Exploring the role of trust and expectations in CRI using in-the-wild studies

Studying interactions of children with humanoid robots in familiar spaces in natural contexts has become a key issue for social robotics. To fill this need, we conducted several Child-Robot Interaction (CRI) events with the Pepper robot in Polish and Japanese kindergartens. In this paper, we explore the role of trust and expectations towards the robot in determining the success of CRI. We present several observations from the video recordings of our CRI events and the transcripts of free-format question-answering sessions with the robot using the Wizard-of-Oz (WOZ) methodology. From these observations, we identify children’s behaviors that indicate trust (or lack thereof) towards the robot, e.g., challenging behavior of a robot or physical interactions with it. We also gather insights into children’s expectations, e.g., verifying expectations as a causal process and an agency or expectations concerning the robot’s relationships, preferences and physical and behavioral capabilities. Based on our experiences, we suggest some guidelines for designing more effective CRI scenarios. Finally, we argue for the effectiveness of in-the-wild methodologies for planning and executing qualitative CRI studies

Age-Appropriate Robot Design: In-The-Wild Child-Robot Interaction Studies of Perseverance Styles and Robot's Unexpected Behavior

As child-robot interactions become more and more common in daily life environment, it is important to examine how robot's errors influence children's behavior. We explored how a robot's unexpected behaviors affect child-robot interactions during two workshops on active reading: one in a modern art museum and one in a school. We observed the behavior and attitudes of 42 children from three age groups: 6-7 years, 8-10 years, and 10-12 years. Through our observations, we identified six different types of surprising robot behaviors: personality, movement malfunctions, inconsistent behavior, mispronunciation, delays, and freezing. Using a qualitative analysis, we examined how children responded to each type of behavior, and we observed similarities and differences between the age groups. Based on our findings, we propose guidelines for designing age-appropriate learning interactions with social robots.Comment: 8 page

On the role of trust in child-robot interaction

In child-robot interaction, the element of trust towards the robot is critical. This is particularly important the first time the child meets the robot, as the trust gained during this interaction can play a decisive role in future interactions. We present an in-the-wild study where Polish kindergartners interacted with a Pepper robot. The videos of this study were analyzed for the issues of trust, anthropomorphization, and reaction to malfunction, with the assumption that the last two factors influence the children’s trust towards Pepper. Our results reveal children’s interest in the robot performing tasks specific for humans, highlight the importance of the conversation scenario and the need for an extended library of answers provided by the robot about its abilities or origin and show how children tend to provoke the robot

Exploring the Role of Trust and Expectations in CRI Using In-the-Wild Studies

Studying interactions of children with humanoid robots in familiar spaces in natural contexts has become a key issue for social robotics. To fill this need, we conducted several Child–Robot Interaction (CRI) events with the Pepper robot in Polish and Japanese kindergartens. In this paper, we explore the role of trust and expectations towards the robot in determining the success of CRI. We present several observations from the video recordings of our CRI events and the transcripts of free-format question-answering sessions with the robot using the Wizard-of-Oz (WOZ) methodology. From these observations, we identify children’s behaviors that indicate trust (or lack thereof) towards the robot, e.g., challenging behavior of a robot or physical interactions with it. We also gather insights into children’s expectations, e.g., verifying expectations as a causal process and an agency or expectations concerning the robot’s relationships, preferences and physical and behavioral capabilities. Based on our experiences, we suggest some guidelines for designing more effective CRI scenarios. Finally, we argue for the effectiveness of in-the-wild methodologies for planning and executing qualitative CRI studies

