Impressions of Humanness for Android Robot may Represent an Endophenotype for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Journal: Journal of autism and developmental disorders
PMID: 29086211

Abstract

Identification of meaningful endophenotypes may be critical to unraveling the etiology and pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We investigated whether impressions of "humanness" for android robot might represent a candidate characteristic of an ASD endophenotype. We used a female type of android robot with an appearance similar to that of a real person. Significant differences in overall impressions of 'humanness' for android robot were found between adolescents with ASD and typical development (TD) controls, as well as parents of children with ASD and parents of TD controls. Our current work does suggest robotic systems could potentially play an intelligent role in dissecting ASD heterogeneity.

Authors

  • Hirokazu Kumazaki
    Department of Clinical Research on Social Recognition and Memory, Research Center for Child Mental Development, Kanazawa University, Ishikawa, Japan.
  • Zachary Warren
    Department of Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Special Education, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Vanderbilt University, 230 Appleton Pl., Nashville, TN, 37206, USA. zachary.warren@vanderbilt.edu.
  • Amy Swanson
    Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Vanderbilt University, 230 Appleton Pl., Nashville, TN, 37206, USA.
  • Yuichiro Yoshikawa
    Department of Systems Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka, 560-8531, Japan.
  • Yoshio Matsumoto
    Service Robotics Research Group, Intelligent Systems Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Ibaraki, Japan.
  • Hiroshi Ishiguro
  • Nilanjan Sarkar
  • Yoshio Minabe
    Department of Clinical Research on Social Recognition and Memory, Research Center for Child Mental Development, Kanazawa University, Ishikawa, Japan.
  • Mitsuru Kikuchi
    Department of Clinical Research on Social Recognition and Memory, Research Center for Child Mental Development, Kanazawa University, Ishikawa, Japan.

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