I am particularly interested in the effectiveness and therapeutic potential of technology-based interventions for people with limited social and emotional abilities, such as autism or social anxiety. Within my joint projects with scientific and industrial partners, my expertise lies primarily in the definition of requirements, the scientific-therapeutic conception, the implementation of usability, acceptance and feasibility studies as well as the final clinical evaluation (RCT).
Areas of interest and expertise
- Applied research
- Digital interventions
- Autism
- Emotions, empathy
Contact
E-Mail: simone.kirst@hu-berlin.de
Web: https://www.psychology.hu-berlin.de/de/1695813/1687964
Publications
2025
Frenkel, J., Kirst, S., Naumann, S., Simon, M., Sessner, J., Roesler, E., Onnasch, L., Dziobek, I. (2025). Stakeholder acceptance of a robot-assisted social training scenario for autistic children compared to a tablet-computer-based approach.Scientific Reports, 15, 11237. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-93970-x 📖
2024
Norden, M., Saakyan, W., Vietmeier, N., Kirst, S., Dziobek, I., Asbrand, J., & Drimalla, H. (2024, December). Introducing the” Simulated Interaction Task for Children”(Kids-SIT): Recording and Analyzing Social Interaction Behavior. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (pp. 509-512). https://doi.org/10.1145/3701571.3703368 📖
Vietmeier, N., Saakyan, W., Kirst, S., Dziobek, I., Asbrand, J., & Drimalla, H. (2024). The Simulated Interaction Task for Children (Kids-SIT)-Evaluating Feasibility and Social Interaction Behavior in Healthy Children and Children with Social Anxiety Disorders. https://osf.io/tw9ne
2023
Naumann, S., Bayer, M., Kirst, S., van der Meer, E., & Dziobek, I. (2023). A randomized controlled trial on the digital socio-emotional competence training Zirkus Empathico for preschoolers. npj Science of Learning, 8(1), 20. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-023-00169-8
Dziobek, I., Naumann, S., Frenkel, J., Simon, M., Neumann, A., Seßner, J., … & Kirst, S. (2023). Acceptance, Perceived Ethical Risks, and Effectiveness of a Robot-Assisted Emotion Regulation Therapy Approach for Children on the Autism Spectrum. INSAR 2023.
2022
Kirst, S., Bögl, K., Gross, V. L., Diehm, R., Poustka, L., & Dziobek, I. (2022). Subtypes of aggressive behavior in children with autism in the context of emotion recognition, hostile attribution bias, and dysfunctional emotion regulation. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 52(12), 5367-5382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05387-w
J. Sessner, A. Porstmann, Kirst, S., N. Merz, I. Dziobek and J. Franke, “A Modular Interface for Controlling Interactive Behaviors of a Humanoid Robot for Socio-Emotional Skills Training,” 2022 31st IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), 2022, pp. 230-235, doi: 10.1109/RO-MAN53752.2022.9900704.
Kirst, S., Diehm, R., Bögl, K., Wilde-Etzold, S., Bach, C., Noterdaeme, M., Ziegler, M., & Dziobek, I. (2022). Fostering socio-emotional competencies in children on the autism spectrum using a parent-assisted serious game: A multicenter randomized controlled trial. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 104068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2022.104068
Repository: http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/38w3bpjr6w.1
2021
Lang, Nadine, Goes, N., Struck, M., Wittenberg, T., Goes, N., Seßner, J., Franke, J., Wittenberg, T., Dziobek, I., Kirst, S. and Naumann, S.. “Evaluation of an algorithm for optical pulse detection in children for application to the Pepper robot” Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering, vol. 7, no. 2, 2021, pp. 484-487. https://doi.org/10.1515/cdbme-2021-2123
2019
Simon, M., Strehler, M., Kirst, S., Schmitt-Rüth, S., & Lang, N. (2019). Akzeptanzrisiken in der Mensch-Roboter-Interaktion – Nutzerzentrierte Erhebung von ethischen, rechtlichen und sozialen Implikationen (ELSI) am Beispiel einer Roboterplattform für Kinder mit eingeschränkten sozio-emotionalen Fähigkeiten. Mensch & Computer Workshopband.
2016
Zoerner, D. Schütze, J., Kirst, S., Dziobek, I., Lucke, U. (2016) Zirkus Empathico: Mobile Training of Socio-Emotional Competences for Children with Autism,” 2016 IEEE 16th
International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT), 2016, pp. 448-452, https://doi:10.1109/ICALT.2016.146
2015
Kirst S., Zoerner, D., Schütze, J., Lucke, U., Dziobek, I. (2015). Zirkus Empathico: Eine mobile Applikation zum Training sozioemotionaler Kompetenzen bei Kindern im Autismus-Spektrum. IN Proc. Die 13. e-Learning Fachtagung Informatik (DeLFI), Lecture Notes in Informatics, Bonn: Köllen Verlag, September 2015.