17 research outputs found
Exploring the utility of giving robots auditory perspective-taking abilities
Presented at the 12th International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD), London, UK, June 20-23, 2006.This paper reports on work in progress to develop a computational auditory perspective taking system for a robot. Auditory perspective taking is construed as the ability to reason about inferred or posited factors that affect an addressee's perspective as a listener for the purpose of presenting auditory information in an appropriate and effective manner. High-level aspects of this aural interaction skill are discussed, and a prototype adaptive auditory display, implemented in the context of a robotic information kiosk, is described and critiqued. Additionally, a sketch of the design and goals of a user study planned for later this year is given. A demonstration of the prototype system will accompany the presentation of this research in the poster session
The sound of social cognition: Toddlersâ understanding of how sound influences others
Understanding othersâ perceptions is a fundamental aspect of social cognition. Childrenâs construal of visual perception is well investigated, but there is little work on childrenâs understanding of othersâ auditory perception. The current study assesses toddlersâ recognition that producing different sounds can affect others differentiallyâauditory perspective taking. Two- and three-year-olds were familiarized with two objects, one loud and one quiet. The adult then introduced a doll, and children were randomly assigned to one of two goals: either to wake the doll or to let her sleep. Childrenâs object choice and the sound intensity they produced significantly varied in the predicted direction as a function of the goal task. These findings reveal young childrenâs understanding of the effects of sound on other peopleâs behavior and psychological states
Javan Gibbon (Hylobates moloch) Non-Vocal Social Communication and Gesture Use With Conspecifics
I explored gestures used by captive Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch) at the Gibbon Conservation Center (Santa Clarita, CA). I hypothesized that a sender gibbonâs gesture modality would vary with the recipient gibbonâs attentional state and the sender would be equally likely to use all modalities (tactile, visual, actions, and facial expressions) when the recipient was attending (facing the sender), but would use more tactile gestures and actions when the recipient was non-attending (oriented away from the sender). I collected data from 10 individuals using all-occurrences sampling and an ethogram to score behaviors from video recordings. In 1,143 interactions, gibbons used visual gestures and facial expressions significantly more when the recipient was attending and tactile gestures significantly more when the recipient was non-attending. There was no significant difference in actions. These data show that juvenile Javan gibbons used gestures appropriate to recipientâs attentional state in three out of the four modalities
Designing Sound for Social Robots: Advancing Professional Practice through Design Principles
Sound is one of the core modalities social robots can use to communicate with the humans around them in rich, engaging, and effective ways. While a robot's auditory communication happens predominantly through speech, a growing body of work demonstrates the various ways non-verbal robot sound can affect humans, and researchers have begun to formulate design recommendations that encourage using the medium to its full potential. However, formal strategies for successful robot sound design have so far not emerged, current frameworks and principles are largely untested and no effort has been made to survey creative robot sound design practice.
In this dissertation, I combine creative practice, expert interviews, and human-robot interaction studies to advance our understanding of how designers can best ideate, create, and implement robot sound. In a first step, I map out a design space that combines established sound design frameworks with insights from interviews with robot sound design experts. I then systematically traverse this space across three robot sound design explorations, investigating (i) the effect of artificial movement sound on how robots are perceived, (ii) the benefits of applying compositional theory to robot sound design, and (iii) the role and potential of spatially distributed robot sound. Finally, I implement the designs from prior chapters into humanoid robot Diamandini, and deploy it as a case study.
Based on a synthesis of the data collection and design practice conducted across the thesis, I argue that the creation of robot sound is best guided by four design perspectives: fiction (sound as a means to convey a narrative), composition (sound as its own separate listening experience), plasticity (sound as something that can vary and adapt over time), and space (spatial distribution of sound as a separate communication channel). The conclusion of the thesis presents these four perspectives and proposes eleven design principles across them which are supported by detailed examples. This work contributes an extensive body of design principles, process models, and techniques providing researchers and designers with new tools to enrich the way robots communicate with humans
The expression of empathy in human's closest relatives, bonobos and chimpanzees: current and future directions
