Parenting Journal · Volume 1 · Issue 2 · Licensed source edition
Socially-Assistive Robots Using Empathy to Reduce Pain and Distress during Peripheral IV Placement in Children
Originally published 2020-04-09 · Pain Research & Management
Wiley · DOI 10.1155/2020/7935215 ↗
AI / system type
Scripted socially assistive MAKI/IVEY robot; condition-dependent responses, not LLM
Child-facing evidenceExamines children or child-focused systems. Transfer to everyday family life must be assessed separately.
The AI connection
Scripted socially assistive MAKI/IVEY robot; condition-dependent responses, not LLM. Separates simulated empathic behavior from distraction during an upsetting procedure.
Why this reading matters
Directly contrasts empathic presentation with distraction, useful for evaluating claims of compassionate AI.
Editorial reading guide · Kindness
Can caring robot responses make a painful procedure easier for a child?
Separates simulated empathic behavior from distraction during an upsetting procedure.
Study context
31 children before sedated MRI
Age / stage: Children undergoing IV placement; mean age 9.6 years
Read with three questions
- How did empathy differ from the distraction condition?
- Were perceived helpfulness and pain/fear outcomes the same measure?
- What can a 31-child pilot establish?
Keep the limits in view
Small acute-care pilot with limited power. A child rating a robot as empathic is not evidence that it feels empathy or that benefits transfer home.
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Original authorship, publication date, journal and DOI are preserved. This issue’s TRICK placement and reading questions are editorial additions, not claims made by the original authors.
Margaret J Trost; Grace Chrysilla; Jeffrey I Gold; Maja Matarić (2020). Socially-Assistive Robots Using Empathy to Reduce Pain and Distress during Peripheral IV Placement in Children Pain Research & Management. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/7935215
Permissions checked against the saved article notice; repository publication notices screened 2026-11-04. This is not a new peer-review decision. The source authors and publishers are not represented as endorsing this issue.