ArticleFrontiers in psychology2025
Sally and… Cozmo? Training theory of mind using a toy robot: a pilot study.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Affective Computing Approaches in Child-Robot Interaction: A Systematic Review and Taxonomy.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
Introduction: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show impairments in Theory of Mind (ToM). This pilot study examined whether a commercially available toy robot (Cozmo) could support false-belief training within an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) framework. Methods: Fourteen children with ASD completed a two-period crossover design comparing robot-assisted training with standard therapy. Sessions used adapted false-belief tasks (Deceptive Box, Sally-Anne) delivered through therapist-controlled interactions with Cozmo. ToM and emotion recognition were assessed with NEPSY-II at T0, T1, and T2. Results: Robot-assisted sessions produced greater improvements than standard therapy alone on both NEPSY-II Emotion Recognition and ToM subscales, as confirmed by mixed-effects models. Discussion: Findings suggest that an affordable toy-like robot can be feasibly integrated into structured clinical interventions and may enhance ToM-related outcomes in children with ASD, warranting further evaluation in larger samples.
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