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How to Build an Intentional Android: Infants' Imitation of a Robot's Goal‐Directed Actions
Author(s) -
Itakura Shoji,
Ishida Hiraku,
Kanda Takayuki,
Shimada Yohko,
Ishiguro Hiroshi,
Lee Kang
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
infancy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.361
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1532-7078
pISSN - 1525-0008
DOI - 10.1080/15250000802329503
Subject(s) - gaze , imitation , psychology , robot , humanoid robot , eye contact , human–robot interaction , human–computer interaction , object (grammar) , action (physics) , eye tracking , cognitive psychology , communication , developmental psychology , artificial intelligence , computer science , social psychology , physics , quantum mechanics , psychoanalysis
This study examined whether young children are able to imitate a robot's goal‐directed actions. Children (24–35 months old) viewed videos showing a robot attempting to manipulate an object (e.g., putting beads inside a cup) but failing to achieve its goal (e.g., beads fell outside the cup). In 1 video, the robot made eye contact with a human before and after it failed the action. In another video, the robot did not make eye contact with the human adult. Only in the former condition did children “imitate” the robot's “intended” but unconsummated actions (e.g., putting beads inside a cup). When the robot did not make eye contact, children performed poorly, at the baseline level. These results suggest that human‐like gaze behaviors, not human‐like morphology, may play an important role in young children's imitation of a nonhuman agent's goal‐directed behaviors.