Lessons in robotics change children's perceptions

Could teaching kids how robots are used in the real world create a new generation of designers to build revolutionary machines? That's the idea behind a new study of children's perceptions of robots.

In a study echoing the 1983 "draw me a scientist" test – in which researcher David Chambers, now of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, used drawings to highlight the differences between children's view of scientists and the reality – psychologist Corinne Zimmerman and engineer Kevin Devine of Illinois State University in Normal asked 143 schoolchildren aged between 6 and 10 to "draw a picture of a robot doing something robots often do".

The results showed a clear stereotype of robots, says Zimmerman, who presented the study at the International Society for the Psychology of Science and Technology meeting in Berkeley, California, earlier this month. The children saw them as boxy humanoids with legs and a square head, typically operating free of direct human control to engage in human-like work and play, from washing dishes and doing kids' homework to golfing, skipping and dancing – About 30 per cent of the children drew them boogieing.

To read this New Scientist article in full, click here.

• AI & Robotics
• Enhancement

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