Revisiting the video deficit in technology saturated environments: Successful imitation from people, screens, and social robots

The video deficit is a well-documented effect whereby children learn less well about information delivered via a screen than the same information delivered in person. Research suggests that increasing social contingency may ameliorate this ‘video deficit’ (Nielsen et al., 2008). The current study instantiated social contingency to screen-based information by embodying the screen within a socially interactive robot. We failed to document any difference between 22- to 26-month-old children’s (N = 80) imitation of screen-based information embedded in a social robot and in person humans. Further, we were unable to replicate the video deficit with children imitating at similar levels regardless of the presentation medium. This failure to replicate supports the findings of a recent meta-analysis of video deficit research whereby there appears to be a steady decrease over time in the magnitude of the video deficit effect. We postulate that the video deficit may soon be a historical artifact as children begin perceiving technology as relevant and meaningful in everyday life more and more. This research finds that observational-based learning material can be successfully delivered in person, via a screen, or via a screen embedded in a social robot.