for your dedication, patience and guidance. Thanks to my thesis advisory panel, Christine Harrison and Eileen Green. I would like to gratefully acknowledge all the children who spoke to me and patiently answered my questions.I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my husband, Ahmed for his love and support throughout this entire process. Thanks to Ave, for our many long discussions and for those many gruelling late nights when reading about robots superseded sleeping. Special thanks go to Nick and Nazira for proofreading and finally to Linda and Mitan for always being there.iv Declaration I confirm that this thesis is my own work. It has not been submitted for examination at any other university for any other award. Aspects of the work have been reported in:

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