., Martens M. & Verwey W. (2021), A Novel Technique for Faster Responses to Take Over Requests in an Automated Vehicle. 13th International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applicaltions 9 September 2021 - 14 September 2021.
- Walker F., Wang J., Martens M.H. & Verwey W.B. (2019), Gaze behaviour and electrodermal activity: Objective measures of drivers' trust in automated vehicles, Transportation reserch part F: traffic psychology and behaviour 64: 401-412.
- Walker F., Boelhouwer A., Alkim T., Verwey W.B. & Martens M.H. (2018), Changes in trust after driving Level 2 automated cars, Journal of Advanced Transportation : .
- Walker F., Bucker B., Anderson N.C., Schreij D. & Theeuwes J. (2017), Looking at paintings in the Vincent Van Gogh museum: eye movement patterns of children and adults, PLoS ONE 12(6): e0178912.
- Dey* D., Walker* F., Martens M.H. & Terken J. * Co-first authors (2017), Gaze Behavior Patterns in Pedestrian Interaction with Vehicles, Proc. AutoUI : .