Follow the white robot: Efficacy of robot-assistive training for children with autism spectrum disorder

Ghiglino, Davide; Chevalier, Pauline; Floris, Federica; Priolo, Tiziana; Wykowska, Agnieszka

doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2021.101822

Cited by 23 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Here, results underlined also a slight difference between the two conditions while analyzing the ability to maintain the interaction and to respond to behavioral requests. On the contrary, no differences have been found in responses to social interactions, as well as in initiating, maintaining, and responding to joint attention behaviors across the groups [57], thus being in agreement with the findings explained beforehand.…”

Section: Study Results Organized By Robot Employedsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Table A2 shows the main risks of bias within the selected reports. Five studies did not report sampling criteria [38,54,57,61,63]. The possible absence of eligibility criteria may have induced a biased recruitment process.…”

Section: Risk Of Biasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In one study, authors claimed they used an instrument for mood assessment (i.e., the Positive and Negative Affect Scale) that did not have adequate indicators to capture all affective dimensions, and this may have induced a measurement bias [60]. In three studies, drop-out was reported [37,49,57]. In two studies, a possible examiner or therapist effect could not be excluded [29,53].…”

Section: Risk Of Biasmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Robotic Psychology: A PRISMA Systematic Review on Social-Robot-Based Interventions in Psychological Domains

Duradoni

Colombini

Russo

et al. 2021

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Current technological advancements have allowed robots to be successfully employed in the healthcare sector. However, the recently acquired ability of social robots to process social information and act according to it has potentially made them very well suited to support or conduct psychological interventions. The present paper carried out a systematic review of the available literature regarding social-robot-based interventions in psychological domains using preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The inclusion criteria were: (i) publication date until 2020; (ii) being an empirical study, master thesis, or project report; (iii) written in English or Italian languages (the two languages spoken by the authors); (iv) published in a scholarly peer-reviewed journal or conference proceedings, or were Ph.D. or master’s theses; and (v) assessed “social robot”-based intervention in psychological domains. Overall, the review showed that three main areas may benefit from social-robot-based interventions: social skills, mood, and wellbeing (e.g., stress and anxiety levels). Interestingly, social robots seemed to have a performance comparable to, and sometimes even better than, human operators. The main, but not exclusive, target of robot-based interventions in the psychological field was children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As evidence is, however, still limited and in an embryonic state, deeper investigations are needed to assess the full potential of social robots for the purposes of psychological intervention. This is relevant, considering the role that social robots could have in overcoming barriers to access psychological assessment and therapies.

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Section: Study Results Organized By Robot Employedsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Risk Of Biasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Risk Of Biasmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Robotic Psychology: A PRISMA Systematic Review on Social-Robot-Based Interventions in Psychological Domains

Duradoni

Colombini

Russo

et al. 2021

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“…This is a provisional file, not the final typeset article Our previous paper (Ghiglino et al, 2021) describes in more detail the training protocol and its efficacy.…”

Section: Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Then, standard therapy with the child continued. The full protocol is described in (Ghiglino et al, 2021). The Figure 2 depicts the setup and the interface used in the training.…”

Section: Setup and Training Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual and hearing sensitivity affect robot-based training for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder

Chevalier¹,

Ghiglino²,

Floris³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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In this paper, we investigate the impact of sensory sensitivity during robot-assisted training for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Indeed, user-adaptation for robot-based therapies could help users to focus on the training, and thus improve the benefits of the interactions. Children diagnosed with ASD often suffer from sensory sensitivity, and can show hyper or hypo-reactivity to sensory events, such as reacting strongly or not at all to sounds, movements, or touch. Considering it during robot therapies may improve the overall interaction. In the present study, thirty-four children diagnosed with ASD underwent a joint attention training with the robot Cozmo. The eight session training was embedded in the standard therapy. The children were screened for their sensory sensitivity with the Sensory Profile Checklist Revised. Their social skills were screened before and after the training with the Early Social Communication Scale. We recorded their performance and the amount of feedback they were receiving from the therapist through animations of happy and sad emotions played on the robot. Our results showed that visual and hearing sensitivity influenced the improvements of the skill to initiate joint attention. Also, the therapists of individuals with a high sensitivity to hearing chose to play fewer animations of the robot during the training phase of the robot activity. The animations did not include sounds, but the robot was producing motor noise. These results are supporting the idea that sensory sensitivity of children diagnosed with ASD should be screened prior to engaging the children in robot-assisted therapy.

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Artificial scaffolding: Augmenting social cognition by means of robot technology

Ghiglino

Floris²,

Tommaso

et al. 2023

Autism Research

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The concept of scaffolding refers to the support that the environment provides in the acquisition and consolidation of new abilities. Technological advancements allow for support in the acquisition of cognitive capabilities, such as second language acquisition using simple smartphone applications There is, however, one domain of cognition that has been scarcely addressed in the context of technologically assisted scaffolding: social cognition. We explored the possibility of supporting the acquisition of social competencies of a group of children with autism spectrum disorder engaged in a rehabilitation program (age = 5.8 ± 1.14, 10 females, 33 males) by designing two robot‐assisted training protocols tailored to Theory of Mind competencies. One protocol was performed with a humanoid robot and the other (control) with a non‐anthropomorphic robot. We analyzed changes in NEPSY‐II scores before and after the training using mixed effects models. Our results showed that activities with the humanoid significantly improved NEPSY‐II scores on the ToM scale. We claim that the motor repertoire of humanoids makes them ideal platforms for artificial scaffolding of social skills in individuals with autism, as they can evoke similar social mechanisms to those elicited in human‐human interaction, without providing the same social pressure that another human might exert.

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Follow the white robot: Efficacy of robot-assistive training for children with autism spectrum disorder

Cited by 23 publications

References 55 publications

Robotic Psychology: A PRISMA Systematic Review on Social-Robot-Based Interventions in Psychological Domains

Robotic Psychology: A PRISMA Systematic Review on Social-Robot-Based Interventions in Psychological Domains

Visual and hearing sensitivity affect robot-based training for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder

Artificial scaffolding: Augmenting social cognition by means of robot technology

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