The Use of Robots in Social Communications and Interactions for Individuals with ASD: a Systematic Review
- PDF / 669,854 Bytes
- 32 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 45 Downloads / 203 Views
REVIEW
The Use of Robots in Social Communications and Interactions for Individuals with ASD: a Systematic Review Despoina Damianidou 1,2
&
Ami Eidels 1,2 & Michael Arthur-Kelly 1
Accepted: 24 September 2020 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of robot-mediated interventions on improvement of social communications and interactions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. It identified the variables related to social skills that were measured in the reviewed studies. Methods A systematic review of contemporary peer-reviewed studies published from 2010 to 2019 inclusive was conducted. PsychInfo and Scopus were the databases used to identify the studies. Results The majority of the reviewed papers demonstrated that the robot-mediated intervention was effective in enhancing social skills in individuals with ASD. Eye contact was the variable most examined to determine the effectiveness of the interventions. Most of the robots were humanoid and operated under a Wizard of Oz autonomous mode and acted predominantly as behavioreliciting agents. Conclusions In line with previous studies, robot-mediated interventions were generally effective in improving social skill; however, there was some variability within the individuals with eye contact, joint attention, and imitation being the variables most measured. Areas considered for future research include maintenance and generalization phases with the intervention as well as matching the individuals’ needs to the features of the robots used. Keywords Autism spectrum disorder . Robotics . Social skills . Systematic review . Social communications and interactions
The ability to socialize is an important part of people’s daily lives. Developing social skills with continued practice can enhance participation in the community and yield happiness and social inclusion. Social skills competence in interpersonal interactions has a significant impact on psychological, academic, and adaptive functioning (Elliott et al. 2001). Social skills have been associated with significant variance in mental health difficulties, with less developed social skills being related to greater mental health difficulties across the ASD population (Ratcliffe et al. 2015). Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability characterized by persistent deficits in social * Despoina Damianidou [email protected] 1
The University of Newcastle, University Drive Callaghan, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia
2
Faculty of Science, School of Psychology, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
communication and behavior development in which the symptoms must be present in the early first few years of life and have an effect on everyday functioning (American Psychiatric Association [APA] 2013). One of the defining characteristics of ASD is a lack of social communication and social interaction. More specifically, deficits in socialemotional reciprocity are related to the inability to share thoughts and f
Data Loading...
