From Babies to Robots: The Contribution of Developmental Robotics to Developmental Psychology

The latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, and the parallel advances in robotics, have contributed recently to a shift in the scientific approach to modeling human intelligence. These innovations, accompanied by the new emphasis on embodied and grounded cognition in AI and psychology, have led to the establishment of the field of developmental robotics. This field features an interdisciplinary approach, built on collaboration between cognitive robotics and child psychology, to the autonomous design of behavioral and cognitive capabilities in artificial cognitive agents, such as robots, which is inspired by developmental principles and mechanisms observed in children. In this article, we illustrate the benefits of this approach by presenting a case study of a baby robot with a focus on the role of embodiment during early word learning, as well as an overview of several developmental robotics model of perceptual, social, and language development.