Sociable robot improves toddler vocabulary skills

• Published in: 2009 4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) pp. 307 - 308
• Main Authors: Movellan, Javier, Eckhardt, Micah, Virnes, Marjo, Rodriguez, Angelica
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY, USA ACM 09.03.2009; IEEE
• Series: ACM Conferences
• Subjects: Algorithms; Applied computing > Law, social and behavioral sciences; Educational institutions; Games; Hardware > Communication hardware, interfaces and storage; Human Factors; Pediatrics; Robot sensing systems; Robotics; Ubiquitous computering; Vocabulary; robotics; algorithms; ubiquitous computing; human factors
• ISBN: 1605584045; 9781605584041
• ISSN: 2167-2121
• DOI: 10.1145/1514095.1514189

We report results of a study in which a low cost sociable robot was immersed at an Early Childhood Education Center for a period of 2 weeks. The study was designed to investigate whether the robot, which operated fully autonomously during the intervention period, could improve target vocabulary skills of 18-24 month of age toddlers. The results showed a 27 % improvement in knowledge of the target words taught by the robot when compared to a matched set of control words. The results suggest that sociable robots may be an effective and low cost technology to enrich Early Childhood Education environments.