Learning autonomy in two or three steps:linking open-ended development, authority, and agency to motivation

In this paper we connect open-ended development, authority, agency, and motivation through (1) an analysis of the demands of existing in a complex world and (2) environmental appraisal in terms of affordance content and the complexity to select appropriate behavior. We do this by identifying a coherent core from a wide range of contributing fields. Open-ended development is a structured three-step process in which the agent first learns to master the body and then aims to make the mind into a reliable tool. Preconditioned on success in step two, step three aims to effectively co-create an optimal living environment. We argue that these steps correspond to right-left-right hemispheric dominance, where the left hemisphere specializes in control and the right hemisphere in exploration. Control (e.g., problem solving) requires a closed and stable world that must be maintained by external authorities or, in step three, by the right hemisphere acting as internal authority. The three-step progression therefore corresponds to increasing autonomy and agency. Depending on how we appraise the environment, we formulate four qualitatively different motivational states: submission, control, exploration, and consolidation. Each of these four motivational states has associated reward signals of which the last three—successful control, discovery of novelty, and establishing new relations—form an open-ended development loop that, the more it is executed, helps the agent to become progressively more agentic and more able to co-create a pleasant-to-live-in world. We conclude that for autonomy to arise, the agent must exist in a (broad) transition region between order and disorder in which both danger and opportunity (and with that open-ended development and motivation) are defined. We conclude that a research agenda for artificial cognitive system research should include open-ended development through intrinsic motivations and ascribing more prominence to right hemispheric strengths

Exploring parental behavior and child interactive engagement : a study on children with a significant cognitive and motor developmental delay

Background and aims: Parenting factors are one of the most striking gaps in the current scientific literature on the development of young children with significant cognitive and motor disabilities. We aim to explore the characteristics of, and the association between, parental behavior and children's interactive engagement within this target group. Methods and procedures: Twenty-five parent-child dyads (with children aged 6-59 months) were video-taped during a 15-min unstructured play situation. Parents were also asked to complete the Parental Behavior Scale for toddlers. The video-taped observations were scored using the Child and Maternal Behavior Rating Scales. Outcomes and results: Low levels of parental discipline and child initiation were found. Parental responsivity was positively related to child attention and initiation. Conclusions and implications: Compared to children with no or other levels of disabilities, this target group exhibits large differences in frequency levels and, to a lesser extent, the concrete operationalization of parenting domains Further, this study confirms the importance of sensitive responsivity as the primary variable in parenting research

A valuable burden? The impact of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities on family life

Background: This study analysed parents' positive and negative appraisals of the impact of raising children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) on family life. Method: Mothers (n = 52) and fathers (n = 27) of 56 children with PIMD completed a questionnaire focused on their positive and negative appraisals of the impact of childhood disability on family life. Scale means (ranging from 10 to 40) were calculated, as was the relationship between the two subscales. Results: Mothers and fathers indicated that their children affect family life both positively (M = 31.4 and 32.8, respectively) and negatively (M = 31.3 and 28.5, respectively). Only fathers showed a positive significant relationship between the positive and negative subscales. Conclusions: Parents' positive and negative appraisals co-occur. Although parents positively appraise the impact on family life, their substantial negative appraisals demand tailored support for families raising children with PIMD with a strong focus on practical support

The role of volunteers in the social integration of people with intellectual disabilities

Direct support workers play an important role in the social integration process of people with intellectual disabilities. However, time restrictions and client-worker ratios may make improvements to even physical integration difficult, and in some cases almost impossible. This research, conducted in the Netherlands, investigated the role of volunteers in enhancing the physical integration of people with intellectual disabilities, as the first step towards social integration. Study 1 involved an exploratory inventory of volunteer tasks in a large disability service organisation; in Study 2, support workers completed a questionnaire in which they rated the tasks suitable for volunteers to undertake. Most volunteers performed activities that enabled people with intellectual disabilities to be physically integrated in the community. The most frequent of these was "assisting with group activities." Most support workers believed that supporting community-based activities was not a suitable task for volunteers. Although volunteers already play a role in the social integration of people with intellectual disabilities, support workers did not acknowledge or were unaware of this role and the associated current and future possibilities for supporting people with intellectual disabilities