Preschoolers attribute preferences in response to human but not robot gaze

With technological advancements, children increasingly interact with robots designed to mimic human-like\r\nbehaviors for communication, among which gaze is particularly pivotal from early childhood. This study thus\r\nexplores how children attribute and form preferences when exposed to human versus robotic gazes. The research\r\ninvolved 58 Italian children aged 3 to 5 years. They watched videos featuring a human and a robot each gazing at\r\none of two objects. Subsequently, children were asked which object the gazer preferred (preference attribution)\r\nand to indicate their own preference (preference formation). Attribution of object preference was evaluated also\r\nas a function of children's Theory of Mind (i.e., false belief) and mental state attributions to human and robot\r\nagents. Results showed that children consistently attributed preferences based on human gaze, but not robot\r\ngaze, suggesting that they interpret human gaze as a meaningful communicative signal, likely associated with\r\nintentionality. Gaze had no significant effect on children's own preferences for either agent. Importantly, attri-\r\nbution of mental states to the human, but not to the robot, significantly predicted accurate preference attribution.\r\nNo associations were found between performance on the false-belief task and gaze-based responses, indicating\r\nthat explicit preference attribution may rely on socio-cognitive processes distinct from belief-based reasoning.\r\nThese findings provide design-relevant insights for child–robot interaction, suggesting that gaze alone may not\r\nfunction as an effective communicative cue for young children and highlighting the importance of develop-\r\nmentally informed interaction strategies in robotic systems designed for early childhood.