Effects of different kinds of robot feedback

In this paper, we investigate to what extent tutors' behavior is influenced by different kinds of robot feedback. In particular, we study the effects of online robot feedback in which the robot responds either contingently to the tutor's social behavior or by tracking the objects presented. Also, we investigate the impact of the robot's learning success on tutors' tutoring strategies. Our results show that only in the condition in which the robot's behavior is socially contingent, the human tutors adjust their behavior to the robot. In the developmentally equally plausible object-driven condition, in which the robot tracked the objects presented, tutors do not change their behavior significantly, even though in both conditions the robot develops from a prelinguistic stage to producing keywords. Socially contingent robot feedback has thus the potential to influence tutors' behavior over time. Display of learning outcomes, in contrast, only serves as feedback on robot capabilities when it is coupled with online social feedback.