Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots powered by a large language model (LLM) are entering young children's learning and play, yet little is known about how young children construe these agents or how such construals relate to engagement. We examined anthropomorphism of a social AI chatbot during collaborative storytelling and asked how children's attributions related to their behavior and prefrontal activation. Children at ages 5-6 (N = 23) completed three storytelling sessions: interacting with (1) an AI chatbot only, (2) a parent only, and (3) the AI and a parent together. After the sessions, children completed an interview assessing anthropomorphism toward both the AI chatbot and the parent. Behavioral engagement was indexed by the conversational turn count (CTC) ratio, and concurrent fNIRS measured oxygenated hemoglobin in bilateral vmPFC and dmPFC regions. Children reported higher anthropomorphism for parents than for the AI chatbot overall, although AI ratings were relatively high for perceptive abilities and epistemic states. Anthropomorphism was not associated with CTC. In the right dmPFC, higher perceptive scores were associated with greater activation during the AI-only condition and with lower activation during the AI+Parent condition. Exploratory analyses indicated that higher dmPFC activation during the AI-only condition correlated with higher end-of-session "scared" mood ratings. Findings suggest that stronger perceptive anthropomorphism can be associated with greater brain activation related to interpreting the AI's mental states, whereas parent co-presence may help some children interpret and regulate novel AI interactions. These results may have design implications for encouraging parent-AI co-use in early childhood.

翻译：基于大语言模型（LLM）的人工智能（AI）聊天机器人正逐步进入幼儿的学习与游戏场景，然而目前对幼儿如何理解这些智能体以及此类理解与参与度之间的关联知之甚少。本研究通过协作叙事任务考察了幼儿对社交型AI聊天机器人的拟人化认知，并探究了儿童的拟人化归因与其行为及前额叶皮层激活之间的关系。23名5-6岁儿童完成了三项叙事会话：（1）仅与AI聊天机器人互动；（2）仅与家长互动；（3）与AI及家长共同互动。会话结束后，通过访谈评估儿童对AI聊天机器人和家长的拟人化认知程度。行为参与度通过会话轮转计数（CTC）比率进行量化，同时采用功能性近红外光谱技术（fNIRS）测量双侧腹内侧前额叶皮层（vmPFC）和背内侧前额叶皮层（dmPFC）区域的氧合血红蛋白浓度。结果显示，儿童对家长的拟人化评分整体高于AI聊天机器人，但对AI的感知能力和认知状态评分相对较高。拟人化程度与CTC无显著关联。在右侧dmPFC区域，较高的感知能力评分与纯AI互动条件下更强的脑区激活相关，而在AI+家长共同在场条件下则与较低的激活水平相关。探索性分析表明，纯AI互动条件下较高的dmPFC激活水平与会话结束时较高的“恐惧”情绪评分存在正相关。研究提示，较强的感知性拟人化认知可能与解读AI心理状态相关的脑区激活增强有关，而家长共同在场可能有助于部分儿童理解和调节新型AI互动体验。这些发现对设计鼓励家长-AI协同参与的早期儿童教育方案具有潜在启示。