Affordances in Psychology, Neuroscience, and Robotics: A Survey

The concept of affordances appeared in psychology during the late 60s as an alternative perspective on the visual perception of the environment. It was revolutionary in the intuition that the way living beings perceive the world is deeply influenced by the actions they are able to perform. Then, across the last 40 years, it has influenced many applied fields, e.g., design, human-computer interaction, computer vision, and robotics. In this paper, we offer a multidisciplinary perspective on the notion of affordances. We first discuss the main definitions and formalizations of the affordance theory, then we report the most significant evidence in psychology and neuroscience that support it, and finally we review the most relevant applications of this concept in robotics

Object learning through active exploration

International audienceThis paper addresses the problem of active object learning by a humanoid child-like robot, using a developmental approach. We propose a cognitive architecture where the visual representation of the objects is built incrementally through active exploration. We present the design guidelines of the cognitive architecture, its main functionalities, and we outline the cognitive process of the robot by showing how it learns to recognize objects in a human-robot interaction scenario inspired by social parenting. The robot actively explores the objects through manipulation, driven by a combination of social guidance and intrinsic motivation. Besides the robotics and engineering achievements, our experiments replicate some observations about the coupling of vision and manipulation in infants, particularly how they focus on the most informative objects. We discuss the further benefits of our architecture, particularly how it can be improved and used to ground concepts

A Dynamic Neural Network Approach to Generating Robot's Novel Actions: A Simulation Experiment

In this study, we investigate how a robot can generate novel and creative actions from its own experience of learning basic actions. Inspired by a machine learning approach to computational creativity, we propose a dynamic neural network model that can learn and generate robot's actions. We conducted a set of simulation experiments with a humanoid robot. The results showed that the proposed model was able to learn the basic actions and also to generate novel actions by modulating and combining those learned actions. The analysis on the neural activities illustrated that the ability to generate creative actions emerged from the model's nonlinear memory structure self-organized during training. The results also showed that the different way of learning the basic actions induced the self-organization of the memory structure with the different characteristics, resulting in the generation of different levels of creative actions. Our approach can be utilized in human-robot interaction in which a user can interactively explore the robot's memory to control its behavior and also discover other novel actions.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, Accepted in the 15th International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots (UR2018

Symbol Emergence in Cognitive Developmental Systems: a Survey

OAPA Humans use signs, e.g., sentences in a spoken language, for communication and thought. Hence, symbol systems like language are crucial for our communication with other agents and adaptation to our real-world environment. The symbol systems we use in our human society adaptively and dynamically change over time. In the context of artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive systems, the symbol grounding problem has been regarded as one of the central problems related to symbols. However, the symbol grounding problem was originally posed to connect symbolic AI and sensorimotor information and did not consider many interdisciplinary phenomena in human communication and dynamic symbol systems in our society, which semiotics considered. In this paper, we focus on the symbol emergence problem, addressing not only cognitive dynamics but also the dynamics of symbol systems in society, rather than the symbol grounding problem. We first introduce the notion of a symbol in semiotics from the humanities, to leave the very narrow idea of symbols in symbolic AI. Furthermore, over the years, it became more and more clear that symbol emergence has to be regarded as a multifaceted problem. Therefore, secondly, we review the history of the symbol emergence problem in different fields, including both biological and artificial systems, showing their mutual relations. We summarize the discussion and provide an integrative viewpoint and comprehensive overview of symbol emergence in cognitive systems. Additionally, we describe the challenges facing the creation of cognitive systems that can be part of symbol emergence systems

A Dynamic Neural Network Approach to Generating Robot\u27s Novel Actions: A Simulation Experiment

In this study, we investigate how a robot can generate novel and creative actions from its own experience of learning basic actions. Inspired by a machine learning approach to computational creativity, we propose a dynamic neural network model that can learn and generate robot\u27s actions. We conducted a set of simulation experiments with a humanoid robot. The results showed that the proposed model was able to learn the basic actions and also to generate novel actions by modulating and combining those learned actions. The analysis on the neural activities illustrated that the ability to generate creative actions emerged from the model\u27s nonlinear memory structure self-organized during training. The results also showed that the different way of learning the basic actions induced the self-organization of the memory structure with the different characteristics, resulting in the generation of different levels of creative actions. Our approach can be utilized in human-robot interaction in which a user can interactively explore the robot\u27s memory to control its behavior and also discover other novel actions

