The extended ramp model: A biomimetic model of behaviour arbitration for lightweight cognitive architectures

In this article, we present an idea for a more intuitive, low-cost, adjustable mechanism for behaviour control and management. One focus of current development in virtual agents, robotics and digital games is on increasingly complex and realistic systems that more accurately simulate intelligence found in nature. This development introduces a multitude of control parameters creating high computational costs. The resulting complexity limits the applicability of AI systems. One solution to this problem it to focus on smaller, more manageable, and flexible systems which can be simultaneously created, instantiated, and controlled. Here we introduce a biologically inspired systems-engineering approach for enriching behaviour arbitration with a low computational overhead. We focus on an easy way to control the maintenance, inhibition and alternation of high-level behaviours (goals) in cases where static priorities are undesirable. The models we consider here are biomimetic, based on neuro-cognitive research findings from dopaminic cells responsible for controlling goal switching and maintenance in the mammalian brain. The most promising model we find is applicable to selection problems with multiple conflicting goals. It utilizes a ramp function to control the execution and inhibition of behaviours more accurately than previous mechanisms, allowing an additional layer of control on existing behaviour prioritization systems.     

Adaptive Planning

Adaptive Planning is an approach to planning in the commonsense domain. An adaptive planner takes advantage of the habitual nature of many of the planning situations for which it plans by bosing its activities on a memory of pre-stored plans. A critical issue, and the subject of this paper, is the question of flexibility: How does an adaptive planner refit an old plan in order to meet the demands of some new planning situation? An adaptive planner refits prestored plans by constructing an interpretation of the situation in which it is engaged. Key elements in the theory of adaptive planning are its treatment of specific plans and a notion of situation matching. The theory of adaptive planning has been modeled by a computer program called PLEXUS.     

Case-Based Planning: A Framework for Planning from Experience

This article presents a view of planning as a task supported by a dynamic memory. This view attempts to ingegrate models of memory, learning, and planning into a single system that learns about planning by creating new plans and analyzing how they interact with the world. We call this view of planning case-based planning. A case-based planner makes use of its own past experience in developing new plans. It relies on its memory of observed effects, rather than a set of causal rules, to create and modify new plans. Memories of past successes are accessed and modified to create new plans. Memories of past failures are used to warn the planner of impending problems, and memories of past repairs are called upon to tell the planner how to deal with them. This view of planning from experience supports and is supported by a learning system that incorporates new experiences into the planner's episodic memory. This learning algorithm gains from the planner's failures as well as its successes. Successful plans are stored in memory, indexed by the goals they satisfy and the problems they avoid. Failures are also stored and indexed by the features in the world that predict them. By storing failures as well as successes, the planner is able to anticipate and avoid future plan failures. Case-based planning is aimed at improving planning behavior in three areas: failure avoidance, plan repair, and plan reuse. It also attempts gains over current learning systems, in that the learning is driven by the functional needs of a planner.     

Multi-template supervised descent method for face alignment

Supervised Descent Method (SDM) is a highly efficient and accurate approach for facial landmark locating and face alignment. In the training phase, it learns a sequence of descent directions to minimize the difference between the estimated shape and the ground truth in feature space. Then in the testing phase, it utilizes these descent directions to predict shape increment iteratively. However, when the facial expression or direction changes too much, the general SDM cannot obtain good performance due to the large variations between the initial shape and the target shape. In this paper, we propose a multi-template SDM (MtSDM) which can maintain high accuracy on training data and meanwhile improve the accuracy on testing data. Instead of only one model is constructed in the training phase, multiple different models are constructed by repeatedly inputting the images which have large variations on expressions or head poses. And in the testing phase, the distances between some specific landmarks are calculated to select an optimal model to update the point location. The experimental results show that our proposed method can improve the performance of traditional SDM and performs better than several existing state-of-the-art methods.     

Bio-inspired cognitive model of motor learning by imitation

Learning, and even more so by imitation, is an essential Cognitive Functions because it is carried out throughout life and allows us to adapt our behaviors from other beings through observation. In this work, we propose a model, and implementation of the cognitive function of imitation motor learning (IML), based on psychological and neuroscientific evidence. According to the evidence, learning by imitation includes imitation of action and imitation of action over an object sub-processes. The imitation of action consists of the movement of the limbs. The imitation of action over an object consists of the interaction with an object within the environment. We achieve an implementation of the proposed model for IML and endow a virtual entity with it. In order to validate the proposal, we use a case study to analyze the sub-processes performance. From results, we conclude that both imitation of action and imitation of action over an object sub-processes play an essential role in getting the agent to interact with stimuli within the environment.     

Declarative working memory: A bio-inspired cognitive architecture proposal

Memory is considered one of the most important functions since it allows us to code, store and retrieve knowledge. These qualities make it an indispensable function for a virtual creature. In general, memory can be classified based on the durability of the stored data in working memory and long-term memory. Working memory refers to the capacity to maintain temporarily a limited amount of information in mind, which can then be used to support various abilities, including learning, reasoning, planning and decision-making. Unlike short-term memory, working memory is not only a storage site, but it is also a framework of interacting processes that involve the temporary storage and manipulation of information in the service of performing complex cognitive activities. Declarative memory is a type of long-term memory related with the storage of facts and events. This research focuses on the development of a cognitive architecture for the type of working memory that maintains and manipulates declarative information. The construction of the model was grounded in theoretical evidence taken from cognitive sciences such as neuroscience and psychology, which gave us the components and their processes. The model was evaluated through a case study that covers the encoding, storing, and retrieval stages. Our hypothesis is that a virtual creature endowed with our working memory model will provide faster access to the information needed for the ongoing task. Therefore, it improves the planning and decision-making processes.     

