title: Do infants perceive the social robot Keepon as a communicative partner?
abstract: This study investigates if infants perceive an unfamiliar agent, such as the robot Keepon, as a social agent after observing an interaction between the robot and a human adult. 23 infants, aged 9-17 month, were exposed, in a first phase, to either a contingent interaction between the active robot and an active human adult, or to an interaction between an active human adult and the non-active robot, followed by a second phase, in which infants were offered the opportunity to initiate a turn-taking interaction with Keepon. The measured variables were: (1) the number of social initiations the infant directed toward the robot, and (2) the number of anticipatory orientations of attention to the agent that follows in the conversation. The results indicate a significant higher level of initiations in the interactive robot condition compared to the non-active robot condition, while the difference between the frequencies of anticipations of turn-taking behaviors was not significant.
authors.affiliation: Babeş-Bolyai University, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Electronic address: andreea.peca@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Andreea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peca
authors.affiliation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Clinical and Life Span Psychology Department, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ramona
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Simut
authors.affiliation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Robotics and Multibody Mechanics Research Group, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Hoang-Long
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Robotics and Multibody Mechanics Research Group, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vanderborght
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D010988:Play and Playthings / Q000523:psychology*; D012371:Robotics
keywords: Agency; Contingency; Conversation; Human–robot interaction; Infants; Turn-taking