Abstract
In the current investigation, we used a single case alternating treatments design to evaluate the effects of a robot prompter on the social interaction of three pairs of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Findings suggest that three participants produced more utterances and conversational turns when a robot prompter was present, and two when it was absent. One participant produced more utterances when the robot was not present, but more conversational turns when the robot was present. We discuss limitations to the current study and recommendations for future research.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 480-492 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| State | Published - Dec 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities.
Funding
The purpose of the current investigation was to explore the effects of an autonomous robot change agent on the conversational skills of six children with ASD. It served a part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation to develop and evaluate a range of technologies for improving outcomes for children with ASD. This study extends the available literature in two major areas. First, we implemented a robot-based intervention in the absence of a human instructor. The robot was programmed to detect lulls in the students’ conversation and then emit content-related prompts to facilitate conversation (e.g., Tell each other about something you are looking forward to doing tomorrow., etc.). If deemed effective, autonomous robot change agents might be able to facilitate student interactions in school and other settings when an adult may not be available. Second, we targeted increases in utterances and conversational turn taking between students. These responses have been deemed as critical to language acquisition and social development (McLean & McLean, 1978; Sameroff & Chandler, 1975; Yoder & Warren, 1999). As aforementioned, the majority of research has focused on early social skills (e.g., joint attention) and have often involved interactions between children and robots. We sought to increase the rate of interaction between peers to provide opportunities for students to practice social skills and potentially contact natural reinforcers (i.e., peer responses) for engagement. If effective, robots may serve to support teacher delivered social skills instruction by prompting interactions outside of the instructional context. We addressed the following research questions; (a) What are the effects of a robot conversational prompting conditions when compared to a no robot condition on the rate of utterances for children with ASD? and (b) What are the effects of a robot conversational prompting condition when compared to a no robot condition on the rate conversational turns for children with ASD?
| Funders |
|---|
| National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
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