engleski

Reaction to robots in social and non- social context

Introduction Creating effective support for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) through their interaction with robots is the focus of numerous studies in the field of social – assistive robotics. They are based on the premise that children with ASD show preference to electronic devices and have reduced interest for social aspects of their environment. However, very high interest for electronic devices of all children raises a question whether children with ASD really react differently to the presence of robots than their typical peers. The aim of this study was to compare reaction of children with ASD and typically developing children to robots in non – social (“robot – object” task where robot and other interesting object is present in the room) and social context (“robot – person” task where a robot and person are present). Methods Sample consisted of 20 preschool children, 10 in each group. The study was conducted at the Child Communication Research Lab in Zagreb. Upon entering the study room, spontaneous behavior of the child was observed for 100 seconds, which was later coded by video analysis. Results Results have shown that children with ASD show similar behaviour patterns as typical peers in non-social context. There were no differences between groups in mean length of duration of gaze directed to robot and duration of physical interactions with robot. However, differences were detected in the social aspect of that situation – typically developing children communicated more about the robot with their parents. In the social context (“robot – person” task) children with ASD have engaged in physical interaction with robots significantly less that their typical peers while the latter have directed their attention to the person more than children with ASD. Finally, both groups have directed their attention to the robot more than to the person, but children with ASD were engaged much less in the social aspects of both conditions. Discussion The results have shown that robots are very attractive for both children with ASD and typically developing children but also that there are significant differences between those two groups evident in the lack of social behaviours and directedness to other persons in children with ASD.

Robots ; Social context, Non-social context

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