The Impact of Social Robot Interaction on Engagement and Narrative Complexity in Primary School Children

Abstract Social robots are increasingly being integrated into educational settings as they can enhance engagement and learning, particularly in young learners. This study explored the impact of a social robot (NAO) during a storytelling activity with primary school children, focusing on engagement, narrative skills, and introspective language, compared to the interaction with a standard technological device such as a tablet). It was hypothesized that, in comparison to the use of a tablet, interacting with a social robot would enhance engagement, narrative complexity, and the use of psychological lexicon (Hy 1) as well as the relationship between introspective language and narrative complexity (Hy2). A within-subjects design involved 40 children (aged 7–9) completing a storytelling task in two conditions: with a social robot (NAO) and with a tablet. Engagement was assessed via psychophysiological (heart rate) and behavioural (observational scales) measures. Narrative complexity and introspective skills were assessed via linguistic analysis and psychological lexicon use. Heart rate analysis showed physiological activation during storytelling, with no differences between conditions.Behavioural engagement and narrative complexity were significantly higher in the robot condition, and some engagement indicators were positively correlated with narrative complexity. Moderation analysis showed that the relationship between psychological lexicon use and narrative complexity holds only in the social robot condition. Findings suggest that providing children with a social robot coach during a storytelling task may enhance behavioural engage- ment and support narrative complexity development, indicating potential for cognitive-linguistic skill enhancement in educational contexts.