  Transactive Memory System (TMS) is a group theory that describes how
communication can enable the combination of individual minds into a group.
While this theory has been extensively studied in human-human groups, it has
not yet been formally applied to socially assistive robot design. We
demonstrate how the three-phase TMS group communication process-which involves
encoding, storage, and retrieval-can be leveraged to improve decision making in
socially assistive robots with multiple stakeholders. By clearly defining how
the robot is gaining information, storing and updating its memory, and
retrieving information from its memory, we believe that socially assistive
robots can make better decisions and provide more transparency behind their
actions in the group context. Bringing communication theory to robot design can
provide a clear framework to help robots integrate better into human-human
group dynamics and thus improve their acceptance and use.
