Does the Social Robot Nao Facilitate Cooperation in High Functioning Children with ASD?

Abstract

We designed a coordination–cooperation game dedicated to teaching the theory of mind (ToM) to children with autism spectrum disorder. Children interacted with either a robot or a human. They had to coordinate their gestures with the beats of a ditty sung by their partner (coordination), who then implicitly asked them for help (cooperation). Before and after this cooperation–coordination task, the children performed a helping task that assessed their ToM skills: the ability to infer social partners’ intentions. Despite the regularity and predictability of the robot, children made the most progress in the helping task after interacting with a human. Motor coupling was more stable in child–human than in child–robot dyads. The ability of the social partner to actively maintain a stable social coupling seems to be a primary factor inciting the child to learn and transfer the just-practiced social skills.