What is that robot pointing at?

3 year olds

In this study, your child will watch videos of a person and a robot pointing at different toys. Then, your child will answer questions and play a matching game! In the matching game, our child will be shown pictures of a robot and a person and be asked whether something mechanical (gears) or something biological (a heart) belongs inside. Finally, children will be read statements about different people and be asked which person they would like to be friends with.

This study will help us learn if children prioritize learning from someone who is accurate over someone who is inaccurate. In this study, children will have the opportunity to learn from either a person or a robot. Prior research has found that older children will learn from a robot who is accurate over a person who is inaccurate in a word-learning task. Here we are testing the same thing but using gestures, pointing, rather than word-learning. This will help us understand what qualities a teacher needs to have to be effective and engaging to young children.

We schedule a 30-minute Zoom appointment but typically the study is completed in 15-20 minutes

We offer a certificate of merit. To receive your certificate, parents must complete the consent and demographic forms. The family (both parent and child) must attend the Zoom session and the child must be the correct age.