Ghiglino Davide, Floris Federica, De Tommaso Davide, Russi Nicola Severino, Frulli Alessia, Moretti Silvia, Wykowska Agnieszka
Social Cognition in Human-Robot Interaction, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Enrico Melen 83, Genova, 16152, Italy.
Piccolo Cottolengo Genovese di Don Orione, Via Paverano 55, Genova, 16143, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 29;15(1):27650. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-12253-7.
Autism Spectrum Disorder presents significant challenges in social cognition, particularly in understanding others' thoughts, emotions, and intentions. Traditional interventions often rely on role-playing games with human therapists or inanimate objects, but these approaches may lack consistency and ecological validity. This study integrated Applied Behavior Analysis principles with robot-assisted training to improve social cognition in children with autism. A randomized, two-period crossover trial involving 32 children (mean age = 7.53 ± 1.32 years, 7 females) compared robot-assisted training using the humanoid robot iCub with standard therapy and an active human-assisted control condition. During robot-assisted sessions, children engaged in structured social role-play scenarios, practicing essential social skills such as perspective-taking, joint attention, and recognizing intentions. The robot's human-like appearance and adaptive behavior provided an engaging, predictable learning environment. Results indicated that robot-assisted training significantly improved social cognition, in contrast to traditional therapy and the human-assisted control group, where no improvements were found. Importantly, the active human control confirmed that these improvements were driven by the robot's presence rather than the protocol itself. These findings demonstrate the potential of humanoid robots as effective therapeutic tools for enhancing social skills in children with autism, offering a scalable and engaging complement to existing clinical practices. Clinical Trial Registration: ISRCTN15341724, registered on May 6, 2025. Available at: https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN15341724 .
自闭症谱系障碍在社会认知方面带来了重大挑战，尤其是在理解他人的思想、情感和意图方面。传统干预措施通常依赖与人类治疗师或无生命物体进行角色扮演游戏，但这些方法可能缺乏一致性和生态效度。本研究将应用行为分析原理与机器人辅助训练相结合，以改善自闭症儿童的社会认知。一项涉及32名儿童（平均年龄 = 7.53 ± 1.32岁，7名女性）的随机、两期交叉试验，将使用人形机器人iCub的机器人辅助训练与标准治疗以及积极的人类辅助对照条件进行了比较。在机器人辅助课程中，儿童参与结构化的社会角色扮演场景，练习诸如换位思考、共同注意和识别意图等基本社交技能。机器人的类人外观和适应性行为提供了一个引人入胜、可预测的学习环境。结果表明，与传统治疗和人类辅助对照组相比，机器人辅助训练显著改善了社会认知，在传统治疗和人类辅助对照组中未发现改善。重要的是，积极的人类对照证实，这些改善是由机器人的存在而非方案本身驱动的。这些发现证明了人形机器人作为增强自闭症儿童社交技能的有效治疗工具的潜力，为现有临床实践提供了一种可扩展且引人入胜的补充。临床试验注册：ISRCTN15341724，于2025年5月6日注册。可在：https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN15341724获取。
