AI-Driven Social–Emotional Learning: Enhancing Perspective-Taking Skills Through Scenario-Based Chatbot Dialogues in Early Childhood

AI-Driven Social–Emotional Learning: Enhancing Perspective-Taking Skills Through Scenario-Based Chatbot Dialogues in Early Childhood | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article AI-Driven Social–Emotional Learning: Enhancing Perspective-Taking Skills Through Scenario-Based Chatbot Dialogues in Early Childhood Burcu ÖZDEMİR BECEREN, Seda SARITAŞ, Ceren BAYDEMİR This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8991408/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 6 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Perspective-taking, a core component of early social-cognitive development, enables children to understand and coordinate their own viewpoints with the thoughts and emotions of others. As digital technologies increasingly shape early learning environments, interest has grown in their potential to support social–emotional learning (SEL). This study examined whether structured, scenario-based artificial intelligence (AI)–mediated chatbot dialogues were associated with changes in preschool children’s cognitive and emotional perspective-taking. An embedded mixed-methods design integrated a single-group pretest–posttest quantitative model with qualitative process analysis. Fifteen five-year-old children in Türkiye participated in twelve classroom-embedded chatbot sessions over six weeks. Sessions incorporated narrative prompts, emotion inference tasks, role-based reasoning, and guided prosocial problem-solving. Cognitive and emotional perspective-taking were assessed using the Early Childhood Cognitive Perspective-Taking Test (EBAT) and the Early Childhood Emotional Perspective-Taking Test (EDAT). Within-sample analyses indicated significant pre–post increases in both cognitive and emotional perspective-taking, with substantial standardized mean changes. Posttest emotional scores showed some clustering near the upper scale limit, suggesting reduced variability at follow-up. Qualitative findings highlighted children’s meaning-making and anthropomorphic interpretations of the chatbot, the mediating role of adult scaffolding, emotionally engaged narrative participation, and interactional constraints related to technological limitations. Findings provide preliminary evidence that structured, adult-supported AI-mediated dialogue may offer a context for rehearsing perspective-taking in early childhood. Results should be interpreted cautiously given the single-group design and modest sample size. Biological sciences/Neuroscience Biological sciences/Psychology Social science/Psychology Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Dataset.xlsx S1ScenarioScripts.docx S2FacilitatorFlowcharts.docx S3FidelityChecklist.docx TIDieRAuthortool.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 09 May, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 31 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 24 Mar, 2026 Editor invited by journal 24 Mar, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 22 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 22 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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