Anthropomorphization of social robots by children and adults: a case of RoboThespian from the Copernicus Science Center

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify and characterize the phenomenon of anthropomorphization. The research group included 30 children and 30 adults who visited a Copernicus Science Center and had interaction with RoboThespian. RoboThespian is a humanoid robot that is programmed to do everything that has been chosen by users on a special operator’s panel. RoboThespian is able to nod, speak, gesticulate and express feelings. A research technique was a non-participation observation. A researcher watched participants with no taking an active part. The differences between children and adults concern communication with the robot and giving it name. Children gave the robot a name, asked questions and waited for the answer, as well as expressed their feelings to the robot such as happiness or anger. This can indicate assigning the robot consciousness and free will. Among adults, there was no tendency to give the robot names, ask questions aiming to obtain an information or describing feeling due to robot. In order to deepen the knowledge about anthropomorphization, a second study was carried out by the researcher. The data aggregation method was a questionnaire. In research was used a 14-position scale that described three types of features: positive, negative and behavioral. Differences between children and adults were observed in features such as tactful and creative. The tendency of anthropomorphization may indicate a greater openness on cooperation with robots.