32,965 research outputs found
The social brain: allowing humans to boldly go where no other species has been
The biological basis of complex human social interaction and communication has been illuminated
through a coming together of various methods and disciplines. Among these are comparative studies
of other species, studies of disorders of social cognition and developmental psychology. The use of neuroimaging
and computational models has given weight to speculations about the evolution of social
behaviour and culture in human societies. We highlight some networks of the social brain relevant to
two-person interactions and consider the social signals between interacting partners that activate
these networks.Wemake a case for distinguishing between signals that automatically trigger interaction
and cooperation and ostensive signals that are used deliberately.We suggest that this ostensive signalling
is needed for âclosing the loopâ in two-person interactions, where the partners each know that they have
the intention to communicate. The use of deliberate social signals can serve to increase reputation and
trust and facilitates teaching. This is likely to be a critical factor in the steep cultural ascent ofmankind
Towards a general framework for an observation and knowledge based model of occupant behaviour in office buildings
This paper proposes a new general approach based on Bayesian networks to
model the human behaviour. This approach represents human behaviour
withprobabilistic cause-effect relations based not only on previous works, but
also with conditional probabilities coming either from expert knowledge or
deduced from observations. The approach has been used in the co-simulation of
building physics and human behaviour in order to assess the CO 2 concentration
in an office.Comment: IBPC 2015 Turin , Jun 2015, Turin, Italy. 201
PRESENCE: A human-inspired architecture for speech-based human-machine interaction
Recent years have seen steady improvements in the quality and performance of speech-based human-machine interaction driven by a significant convergence in the methods and techniques employed. However, the quantity of training data required to improve state-of-the-art systems seems to be growing exponentially and performance appears to be asymptotic to a level that may be inadequate for many real-world applications. This suggests that there may be a fundamental flaw in the underlying architecture of contemporary systems, as well as a failure to capitalize on the combinatorial properties of human spoken language. This paper addresses these issues and presents a novel architecture for speech-based human-machine interaction inspired by recent findings in the neurobiology of living systems. Called PRESENCE-"PREdictive SENsorimotor Control and Emulation" - this new architecture blurs the distinction between the core components of a traditional spoken language dialogue system and instead focuses on a recursive hierarchical feedback control structure. Cooperative and communicative behavior emerges as a by-product of an architecture that is founded on a model of interaction in which the system has in mind the needs and intentions of a user and a user has in mind the needs and intentions of the system
Developing the content of two behavioural interventions : using theory-based interventions to promote GP management of upper respiratory tract infection without prescribing antibiotics #1
Background: Evidence shows that antibiotics have limited effectiveness in the management of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) yet GPs continue to prescribe antibiotics. Implementation research does not currently provide a strong evidence base to guide the choice of interventions to promote the uptake of such evidence-based practice by health professionals. While systematic reviews demonstrate that interventions to change clinical practice can be effective, heterogeneity between studies hinders generalisation to routine practice. Psychological models of behaviour change that have been used successfully to predict variation in behaviour in the general population can also predict the clinical behaviour of healthcare professionals. The purpose of this study was to design two theoretically-based interventions to promote the management of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) without prescribing antibiotics. Method: Interventions were developed using a systematic, empirically informed approach in which we: selected theoretical frameworks; identified modifiable behavioural antecedents that predicted GPs intended and actual management of URTI; mapped these target antecedents on to evidence-based behaviour change techniques; and operationalised intervention components in a format suitable for delivery by postal questionnaire. Results: We identified two psychological constructs that predicted GP management of URTI: "Self-efficacy," representing belief in one's capabilities, and "Anticipated consequences," representing beliefs about the consequences of one's actions. Behavioural techniques known to be effective in changing these beliefs were used in the design of two paper-based, interactive interventions. Intervention 1 targeted self-efficacy and required GPs to consider progressively more difficult situations in a "graded task" and to develop an "action plan" of what to do when next presented with one of these situations. Intervention 2 targeted anticipated consequences and required GPs to respond to a "persuasive communication" containing a series of pictures representing the consequences of managing URTI with and without antibiotics. Conclusion: It is feasible to systematically develop theoretically-based interventions to change professional practice. Two interventions were designed that differentially target generalisable constructs predictive of GP management of URTI. Our detailed and scientific rationale for the choice and design of our interventions will provide a basis for understanding any effects identified in their evaluation. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00376142This study is funded by the European Commission Research Directorate as part of a multi-partner program: Research Based Education and Quality Improvement (ReBEQI): A Framework and tools to develop effective quality improvement programs in European healthcare. (Proposal No: QLRT-2001-00657)
Decoding social intentions in human prehensile actions: Insights from a combined kinematics-fMRI study
Consistent evidence suggests that the way we reach and grasp an object is modulated not
only by object properties (e.g., size, shape, texture, fragility and weight), but also by the
types of intention driving the action, among which the intention to interact with another agent
(i.e., social intention). Action observation studies ascribe the neural substrate of this `intentional'
component to the putative mirror neuron (pMNS) and the mentalizing (MS) systems.
How social intentions are translated into executed actions, however, has yet to be addressed.
We conducted a kinematic and a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
study considering a reach-to-grasp movement performed towards the same object positioned
at the same location but with different intentions: passing it to another person (social
condition) or putting it on a concave base (individual condition). Kinematics showed that individual
and social intentions are characterized by different profiles, with a slower movement
at the level of both the reaching (i.e., arm movement) and the grasping (i.e., hand aperture)
components. fMRI results showed that: (i) distinct voxel pattern activity for the social and the
individual condition are present within the pMNS and the MS during action execution; (ii)
decoding accuracies of regions belonging to the pMNS and the MS are correlated, suggesting
that these two systems could interact for the generation of appropriate motor commands.
Results are discussed in terms of motor simulation and inferential processes as part of a
hierarchical generative model for action intention understanding and generation of appropriate
motor commands
Closing the Feedback Loop in an Emergency Remote Learning Context
This case study outlines CCT College Dublinâs response to the emergency closure of the campus in March 2020, following the government of Irelandâs recommendations in respect of Covid-19 restrictions. CCT College Dublinâs Student Services, Centre for Teaching and Learning, Management Team and Executive Leadership Team collaborated to ensure that the dissemination of vital information from the college to students, and feedback from students to the college, were not impaired by the sudden exigencies following Covid-19 restrictions
From normal brain and behavior to schzophrenia
Air Force Office of Scientific Research (F49620-01-1-0397); Office of Naval Research (N00014-01-1-0624
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