Il contributo metodologico della Developmental Robotics alla psicologia. How developmental robotics can give a methodological contribute to the psychology

The latest developments in Artificial Intelligence and the parallel advances of Developmental Robotics can offer a valid methodological support to the research in psychology and to its applications. This interdisciplinary approach, built on the close collaboration of the disciplines of cognitive robotics and psychology, takes direct inspiration from the developmental principles and mechanisms observed in children, and proposes - through studies of simulation in the laboratory – new hypotheses which can be verified with real children. We will illustrate the utility of this approach by presenting a baby-robot case study of the role of the em- bodiment during early word learning, as well as an overview of several developmental robotics models of perceptual, social and language psychology. Some limitations and possible correctives of the applications of the Developmental Robotics to the psychological interventions will be underlined.