Research on the linguistic interactions between robots and young children would predict that Sonny, an 18-month-old, would
A) be able to follow the gaze of a robot as it "looked" at a ball with its mechanical eyes.
B) learn that a round object is called a ball if a robot oriented its mechanical gaze at the object while simultaneously playing the pre-recorded word ball.
C) learn that a round object is a ball if his mom was holding the ball for Sonny while the robot played the pre-recorded word ball.
D) not orient toward a robot.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Research has shown that young children are able to follow the gaze of robots and other non-human agents, which can facilitate joint attention and communication. Therefore, it is likely that Sonny would be able to follow the gaze of a robot as it "looked" at a ball with its mechanical eyes. However, learning the name of the object (i.e. that it is called a ball) would require additional linguistic input and reinforcement, such as hearing the word "ball" from a human caregiver while looking at the object.

Research on the Linguistic Interactions Between Robots and Young Children