Do children perceive robots as alive? Children´s attributions of human characteristics

Centuries ago, the existence of life was explained by the presence of a soul [1]. Known as animism, this term was re-defined in the 1970s by Piaget as young children´s beliefs that inanimate objects are capable of actions and have lifelike qualities. With the development of robots in the 21^st century, researchers have yet to examine whether animism is apparent in children´s impressions of robots. The purpose of this study was to examine children´s perspectives about the cognitive, affective, and behavioral attributes of a robot. Visitors to a science centre located in a major Western Canadian city were invited to participate in an experiment set up at the centre. A total of 198 children ages 5 to 16 years (M = 8.18 years) with an approximate even number of boys and girls participated. Children were interviewed after observing a robot, a small 5 degree of freedom robot arm, perform a block stacking task. Answers to the six questions about the robot were scored according to whether they referenced humanistic qualities. Frequency and content analysis results suggest that a significant proportion of children ascribe cognitive, affective, and behavioral characteristics to robots.