The Journal of Korea Robotics Society (로봇학회논문지)

Korea Robotics Society (한국로봇학회)
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A Study on Preschool Children's Perceptions of a Robot's Theory of Mind

유아에게 인지된 로봇의 마음이론에 관한 연구

  • Received : 2020.07.12
  • Accepted : 2020.09.09
  • Published : 2020.11.30
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Abstract

In this paper, we analyzed how 5-year-old children perceive a robot's ability to attribute mental states to oneself and to others, which shall hereafter be referred to as a robot's theory of mind (RToM). A total of 34 5-year-old children were given two typical false-belief tasks, an 'unexpected-contents task' and a 'change-of-location task', in order to evaluate whether a child's perceived RToM was connected to their own ToM. In addition, we investigated whether a child's perception of RToM was influenced by either a priori experience with robots or that child's gender. The results are as follows. Firstly, the 5- year-old preschool children universally recognized robots as beings that have a human-like mind both in 1st order and 2nd order perspectives, which indicates that children perceive robots as beings distinct from mechanical toys. Secondly, a priori child-robot interaction experience was found to have a positive influence on a child's perceived RToM. Thirdly, the gender of children did not significantly affect their perceived RToM. This study serves to add to the macroscopic results of prior research, which indicate that children perceive robots as intermediate beings between living and inanimate objects: significantly, it analyzes the children's perception of robots through the lens of theory of mind, which is one of the key elements of cognitive development. This research lays the foundations for designing effective child-robot interactions, in situations in which robots serve as peers or assistants for educational purposes.

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