Towards triadic interactions in autism and beyond: transitional objects, joint attention, and social robotics

The concept of transitional objects from the British Object Relations school of psychoanalysis may offer insight into the affective aspects of the development of dyadic and triadic interactions. Furthermore the concept may be applied to the use of social robotics in autism research and therapy, with social robots in these settings perhaps functioning as transitional objects for autistic children. Possible applications in organizational contexts are suggested as well, along with considerations of future research relating transitional objects to the notions of primary and secondary intersubjectivity.