Bridging Social Learning with Technology: The Use of a Social Robot in Preschool Development

초록

Background The integration of social robots in early childhood education is increasingly being explored to support social and emotional development in preschoolers. This study investigates the potential of social robots in facilitating play and conversation activities among preschoolers with varying levels of sociability. The objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of social robots for preschoolers with varying levels of sociability and to assess the satisfaction of both children and their parents with these interventions. Methods The study involved 50 preschoolers, aged 4–6 years, classified into high, middle, and low sociability groups based on the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ). Children interacted with a social robot, Pibo, for 30 minutes over four days. The interaction data were collected and analyzed. Pediatric psychiatrists and a child development center teacher conducted expert evaluations and parents provided feedback on their children’s experience. Key areas of assessment included the naturalness of interactions, emotional expression, and sociability-related differences in engagement. Results The findings revealed that while most participants perceived the robot as a friendly, engaging companion, challenges remained in recognizing and reciprocating emotions. The analysis indicated no significant differences in satisfaction among children and their parents across sociability groups. Experts highlighted that social robots could be more beneficial for children with low sociability, as they may feel more comfortable interacting with the robot than humans. However, limitations were noted in the robot’s ability to sustain two-way communication and to provide tailored developmental support. Conclusions The study underscores the potential of social robots in early childhood settings, particularly for children who struggle with social interactions. Nevertheless, for broader developmental benefits, improvements are needed in the robot’s emotional recognition capabilities and adaptability to individual children’s needs. The research contributes to understanding human-robot interactions in early childhood education and emphasizes the importance of designing more personalized and emotionally responsive robotic systems. Copyright: This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestricted educational and non-commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited.

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