Study: Children are polite even to crude robots; girls are more likely to "humanize" them

Psychologists from the USWPS HumanTech Center studied children's interactions with social robots during workshop sessions. They found that children spoke politely to the robots, even when they adopted a commanding tone. Furthermore, younger children and girls were more likely to attribute human characteristics to the machines.

Social robots are increasingly being used in education. Research conducted worldwide shows that they can significantly increase children's engagement in learning and improve their academic achievement, supporting language learning and group problem-solving.

However, for robots to be effective and responsible partners in this field, it's crucial to understand how children perceive and respond to them. How robot characteristics (e.g., communication style, appearance, gender) can influence educational outcomes. Understanding these relationships can help avoid actions that inadvertently perpetuate stereotypes or reduce student engagement.

A team led by Dr. Konrad Maj, head of the HumanTech Center at SWPS University, has been conducting research on this topic for several years. The latest study was published in the prestigious scientific journal Computers & Education (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360131525002131).

A total of 251 children aged 7–12 participated. They interacted with a robot programmed to use either a polite, requesting, or a firm, commanding communication style. By using a female or male name (Ada – Adam), the robot was assigned a female or male identity.

"We focused on two factors: the robot's communication style and its anthropomorphized gender. We chose these variables because they directly influence how children interpret the robot's intentions, its "warmth," and its authority—characteristics that can influence both engagement and learning outcomes," Dr. Konrad Maj told PAP.

The researchers tested, among other things, whether children would imitate the robot's communication style—whether polite or commanding. The vast majority of children used polite language toward the robot, even when the robot's tone was firm or commanding. Over 78% of children responded politely when the robot was polite to them, and a whopping 69% responded politely when the robot commanded them.

These results indicate, the researchers argued, that established social norms regarding politeness have a stronger influence on children's communication with robots than the short-term interaction style in which the robot uses a strong, assertive tone.

Psychologists from SWPS University indicated that the children may have perceived the robot as part of an adult-led environment—similar to a teacher—and responded accordingly. They also likely attributed to the robot the norms of politeness typical of interactions with humans.

"Many previous studies have shown that people are often polite when interacting with robots, especially when they use natural language. Our results confirm this: even when the robot was strict, children remained polite – similar to other studies in which they said "please" to AI assistants without prompting. This is important in the context of real school classrooms, where robots may need to use a commanding tone. Our experiments show that this style of machine communication can be socially effective without the risk of children adopting this form of conversation, at least in the short term," described Dr. Maj.

The study also showed that although both older and younger children anthropomorphized robots quite strongly, younger children were more likely to attribute many human characteristics to them.

Children aged 7–9 often believed the robot had feelings or intentions—some said it looked "happy" or "sad." Children aged 10–12, on the other hand, were more likely to be skeptical, viewing the robot as a programmed machine. This difference, the researchers explained, reflects cognitive development: younger children are still learning to distinguish between living and nonliving things, while older children increasingly use logical reasoning.

Girls were slightly more likely to attribute abilities or emotions to the robot than boys. This finding aligns with the researchers' predictions and observations from the research sessions. Some girls interacted with the robot as if it were a doll or a friend. Some boys were more inclined to test the robot or engage in minor provocations. These behaviors also reflect previous findings that girls are more likely to view robots as companions, while boys are more likely to view them as tools or challenges.

Male and female robots were "humanized" to a similar degree. Manipulations of the name (female vs. male) did not significantly affect the level of anthropomorphization. However, subtle interactions emerged: the polite female robot was perceived as the most human, while the commanding female robot was perceived as the least.

"The design of educational robots should be tailored to the child's age and social orientation. Robots with strong emotional expression can increase the engagement of younger children or girls in learning. However, there is also a risk of excessive anthropomorphization, which can lead to false perceptions of the robot's capabilities or intentions. For older children, clearly communicating the robot's artificial nature can help maintain engagement while simultaneously developing critical thinking in the learning process," explained Dr. Konrad Maj.

Ewelina Krajczyńska-Wujec (PAP)

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