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Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Real-Time Proxy-Control of Re-Parameterized Peripheral Signals using a Close-Loop Interface
Published on: May 8, 2021
Children perseverate to a human's actions but not to a robot's actions
Yusuke Moriguchi1, Takayuki Kanda, Hiroshi Ishiguro
1Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, University of Tokyo, Japan. moriguchiy@ardbeg.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Abstract:
Previous research has shown that young children commit perseverative errors from their observation of another person's actions. The present study examined how social observation would lead children to perseverative tendencies, using a robot. In Experiment 1, preschoolers watched either a human model or a robot sorting cards according to one dimension (e.g. shape), after which they were asked to sort according to a different dimension (e.g. colour). The results showed that children's behaviours in the task were significantly influenced by the human model's actions but not by the robot's actions. Experiment 2 excluded the possibility that children's behaviours were not affected by the robot's actions because they did not observe its actions. We concluded that children's perseverative errors from social observation resulted, in part, from their socio-cognitive ability.
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