Empathy is a complex, multiâdimensional capacity that facilitates the sharing and understanding of others' emotions. As our closest living relatives, bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (P. troglodytes) provide an opportunity to explore the origins of hominin social cognition, including empathy. Despite certain assumptions that bonobos and chimpanzees may differ empathically, these species appear to overlap considerably in certain socioâemotional responses related to empathy. However, few studies have systematically tested for species variation in Pan empathic or socioâemotional tendencies. To address this, we synthesise the growing literature on Pan empathy to inform our understanding of the selection pressures that may underlie the evolution of hominin empathy, and its expression in our last common ancestor. As bonobos and chimpanzees show overlaps in their expression of complex socioâemotional phenomena such as empathy, we propose that group comparisons may be as or more meaningful than species comparisons when it comes to understanding the evolutionary pressures for such behaviour. Furthermore, key differences, such as how humans and Pan communicate, appear to distinguish how we experience empathy compared to our closest living relatives
Comment Ă©valuer la thĂ©orie de lâesprit? Revue systĂ©matique des outils dâĂ©valuation destinĂ©s aux enfants dâĂąge prĂ©scolaire
Essai doctoral prĂ©sentĂ© en vue de lâobtention du grade de doctorat en psychologie, option neuropsychologie clinique (D.Psy.)La ThĂ©orie de lâEsprit (TDE), soit lâhabiletĂ© Ă infĂ©rer des Ă©tats mentaux Ă soi-mĂȘme et Ă autrui, est un domaine de recherche ralliant plusieurs disciplines, incluant la psychologie sociale et dĂ©veloppementale, la neuropsychologie, les neurosciences sociales et lâorthophonie. Les habiletĂ©s de la TDE ont Ă©tĂ© maintes fois reliĂ©es Ă plusieurs marqueurs dâadaptation sociale, telles des compĂ©tences relationnelles et communicationnelles de meilleure qualitĂ©. Par ailleurs, la TDE est altĂ©rĂ©e dans le contexte de nombreuses conditions cliniques. MalgrĂ© lâĂ©norme quantitĂ© dâĂ©tudes dĂ©diĂ©es Ă la TDE, identifier des outils de mesures appropriĂ©s destinĂ©s aux enfants dâĂąge prĂ©scolaire demeure un dĂ©fi. Cet essai a pour but de faciliter lâidentification dâoutils de mesures de la TDE pour les enfants de 0-5 ans en crĂ©ant un inventaire de ceux-ci et de leurs caractĂ©ristiques. Une introduction positionne lâimportance de la TDE Ă titre dâhabiletĂ© sociocognitive, la dĂ©finit et la distingue de construits socio-cognitifs apparentĂ©s, survole sa trajectoire dĂ©veloppementale et soulĂšve les dĂ©fis reliĂ©s Ă son Ă©valuation. Une revue systĂ©matique de la littĂ©rature, sous forme dâarticle scientifique, prĂ©sente ensuite la mĂ©thodologie utilisĂ©e et lâinventaire des outils de mesures rĂ©alisĂ©, et permet de souligner la grande variĂ©tĂ© dâoutils Ă©valuant la TDE, mais Ă©galement de nombreux Ă©cueils mĂ©thodologiques et psychomĂ©triques associĂ©s Ă la crĂ©ation et au choix dâoutils appropriĂ©s, incluant le nombre limitĂ© de sous-habiletĂ©s visĂ©es, le manque de standardisation et la pauvretĂ© des informations psychomĂ©triques disponibles. Une discussion gĂ©nĂ©rale est ensuite fournie et relĂšve les apports thĂ©oriques, mĂ©thodologiques et cliniques de cette recherche pour le domaine de la TDE.Theory of mind (TOM), the ability to infer mental states to self and others, has been a pervasive research theme across many disciplines including developmental, neuro-, and social psychology, social neuroscience and speech therapy. TOM abilities have been consistently linked to markers of social adaptation, such as better communication skills and quality social
relationships, and are affected in a broad range of clinical conditions. Despite the wealth and breadth of research dedicated to TOM, identifying appropriate assessment tools for the preschool population remains challenging. This work aims to facilitate the choice and use of adequate measures for children aged 0 to 5 years by generating a comprehensive inventory of TOM measures and listing their characteristics. The introduction highlights the importance of TOM as a social-cognitive ability, defines TOM and distinguishes it from related yet distinct sociocognitive constructs, provides information on its developmental trajectory and raises challenges associated with TOM assessment. A systematic review of the literature is then presented in the form of an article and provides details on the methods used and the inventory of TOM measures
generated. The remarkable variety of measures that have been created to assess TOM is highlighted, but also the numerous methodological and psychometric challenges associated with developing and choosing appropriate measures, including issues related to the limited range of sub-abilities targeted, lack of standardisation across studies and paucity of psychometric information provided. Finally, a general conclusion provides the opportunity to discuss the theoretical, methodological and clinical contributions of this project
Les primates non humains ont-ils une thĂ©orie de lâesprit ? =
