For many children, the transition from learning to read to reading to learn is a crucial and sometimes nerve-wracking milestone. Reading aloud in class is intended to foster fluency and confidence, but for many students, it may spark anxiety that can hinder literacy development well into adulthood. In response to this challenge, PhD student Lauren Wright led a team of researchers—including collaborators from the University of Chicago, University of Illinois Chicago, and University of Wisconsin–Madison—through an innovative study to explore how technology might assist children in learning contexts where anxiety can be a barrier. This work emerged from Assistant Professor Sarah Sebo 's Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Lab at the University of Chicago, where researchers are investigating how technology can augment the important work teachers are doing in the classroom by providing one-on-one individualized educational assistance.
The study points to an unexpected potential ally for anxious readers: robotic reading companions.
"Other researchers have made an interesting observation about how children engage with robot tutors: children seem to feel more comfortable making mistakes in front of a robot than a human adult," said Sebo. "Our team wanted to study whether children really do experience less anxiety with a robot than with a person. We did, in fact, find strong evidence that children experience less anxiety with a robot when reading aloud, highlighting that children may be able to learn with robots in a unique and potentially beneficial way – free of anxiety. Rather than being worried about making a mistake in front of a person, children could focus more of their mental resources on learning the subject material in front of them."
Reading Aloud, Without Judgment
The study involved 52 children between the ages of 8 and 11. Each child read stories aloud in three different settings: alone, to a human adult, and to a robot called Misty. As children read, researchers monitored three classic indicators of anxiety: vocal jitter, heart rate variability, and facial temperature.
The results were striking. When reading to Misty the robot, children showed fewer physiological signs of anxiety; their voices were steadier and their heart rates less rigid when compared to reading in front of an adult. One child observed, "The robot was less stressful...the robot is easier because you feel less judged because robots don't have feelings." Another said, "Even when I made a mistake I knew it couldn't be mad at me."
"Often when we want to know how someone felt while doing a task, we just ask them in a survey," explained Wright. "However, if you ask a 10 year old 'were you nervous?' they're most likely to say no, either because they don't want to admit it or because they're still developing the ability to identify and name their own emotions. Physiological measures give us a more unbiased understanding of a person's internal state of mind - for example, very few of us can intentionally control our own heart rates. In educational research, we can use these techniques to study not just how students learn under different conditions, but also how the act of learning makes them feel."
Comfort Is Key, But Not Universal
Most children in the study preferred reading with the robot, describing it as cute, fun, and a less stressful audience. However, not all were convinced. Some students found the robot unsettling or disliked its mechanical voice, highlighting the importance of thoughtful design if robots are to become regular fixtures in classrooms.
For those who preferred Misty, a key reason was that the robot offered support and feedback without making them feel self-conscious or judged. Many children appreciated that mistakes could be pointed out in a straightforward way by the robot, helping them focus on learning rather than worrying about what others might think. Reading with the robot allowed them to feel more comfortable and less anxious about making errors, creating a more encouraging environment for building their reading skills.
Learning Outcomes and Societal Impact
While the researchers did not observe substantial differences in reading comprehension between robot and human sessions, the robot's calming influence did not interfere with learning objectives. According to the authors, "the anxiety-mitigating effects of reading to the robot did not come at the expense of comprehension."
This study provides objective evidence supporting what many in human-robot interaction research have suspected—that robots can offer social advantages in situations that provoke anxiety. Especially with classroom anxiety affecting many aspects of learning, from speaking up to tackling new subjects, technologies like robotic companions could help teachers create environments where students feel more comfortable taking academic risks.
The potential applications go beyond education. Robots might help patients feel more at ease when discussing sensitive issues with doctors, or support beginners in activities ranging from painting to physical therapy. In any setting where vulnerability creates barriers, a robot's presence could make a noticeable difference. By working in partnership with educators, robots may become valuable allies for students in many learning scenarios, supporting not just literacy but confidence and participation across subjects.
Wright reflects on the promise of this technology.
"Ideally, the difficulty of practicing any skill should come from the challenge of the skill itself, not our fear of practicing. Robots occupy a very useful niche - just social enough to give us feedback, but not so social that we're concerned about being judged. For people who avoid learning new skills because they're nervous about how they look or sound as a beginner, robots might be one way to practice in a safe space until they gain more confidence."
