Child Perception of Humanoid Robot Appearance and Behavior

This study investigated children’s attitudes toward humanoid robots that exhibit various anthropomorphic appearances and behaviors. A total of 578 children aged from 8 to 14 years were recruited to evaluate humanoid robots depicted either in still images (N = 267) or videos (N = 311). The results showed that the degree of anthropomorphism affected children’s attitudes toward the robots. An uncanny valley was observed in this study, indicating that children prefer robots created with a moderate level of human likeness over those that have a highly human-like appearance but remain distinguishable from humans. A striking finding was that moving robots exhibiting social cues moderate the uncanny valley plot, thus contradicting Mori’s uncanny valley hypothesis, which posits that emotional responses are greater for moving robots than for static robots. In addition, the children in this study perceived the robots as more socially and physically attractive when the robots exhibited social cues. In summary, the current results suggest that children prefer moderately realistic robots and that robot behavior is a key determinant of how children perceive robots. A moderate level of anthropomorphic appearance combined with appropriate social cues can enhance child preferences for and acceptance of robots.