Support by Participatory Sense-Making in Robot Therapy for Children with Autism

People with Autism Spectrum Condition have issues navigating social situations. Typically, in therapy, robots teach people with ASC desirable social interaction according to traditional models which focus on the cognitive, rather than emotions or intuitions. Participatory sense- making could provide new insights in the theory of this area. To establish participatory sense- making, joint attention needs to be reached. We analyzed footage of a robot expressing emotions of therapy sessions in Serbia, during which a child with ASC has to guess the emotion. We used conversation analysis from the perspective of participatory sense-making with a focus on body language. Not speaking the language allowed us to focus on the body language without distraction. During the analysis 3 types of situations occurred: participatory sense-making, missed opportunity and non-compliance. The results showed that more elements of coordination lead to better participatory sense- making was established. We argue that a robot could provide support for a therapist when establishing participatory sense-making

Periodic fever associated with intermittent rhytmic delta activity : a syndrome of hypothalamic origin?

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How emotion communication guides reciprocity: establishing cooperation through disappointment and anger

Emotions fulfil many social functions, but data on their essential function of establishing cooperation are lacking. We investigated how communicating anger and disappointment guides reciprocal cooperative behavior. Although anger may force cooperation by announcing retaliation, we predicted that communicating disappointment was less likely to backfire. A laboratory study in which participants played against the reciprocal strategy of tit-for-tat showed that communicated disappointment established more cooperation than did anger. This effect also carried over to future cooperation decisions. Partners communicating disappointment evoked less anger, were evaluated more positively and as forgiving rather than retaliatory. Communication of disappointment thus appears conducive to establishing mutually beneficial relationships

When and how communicated guilt affects contributions in public good dilemmas

"Two laboratory studies investigated how groups may deal with the strong emotions that social dilemmas often elicit. A first study showed that a new group member evaluated guilt communicated by a fellow group member as more instrumental than neutral emotion feedback when the amount of required resources to obtain the public good (i.e., provision point) was perceived as difficult to obtain. A second study revealed that participants use communicated guilt to draw inferences about both past and future contributions from all fellow group members. Participants also contributed more themselves and adhered to equality more often when guilt versus no emotion was communicated, but only when the provision point was high. Expected contributions from fellow group members mediated this effect." [author's abstract

Landschappelijke effecten van veranderingen in de landbouw

Inkomens in de landbouw lopen duidelijk achterop in Nationale Landschappen met kernkwaliteiten die gerelateerd zijn aan behoud van karakteristieke watersystemen zoals kreekrestanten en vrij meanderende beken. Het LEI ontdekte regionale patronen in de productieomstandighede

Adviezen voor stikstofgebruiksnormen voor akker- en tuinbouwgewassen op zand- en lössgrond bij verschillende uitgangspunten

Met ingang van 1 januari 2006 bracht Nederland haar wetgeving aangaande het gebruik van meststoffen in overeenstemming met de Europese Nitraatrichtlijn. Dit gebeurde onder meer door het definiëren van zogenaamde gewasspecifieke gebruiksnormen. Dit zijn de maximale hoeveelheden (werkzame) stikstof (N) die jaarlijks gegeven mogen worden. Voor de akker# en tuinbouwgewassen op zand- en lössgrond zijn deze gebruiksnormen voor de jaren 2006 en 2007 al wel vastgesteld, maar dit dient voor de jaren 2008 en 2009 alsnog te gebeuren. In opdracht van het Ministerie van Landbouw Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit (LNV) is hiervoor in 2007 een studie uitgevoerd. Daarin is verkend op welk niveau gebruiksnormen, in afhankelijkheid van bepaalde uitgangspunten, zouden kunnen liggen. Bij teelten op zandgronden is het van belang om gebruiksnormen zo te kiezen dat de Europese doelstelling voor de nitraatconcentratie in het bovenste grondwater (11,3 mg nitraat N per liter = 50 mg nitraat per liter) in de toekomst niet overschreden wordt. Dit rapport beschrijft de resultaten van die studie