Progress and Prospects of the Human-Robot Collaboration

International audienceRecent technological advances in hardware designof the robotic platforms enabled the implementationof various control modalities for improved interactions withhumans and unstructured environments. An important applicationarea for the integration of robots with such advancedinteraction capabilities is human-robot collaboration. Thisaspect represents high socio-economic impacts and maintainsthe sense of purpose of the involved people, as the robotsdo not completely replace the humans from the workprocess. The research community’s recent surge of interestin this area has been devoted to the implementation of variousmethodologies to achieve intuitive and seamless humanrobot-environment interactions by incorporating the collaborativepartners’ superior capabilities, e.g. human’s cognitiveand robot’s physical power generation capacity. In fact,the main purpose of this paper is to review the state-of-thearton intermediate human-robot interfaces (bi-directional),robot control modalities, system stability, benchmarking andrelevant use cases, and to extend views on the required futuredevelopments in the realm of human-robot collaboration

Tangible user interfaces and social interaction in children with autism

Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) offer the potential for new modes of social interaction for children with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC). Familiar objects that are embedded with digital technology may help children with autism understand the actions of others by providing feedback that is logical and predictable. Objects that move, playback sound or create sound – thus repeating programmed effects – offer an exciting way for children to investigate objects and their effects. This thesis presents three studies of children with autism interacting with objects augmented with digital technology. Study one looked at Topobo, a construction toy augmented with kinetic memory. Children played with Topobo in groups of three of either Typically Developing (TD) or ASC children. The children were given a construction task, and were also allowed to play with the construction sets with no task. Topobo in the task condition showed an overall significant effect for more onlooker, cooperative, parallel, and less solitary behaviour. For ASC children significantly less solitary and more parallel behaviour was recorded than other play states. In study two, an Augmented Knights Castle (AKC) playset was presented to children with ASC. The task condition was extended to allow children to configure the playset with sound. A significant effect in a small sample was found for configuration of the AKC, leading to less solitary behaviour, and more cooperative behaviour. Compared to non-digital play, the AKC showed reduction of solitary behaviour because of augmentation. Qualitative analysis showed further differences in learning phase, user content, behaviour oriented to other children, and system responsiveness. Tangible musical blocks (‘d-touch’) in study three focused on the task. TD and ASC children were presented with a guided/non-guided task in pairs, to isolate effects of augmentation. Significant effects were found for an increase in cooperative symbolic play in the guided condition, and more solitary functional play was found in the unguided condition. Qualitative analysis highlighted differences in understanding blocks and block representation, exploratory and expressive play, understanding of shared space and understanding of the system. These studies suggest that the structure of the task conducted with TUIs may be an important factor for children’s use. When the task is undefined, play tends to lose structure and the benefits of TUIs decline. Tangible technology needs to be used in an appropriately structured manner with close coupling (the distance between digital housing and digital effect), and works best when objects are presented in familiar form

The context of communication : factors affecting early language, interaction and socioemotional development

This thesis focused on two studies designed to investigate the influence of communicative context on parent-child interactions. Study 1 looked at the effects of different communication intervention systems (Baby Sign (BS), Enhanced Verbal (EV), and Enhanced Nonverbal (ENV) techniques) on language acquisition, nonverbal behaviours, and socio-emotional development. Study 2 measured the effects of chronic otitis media with effusion (OME) on interactions between parent and child. The investigative platform for both studies was to ascertain how the environment in which parent-infant interactions occur may be affected positively by the enhancement of communication and/or negatively by constitutional conditions (such as OME). Study 1 compared BS to other types of intervention. Typically-developing infants were recruited between the ages of 9-11 months and followed longitudinally for 20 months. BS was chosen due to its claims of advancement in IQ rates, symbolic development, complex language acquisition and development, as well as self-esteem (for example, www.babysigns.com). Using the MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventories (MCDIs) results showed that infants in all the intervention groups (at around 14 months of age) evidenced early language comprehension benefits (for phrases). BS also appeared to have an effect on single word comprehension. This may be a temporary advancement. No single group showed specifically enhanced benefits for language production over the others. Equally, there were no significant differences between the groups for the type of emerging lexicon. By 24 months the BS group evidenced a significant improvement in socioemotional development not evident in other groups, although the mechanism behind this was unclear. It was concluded that effects of BS on language development were restricted to early improvements in comprehension; and that these benefits may impact on subsequent socioemotional development especially around the 24 month age. This impact was not evident in the other intervention groups or in the non intervention control. This study has added to previous literature on BS by embedding the technique in context (taking into consideration the full communicative environment, verbal and nonverbal behaviours of parent and infant; and related areas of development, such as attachment and socioemotional changes). This is important as there are many pressures on parents to optimise their infant’s development and specific methods may be marketed as better than others. Findings here suggest that the quality of the interaction rather than the mode may be the key ingredient, although there are still questions regarding the effects of BS on socioemotional development. Study 2 measured the effects of chronic otitis media with effusion (OME) on interactions between parent and child and how OME impacted on the parent’s quality of life. OME is often asymptomatic; therefore parents can be unaware of the condition’s effects. Previous studies have tended to focus on the full OM spectrum and its effects on language development. Some, however, have shown that behavioural problems can result from persistent episodes of chronic OME (Maw et al., 1999) although many of these studies investigated older children, targeted attention as a behavioural measure, or included aspects such as reading ability as a behavioural outcome. This thesis explored the impact of OME on communicative style through the comparison of three groups: Group 1 - children with chronic OME; Group 2 - children with chronic throat and nose conditions; and Group 3 a non-medical control. Data for Groups 1 and 2 were collected during single appointments and involved dyads sourced from two ENT outpatient departments. Children were between the ages of 17-47 months. Results showed significant differences between the OME group and the other two for nonverbal and socioemotional behaviours. During parent-child play interactions, OME children glanced (with rapid, short glances) towards the parent more often than children in the other groups. One interpretation of this is that children with chronic OME persist in active triadic attention strategies whilst other children locate the topic of reference from the speech signal alone. Secondly, parents of children with OME raised significantly more concerns regarding their child’s socio-emotional development – especially in interacting with others - than parents in the other 2 groups. They also reported more family tension and arguments than in the non-OME ENT group. This suggests that experiencing chronic OME and its associated periods of hearing loss has either a direct or indirect detrimental impact on a child’s socioemotional wellbeing. This may relate to similar socioemotional difficulties reported in children with different types of communication problems e.g. late talkers (van Balkom et al, 2010). These concerns however were not reflected in the Parental QoL Questionnaire - used with the two medical groups. Findings imply the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Socioemotional (AQS: SE) may be a more accurate measure for assessing parental concerns regarding socioemotional behaviour. Study 2 adds to previous research into the socioemotional development of children with OME by showing that nonverbal and pragmatic skills can be altered by the condition and thereby can affect the communicative context of parent-infant interaction. More research in this area is implicated