Lâexpression «âthĂ©orie de lâespritâ» rĂ©fĂšre Ă la capacitĂ© dâattribuer des Ă©tats mentaux Ă soi-mĂȘme et aux autres. Les Ă©tats mentaux Ă©tant de diffĂ©rents types (intentions, connaissances, etc.), la thĂ©orie de lâesprit englobe plusieurs aptitudes. Celles-ci se retrouvent-elles chez dâautres animaux, notamment chez les primates non humains, ou sont-elles propres Ă notre espĂšceâ? Cette question a fait lâobjet de prĂšs de 40 ans de recherche et, en dĂ©pit de difficultĂ©s mĂ©thodologiques et de controverses persistantes, des avancĂ©es importantes ont Ă©tĂ© rĂ©alisĂ©es, en particulier depuis le dĂ©but des annĂ©es 2000. De sorte que lâon sait aujourdâhui que les grands singes adaptent leurs comportements aux buts, aux intentions, aux connaissances des autres, ainsi quâĂ leur perspective visuelle et, avec apparemment plus de difficultĂ©, leur perspective auditive. Des Ă©tudes rĂ©centes suggĂšrent que ces hominidĂ©s ont Ă©galement une comprĂ©hension, certes implicite, des fausses croyances, une aptitude qui semblait jusquâici spĂ©cifique Ă lâhumain. Or lâattribution de fausses croyances est lâĂ©lĂ©ment fondamental de la thĂ©orie de lâesprit, car elle nĂ©cessite de concevoir que lâĂ©tat mental dâun individu peut ne pas correspondre Ă la rĂ©alitĂ©, et donc que les Ă©tats mentaux sont des reprĂ©sentations que lâon se fait du monde, plutĂŽt que des reflets fidĂšles de celui-ci. De futures investigations devraient permettre dâexpliquer la divergence entre les rĂ©sultats de ces Ă©tudes rĂ©centes et ceux des Ă©tudes antĂ©rieures, mais aussi de mieux comprendre la nature des difficultĂ©s rencontrĂ©es par les grands singes en ce qui a trait aux Ă©tats mentaux non congruents avec la rĂ©alitĂ©. En dĂ©pit dâefforts notables, la recherche tend encore Ă se concentrer sur ces espĂšces dâhominidĂ©s, tout particuliĂšrement sur les chimpanzĂ©s, si bien que lâon en sait encore relativement peu sur les compĂ©tences des autres primates. La comprĂ©hension des perspectives visuelle et auditive, ainsi que celle du lien entre ces modalitĂ©s sensorielles et lâacquisition dâinformations ont toutefois Ă©tĂ© mises en Ă©vidence chez des singes de lâAncien Monde, et lâattribution de buts et dâintentions sâĂ©tendrait mĂȘme Ă des espĂšces du Nouveau Monde. Ainsi, ce qui semblait ĂȘtre une diffĂ©rence de nature entre lâhumain et les autres primates serait davantage une diffĂ©rence de degrĂ©.Theory of mind, the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and to others, is a multifaceted phenomenon as there are different kinds of mental states (intention, knowledge, belief, etc.). Is theory of mind present in other animals, particularly in nonhuman primates, or is it unique to humans? This question has been investigated for almost 40 years and, despite some methodological difficulties and controversies (e.g. mindreading vs. behavior-reading), important advances have been made since the early 2000s. In fact, we now know that great apes behave according to othersâ goals, intentions, visual perspective, and knowledge, and, to a lesser extent it seems, to othersâ auditory perspective. Furthermore, recent studies suggest that these hominids also understand false beliefs, albeit implicitly, a capacity that was previously thought to be found only in humans. Understanding false-belief is central to theory of mind as it requires oneâs to realize that mental states are internal representations rather than direct reflections of reality, and can therefore be inaccurate. Future investigations should explain the discrepancies between these recent studies and previous ones which reported negative results, and should also clarify the nature of the difficulties experienced by great apes when it comes to reality-incongruent mental states. Although noteworthy efforts have been made, research is still mostly centered around great apes, especially chimpanzees, so much so that we still know very little about theory of mind abilities in other primates. Visual and auditory perspective-taking have nevertheless been reported in some Old World monkeys, as well as their understanding that knowledge is acquired through these sensory modalities. Some work has also shown ability to attribute goals and intentions to others in New World monkeys. Thus, what seemed to be a difference of kind between humans and other primates now appears to be mainly one of degree
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Blind children's understanding of vision
This thesis explores the effects of congenital blindness upon the development of understanding of vision, and draws on the theoretical frameworks of understanding of aspectuality and visual perspective-taking. Six studies investigated how blind children demonstrated their understanding of vision. Where appropriate, their performance was compared to a control group of sighted children. The views of parents and educators of congenitally blind children were sought in order to gain insight into social influences upon the development of blind childrenâs understanding of vision. Sixteen congenitally blind children aged from 3;6 to 14;8, 168 typically developing sighted children aged from 3;6 to 14;8 and 58 sighted adults took part in the studies. There were three main findings. First, the associative stage in understanding of the aspectuality of knowledge for blind children may be manifest in the relationship between touching and knowing. Second, when utilising a more naturalistic setting than has commonly been used, blind children aged between three and 11 years were able to hide successfully, raising questions about the position that Level 1 perspective-taking is not present in blind children until the age of at least six or seven years, and possibly not until ten years. Third, blind participants demonstrated an understanding of mind earlier than has been found in other studies, suggesting that the development of theory of mind in congenitally blind children may not be as delayed as was previously thought. Several educational issues were raised, including the manner in which blind children are taught about vision, and their placement in ability-groups in mainstream classrooms