This paper describes an extended (6-session) interaction between an ethnically and geographically diverse group of 26 first-grade children and the DragonBot robot in the context of learning about healthy food choices. We find that children demonstrate a high level of enjoyment when interacting with the robot, and a statistically significant increase in engagement with the system over the duration of the interaction. We also find evidence of relationship-building between the child and robot, and encouraging trends towards child learning. These results are promising for the use of socially assistive robotic technologies for long-term one-on-one educational interventions for younger children.
We performed a study that examined the effects of a humanoid robot giving the minimum required feedback -graded cueingduring a one-on-one imitation game played children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). 12 high-functioning participants with ASD, ages 7 to 10, each played "Copy-Cat" with a Nao robot 5 times over the span of 2.5 weeks. While the graded cueing model was not exercised in its fullest, using graded cueing-style feedback resulted in a nondecreasing trend in imitative accuracy when compared to a non-adaptive condition, where participants always received the same, most descriptive feedback whenever they made a mistake. These trends show promise for future work with robots encouraging autonomy in special needs populations.
Abstract. This work presents a model of the occupational therapy technique of graded cueing for teaching and practicing desirable health and social behaviors adapted for use in socially assistive human-machine interaction. Graded cueing is represented as a probabilistic model of first prompt choice based on the perceived user ability level. The model is used to increase imitation proficiency of children with autism spectrum disorders through a "Copy Cat" imitation game.
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