Current Topics in Children's Learning and Cognition

Learning in Cognitive Niches / Gerhardt, Ana Flávia Lopes Magela -- Using the Dynamics of a Person-Context System to Describe Children’s Understanding of Air Pressure / Steen, Steffie Van der; Steenbeek, Henderien; Geert, Paul Van -- Preschoolers Learning Science: Myth or Reality? / Kloos, Heidi; Baker, Heather; Luken, Eleanor; Brown, Rhonda; Pfeiffer, David; Carr, Victoria -- The Emergence of Scientific Reasoning / Morris, Bradley J.; Croker, Steve; Masnick, Amy M.; Zimmerman, Corinne -- Cognition and the Child Witness : Understanding the Impact of Cognitive Development in Forensic Contexts / Segovia, Daisy A.; Crossman, Angela M. -- Beyond the Black-and-White of Autism : How Cognitive Performance Varies with Context / Amaral, Joseph L.; Collins, Susan; Bohache, Kevin T.; Kloos, Heidi -- Psychological Fitness in Young Adult Video Game Players / Pokorski, Mieczyslaw; Borecki, Lukasz; Jernajczyk, Urszula -- The Impact of Moving Away from Home on Undergraduate Metacognitive Development / Downing, KevinAs a whole, the essays in this book address theoretical and empirical issues related to children's learning and cognition. The first essay, titled Learning in Cognitive Niches, treats the process of sense making on a theoretical level, discussing the complexity of factors that give rise to children's learning. It is followed by an essay, titled Using the Dynamics of a Person-Context System to Describe Children's Understanding of Air Pressure, that applies ideas from complexity science and dynamics-systems theory to children's learning about science. The next four essays summarize and synthesize already published findings, in an effort to go beyond individual viewpoints and present a more nuanced picture of children's sense making. In particular, two of these summaries, Preschoolers Learning Science: Myth or Reality? and The Emergence of Scientific Reasoning, focus on children's ability to make sense of their physical environment. The essay Cognition and the Child Witness: Understanding the Impact of Cognitive Development in Forensic Contexts seeks to shed light on children's sense making relevant to forensic issues. And the essay Beyond the Black-and-White of Autism: How Cognitive Performance Varies with Context ventures in the area of autism, a disorder that demonstrates atypical processes of combining pieces of information. The final two essays provide original data to add to the discussion of what factors affect cognitive functioning. In particular, the essay Cognitive Fitness in Young Adult Video Game Players seeks to re-assess the often-assumed relation between video gaming and various aspects of thinking, memory, intelligence, and visual-spatial abilities. And the essay Impact of Moving Away from Home on Undergraduate Metacognitive Development explicitly connects life circumstances to the ability to monitor and control one's thinking. Together, the collection of essays are a further step towards understanding the process of sense making as children and young adults interact with their environment