MSGID: 1:317/3 6423bef1   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   human    
    Researchers at the Cognition and Language Development Lab tested three-   
   and five-year-olds to see whether robots could be better teachers than people   
      
      
     Date:   
         March 28, 2023   
     Source:   
         Concordia University   
     Summary:   
         Researchers found that preschoolers prefer learning from what   
         they perceive as a competent robot over an incompetent human. This   
         study is the first to use both a human speaker and a robot to see   
         if children deem social affiliation and similarity more important   
         than competency when choosing which source to trust and learn from.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Who do children prefer to learn from? Previous research has shown that   
   even infants can identify the best informant. But would preschoolers   
   prefer learning from a competent robot over an incompetent human?   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   According to a new paper by Concordia researchers published in the   
   Journal of Cognition and Development, the answer largely depends on age.   
      
   The study compared two groups of preschoolers: one of three-year-olds,   
   the other of five-year-olds. The children participated in Zoom meetings   
   featuring a video of a young woman and a small robot with humanoid   
   characteristics (head, face, torso, arms and legs) called Nao sitting   
   side by side. Between them were familiar objects that the robot would   
   label correctly while the human would label them incorrectly, e.g.,   
   referring to a car as a book, a ball as a shoe and a cup as a dog.   
      
   Next, the two groups of children were presented with unfamiliar items:   
   the top of a turkey baster, a roll of twine and a silicone muffin   
   container. Both the robot and the human used different nonsense terms   
   like "mido," "toma," "fep" and "dax" to label the objects. The children   
   were then asked what the object was called, endorsing either the label   
   offered by the robot or by the human.   
      
   While the three-year-olds showed no preference for one word over another,   
   the five-year-olds were much more likely to state the term provided by   
   the robot than the human.   
      
   "We can see that by age five, children are choosing to learn from a   
   competent teacher over someone who is more familiar to them -- even if   
   the competent teacher is a robot," says the paper's lead author, PhD   
   candidate Anna-Elisabeth Baumann. Horizon Postdoctoral Fellow Elizabeth   
   Goldman and undergraduate research assistant Alexandra Meltzer also   
   contributed to the study. Professor and Concordia University Chair   
   of Developmental Cybernetics Diane Poulin-Dubois in the Department of   
   Psychology supervised the study.   
      
   The researchers repeated the experiments with new groups of three- and   
   five- year-olds, replacing the humanoid Nao with a small truck-shaped   
   robot called Cozmo. The results resembled those observed with the   
   human-like robot, suggesting that the robot's morphology does not affect   
   the children's selective trust strategies.   
      
   Baumann adds that, along with the labelling task, the researchers   
   administered a naive biology task. The children were asked if biological   
   organs or mechanical gears formed the internal parts of unfamiliar   
   animals and robots.   
      
   The three-year-olds appeared confused, assigning both biological and   
   mechanical internal parts to the robots. However, the five-year-olds   
   were much more likely to indicate that only mechanical parts belonged   
   inside the robots.   
      
   "This data tells us that the children will choose to learn from a robot   
   even though they know it is not like them. They know that the robot is   
   mechanical," says Baumann.   
      
   Being right is better than being human While there has been a substantial   
   amount of literature on the benefits of using robots as teaching aides   
   for children, the researchers note that most studies focus on a single   
   robot informant or two robots pitted against each other. This study,   
   they write, is the first to use both a human speaker and a robot to see   
   if children deem social affiliation and similarity more important than   
   competency when choosing which source to trust and learn from.   
      
   Poulin-Dubois points out that this study builds on a previous paper she   
   co- wrote with Goldman and Baumann. That paper shows that by age five,   
   children treat robots similarly to how adults do, i.e., as depictions   
   of social agents.   
      
   "Older preschoolers know that robots have mechanical insides, but they   
   still anthropomorphize them. Like adults, these children attribute   
   certain human-like qualities to robots, such as the ability to talk,   
   think and feel," she says.   
      
   "It is important to emphasize that we see robots as tools to study how   
   children can learn from both human and non-human agents," concludes   
   Goldman. "As technology use increases, and as children interact with   
   technological devices more, it is important for us to understand how   
   technology can be a tool to help facilitate their learning."   
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Mind_&_Brain   
                   # Child_Development # Child_Psychology #   
                   Infant_and_Preschool_Learning   
             o Matter_&_Energy   
                   # Robotics_Research # Engineering # Vehicles   
             o Computers_&_Math   
                   # Robotics # Artificial_Intelligence #   
                   Educational_Technology   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Robot_calibration o Android o Industrial_robot   
             o Humanoid_robot o Robot o Computer_vision o   
             Early_childhood_education o Social_psychology   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by Concordia_University. Note: Content   
   may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Anna-Elisabeth Baumann, Elizabeth J. Goldman, Alexandra Meltzer,   
      Diane   
         Poulin-Dubois. People Do Not Always Know Best: Preschoolers'   
         Trust in Social Robots. Journal of Cognition and Development,   
         2023; 1 DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2023.2178435   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230328145321.htm   
      
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