Social Robotics is a branch of computer science that deals with enhancing communication between humans and machines. At various laboratories, robots programmed to deal with human interaction are being tested out. But more specifically, they are trained to both teach and learn an assortment of skills for people. One particular application is for teaching children with autism. Through mimicry and other functions, robots have steadily been proving themselves as possible teaching aids.

So far, in various studies, robots have been able to teach children a variety of things. At the University of Southern California, a robot has been programmed to mimic its playmate’s behavior and teach him how to respond by maintaining eye contact when it notices the child withdrawing. At a day care center in Japan, researchers have proven this mimicry to be a very effective way to get even very fearful children with autism to respond and become engaged.

Marek Michalowski of Carnegie Mellon University points out how it is possible to help children open up with simple synchronous behavior. He also adds that once the child does open up, it becomes possible to teach them other social behaviors through this interaction such as making eye contact, joint attention, turn taking and other things that children may have difficulty learning.

Although it takes very precise programming to make this happen, as delayed responses from the robot would throw off the interaction, this mimicry builds trust and sociability in children. In time, simple imitation turns into interaction and eventually into learning.

The potential for this technology is beneficial for both robotics and child psychology. Researchers specializing in child psychology stand to learn much as well, taking note of what makes these robots effective teachers for young children, especially for those with difficulty learning. The benefits of this research, then, are two-fold. Together, the fields of study can revolutionize the way that children learn.