A study to measure the effect of framing a robot as a social agent or as a machine on children's social behavior

Abstract

Framing or priming a situation can subtly influence how a person reacts to or thinks about the situation. In this paper, we describe a recent study and some preliminary results in which the framing of a robot is manipulated such that it is presented as a social agent or as a machine-like entity. We ask whether framing the robot in these ways influences young children's social behavior during an interaction with the robot, independent of any changes in the robot itself. Following the framing manipulation, children play a fifteen-minute game with the robot. Their behavior, such as the amount of conversation, mimicry of the robot, and various courteous, prosocial actions will be coded and compared across conditions.