Studium interakcji dzieci z humanoidalnym robotem w naturalnym środowisku

Praca ta prezentuje zwięzły przegląd obecnej wiedzy na temat interakcji dziecko-robot oraz analizę danych jakościowych z pojedynczego eksperymentu dotyczącego interakcji dzieci z robotem w środowisku naturalnym. Ponad czterdzieści japońskich dzieci (w wieku od 3 do 5 lat) podzielonych na cztery grupy wchodziło w interakcję z robotem Pepper w dwóch stadiach: pierwsza faza polegała na przedstawieniu robota, wspólnym śpiewaniu oraz tańczeniu, druga pozwalała na swobodną interakcję, podczas której dzieci mogły bawić się, dotykać i poznawać Peppera bez żadnych ograniczeń. Analiza wskazuje, że dzieci z łatwością angażowały się w kontakt z „ożywionym” robotem; jakkolwiek młodsze dzieci wykazywały preferencje dla interakcji z robotem w stanie bezczynności (postrzeganym jako zabawka), z kolei starsze były bardziej zaangażowane w komunikację z Pepperem utożsamianym z zwierzątkiem lub rówieśnikiem.This thesis presents a brief overview of the current research on children-robot interaction (CRI) and analyzes qualitative data from a singular study on how children interact with robots in natural settings. More than forty Japanese children (aged 3-5) divided into four groups interacted with the robot Pepper in two stages: the first stage consisted of the robot’s self introduction, followed by singing and dancing with the robot; whereas the second stage allowed children to freely interact with the robot, where they could play, touch, and explore the robot without any restrictions. The analysis of the results from this experiment shows that children easily interacted with the robot when it was taking action; however younger children were prone to interact with the idle robot as if it were a toy, whereas older preferred to treat the robot as a pet or peer (a living being)

Percepcja humanoidalnego robota przez dzieci w polskich i japońskich warunkach

Poniższa praca jest przedstawieniem analizy jakościowej interakcji dziecko-robot z udziałem polskich i japońskich uczestników w wieku przedszkolnym. 105 polskich dzieci w wieku 5-6 lat oraz 39 japońskich dzieci w wieku 4-6 lat wchodziło w swobodną interakcję z humanoidalnym robotem Pepperem w znajomym środowisku. Scenariusz spotkania zawierał w sobie aktywności wspólne z robotem (taniec), koordynowane przez robota (słuchanie czytanej historii, rysowanie) lub proaktywne (zadawanie Pepperowi pytań przez dzieci). Analiza wskazuje, że zarówno polskie, jak i japońskie dzieci chętnie angażują się w interakcje, ale przedstawiają inne postawy wobec robota. Japońskie dzieci wykazują mniejszą skłonność do antropomorfizacji robota, zdają się być mniej zainteresowane jego budową i mechaniką, z kolei polskie dzieci są bardziej prowokujące i bezpośrednie w kontakcie z robotem. Obie grupy zdają się być zaciekawione możliwościami, preferencjami i doświadczeniami robota.The following thesis presents a qualitative analysis of child-robot interaction with Polish and Japanese preschool participants. 105 Polish children aged 5-6 and 39 Japanese children aged 4-6 interacted freely with the humanoid robot Pepper in a familiar environment. The scenario of the meeting included activities performed together with the robot (dance), coordinated by the robot (storytelling, drawing) or proactive (asking questions to Pepper by children). The analysis indicates that both Polish and Japanese children willingly engage in interactions, but present different attitudes towards the robot. Japanese children are less inclined to anthropomorphize the robot, seem to be less interested in its construction and mechanics, while Polish children are more provocative and direct in contact with the robot. Both groups seem to be curious about the robot's possibilities, preferences and experiences

No indication that the ego depletion manipulation can affect insight : a comment on DeCaro and Van Stockum (2018)

Recently, DeCaro and Van Stockum have suggested that ego depletion following intensive self-control can improve insight problem-solving; this finding was interpreted in terms of insight relying on decreased control over attention and memory. However, DeCaro and Van Stockum used three variants of the single matchstick arithmetic problem. Experiment 1 involved low sample and non-standard problem application, while the more powered Experiment 2 yielded a surprisingly low solution rate. These facts made both studies problematic and called for their replication. In the two present studies, the DeCaro and Van Stockum ego-depletion manipulation and their matchstick problems were administered to a total of 316 people. Furthermore, various other insight problems, subjective ratings of insight experience, analytical problems and executive control tests were applied. The key result was that no reliable effect of ego depletion could be found for any of these measures

Are robots vegan? : unexpected behaviours in child-robot interactions and their design implications

A robot’s unexpected behaviors, such as a social faux pas or system errors, affect how a child perceives or interacts with the robot. In this study, we conducted two child-robot interaction workshops on active reading in a museum of modern art, and observed the behavior and attitudes of 18 children from two age groups (6-7 yrs and 10-12 yrs). The video and audio data from this event was analyzed to observe how children in a group respond to the robot’s unexpected behaviors. We extracted six different types of robot’s surprising behaviors: robot’s personality, movement malfunctions, inconsistent behavior, mispronunciation, delays and freezing. We analyzed how children in the younger and the older age groups respond to each of these behaviours, and what are the similarities and differences between the two groups. Based on this analysis, we suggest guidelines for designing age-appropriate learning interactions with social robots