The epistemic trust of 3- to 6-year-olds in digital voice assistants in various domains postprint

Abstract: A new generation of interactive models, called digital voice assistants (DVAs), can respond to young children's speech requests automatically and interact with them by voice. Research on the development of young children's epistemic trust in DVAs is scarce. Previous research has concentrated on the development and influencing factors of young children's epistemic trust in human informants or traditional electronic media (e.g., computers, webpages, internet). The semisocial nature of these devices determines the specific theoretical and practical value of investigating young children's epistemic trust in DVAs. Based on this, the purpose of the current study was to investigate the epistemic trust of young children (aged 3-6) and adults in DVAs in various domains and to confirm the significance of accuracy in their trust.The paradigm of dual-informant sources was employed in both experiments. A sample size of 88 children was required for an effect size of w = 0.30, 1 - β = 0.8, α = 0.05, according to G*Power 3.1. In Experiment 1, 30 adults and 90 children aged 4-6 were given testimony from distinct information sources (DVAs vs. humans) in either the natural or social domain to investigate the children's willingness to ask questions, explicit trust judgments, and final endorsements. Whereas the natural domain involved a task to label novel things, the social domain involved inquiry into social customs. The accuracy of the informants was manipulated in Experiment 2, which was based on Experiment 1, and 90 children aged 3-5 and 30 adults were exposed to various informants.The research participants were asked questions about their willingness to ask, explicit trust judgments, and final endorsements. The results of Experiment 1 showed that the children preferred to ask the DVAs questions about the natural domain rather than the social domain, with the DVAs being preferred overall. Moreover, the 6-year-old children preferred the DVAs as the information source more than the 4- to 5-year-old children. The adults were more likely to trust the DVAs than the young children. The results of Experiment 2 revealed that the children of all ages and adults were more likely to accept correct informant testimony in both the natural and social domains. In other words, the children were more likely to use the current accuracy of informants as a cue to assess and decide which informant to trust, and when the DVAs lost their accuracy, the children's preference disappeared along with their intellectual trust. The preference for accurate informants was more obvious in the adults and 4- to 5-year-olds than in the 3-year-olds, with the 3-year-olds being less sensitive to accuracy. Accuracy was an essential indicator of the DVAs' dependability.Our study is the first to investigate the development of epistemic trust in DVAs among children aged 3-6 in China. The results show that children can use DVAs as a source of information and knowledge. Young children become more likely to believe the testimonies of DVAs as they grow older. Children are more likely to trust DVAs in the natural domain than in the social domain. Furthermore, young children are more likely to accept the testimony of reliable informants. The results of this study may contribute to our understanding of the usability and utility of human interaction with technological systems and offer suggestions for the use of DVAs in homes and classrooms to support early learning.