Cacace, Cristina (2025) Evaluating Joint Attention in Child-Robot Interaction for Hard-of-Hearing Children. Master's Thesis / Essay, Biomedical Engineering.
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Abstract
Robotics has evolved from basic automata to social assistive robots (SARs), now used in healthcare and therapy. In child-robot interaction (CRI), particularly for clinical hearing screening, humanoid robots like NAO aim to boost engagement in hard-of-hearing children (HoH). This study builds on a 2021 CRI experiment at the UMCG with 26 Dutch children (ages 4–14) using cochlear implants or hearing aids during follow-up sessions with NAO. Each session included three phases: Static, Warble Tone, and Speech Audiometry. Video recordings were analyzed by two independent coders using BORIS software to code joint attention behavior—shared focus with social awareness. Five states were defined: Coordinated Joint, Object, Other, Supported Joint, and Unengaged. First, Coder 1 manually coded all sessions. Then, Coder 1’s data was compared to Coder 2’s to examine prevalent states and inter-coder consistency. While both followed the same protocol, Coder 1 coded more Coordinated Joint states, whereas Coder 2 marked more Object and Other states—likely reflecting interpretative differences. Both coders found Coordinated Joint attention most common, especially during the Speech Audiometry phase, and Object attention peaking in the Warble Tone phase. Results underline the need for clear coding definitions and training. Despite some variation between coders, children’s showed active participation and shared focus. Findings support phase-based session to track attention shifts in HoH children.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master's Thesis / Essay) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Araiza Illan, G.A. |
| Degree programme: | Biomedical Engineering |
| Thesis type: | Master's Thesis / Essay |
| Language: | English |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Jul 2025 08:01 |
| Last Modified: | 14 Jul 2025 08:01 |
| URI: | https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/36098 |
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