Investigating the relationship between empathy and attribution of mental states to robots

TL;DR

This study explores how users perceive robot empathy and how this perception influences their attribution of mental states to robots across different age groups.

Contribution

It provides empirical data on the relationship between perceived robot empathy and mental state attribution, comparing adult and child perceptions.

Findings

Perceived empathy correlates with attribution of mental states.

Differences observed between adult and child perceptions.

Empirical evidence from 68 participants supports the relationship.

Abstract

This paper describes an experimental evaluation aimed at detecting the users' perception of the robot's empathic abilities during a conversation. The results have been then analyzed to search for a possible relationship between the perceived empathy and the attribution of mental states to the robot, namely the user's perception of the robot's mental qualities as compared to humans. The involved sample consisted of 68 subjects, including 34 adults and 34 between teenagers and children. By conducting the experiment with both adult and child participants, make possible to compare the results obtained from each group and identify any differences in perception between the various age groups.