Decision-making bioinspired model for target definition and “satisfactor” selection for physiological needs

Every person, from an early age, has to make decisions to resolve situations that arise in life. In general, different people make different decisions in the same situation, since decision-making takes into account different factors such as age, emotional state, experience, among others. We can make decisions about situations that we classify as: more important than others, routine, unexpected, or trivial. However, making the correct decision(s) in a timely manner for these situations is one of the most complex and delicate challenges that human beings face. This is due to the arduous mental process required to be carried out. Providing such behavior to a virtual entity is possible through the use of Cognitive Architectures (CAs). CAs are an approach for modeling human intelligence and behavior. This paper presents an functional bioinspired computational decision-making model to satisfy the physiological needs of hunger and thirst. Our proposal considers as black boxes other cognitive functions that are part of a general CA (named Cuäyöllötl or brain in Nahuatl). In the proposed case study, it is proved that the decision-making process plays an essential role in determining the objective and selecting the object that satisfies the established need.     

Using an integrated simulation environment for the risk based design of advanced driver assistance systems

When designing new Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), the existing guidelines like the RESPONSE 3 Code of Practice imply intense testing of the system prior series production. Within the EU-FP7-Project ISi-PADAS a new methodology of risk based design has been established which includes an integrated simulation platform. This integration enables intense testing of new prototypes in an accelerated way and therefore enhances the design process while directly combining the simulation results with a risk matrix.This paper describes the new methodology while focussing on the software framework and the procedure of risk assessment in detail. It shows the general approach as well as the appropriate steps taken for an ADAS prototype developed in the context of ISi-PADAS.     

The associations between parenting styles and proactive and reactive aggression in Hong Kong children and adolescents

Previous research suggests that reactive and proactive aggression may be differentially related to family contextual (e.g. parenting practices) factors. However, the existing research has focused largely on children and adolescents from Western countries, and no study has examined the parenting–aggression association using a parenting style measure sensitive to Asian culture. In this study parenting styles (i.e. warmth, control and guan/training) and proactive and reactive aggression were assessed in a large sample of school children in Hong Kong, China (N = 4,175, mean age = 11.75). We found that: (a) both low warmth (in boys only) and guan (i.e. high expectation and close supervision, in both boys and girls) were associated with elevated parent‐reported proactive aggression, (b) high restrictive control (i.e. dominating and rejecting) was associated with high reactive aggression (in both boys and girls) based on parent‐ or child‐report data, and with high proactive aggression (in boys only) based on parent‐report data, and (c) guan was also positively associated with parent‐reported reactive aggression. Findings provide more information about the Parenting Inventory using a large Asian sample, and extend existing research on familial correlates of different types of aggression.     

Differential performance on the go/no-go task as a function of the autogenous-reactive taxonomy of obsessions: Findings from a non-treatment seeking sample

It has been suggested that obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by impaired inhibitory control. Response inhibition is a cognitive process required for one to cancel or suppress dominant but inappropriate responses. The present study examined response inhibition among non-treatment seeking individuals diagnosed with OCD and individuals with low levels of OCD symptoms using a computerized visual go/no-go task. Specifically, we sought to examine a prediction from the autogenous-reactive subtype model of obsessions (Lee, H.-J., & Kwon, S.-M. (2003). Two different types of obsession: autogenous obsessions and reactive obsessions. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 11-29; Lee, H.-J., & Telch, M. J. (2008). Autogenous obsessions and reactive obsessions. In J. Abramowitz, S. Taylor, & D. McKay (Eds.), Obsessive-compulsive disorder: subtypes and spectrum conditions. New York: Elsevier., asserting that OCD individuals presenting with the autogenous subtype of obsessions will display greater difficulty in inhibitory control relative to individuals presenting with obsessions of the reactive subtype. Results showed that individuals with OCD of the autogenous subtype displayed more deficient inhibitory control on the visual go/no-go task as indexed by a longer response delay between the original stimuli set and the reversed stimuli set compared to individuals with OCD of the reactive subtype or individuals with low levels of OCD symptoms.     

Anger and denial as predictors of cardiovascular reactivity in women

The relationship between behavioral and physiological reactivity and cardiovascular disease has been extensively researched in men, indicating that the expression of anger may be a contributory factor in the development of coronary heart disease. Few studies, however, have focused on women. Among these, women generally have been found to be less reactive to laboratory tasks than men. In the present study, 45 women aged 19–21 years were selected to represent three groups—(1) low anger/low denial, (2) high anger/low denial, and (3) low anger/high denial—based on their scores on the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Subjects received three conditions: (1) no feedback, (2) error feedback without observer present, and (3) error feedback with observer present. As hypothesized, women who reported a high level of denial and low anger exhibited elevated stress-related reactivity. The results are suggestive of a subgroup of highly reactive women not previously identified within the literature. The hypothesis that all groups would display greater reactivity in a condition providing error feedback with observation was not supported.This study was supported by a research grant to Carol S. Emerson from the Women's Research Institute of Virginia.     

A Recursive Partitioning Method for the Prediction of Preference Rankings Based Upon Kemeny Distances

Preference rankings usually depend on the characteristics of both the individuals judging a set of objects and the objects being judged. This topic has been handled in the literature with log-linear representations of the generalized Bradley-Terry model and, recently, with distance-based tree models for rankings. A limitation of these approaches is that they only work with full rankings or with a pre-specified pattern governing the presence of ties, and/or they are based on quite strict distributional assumptions. To overcome these limitations, we propose a new prediction tree method for ranking data that is totally distribution-free. It combines Kemeny’s axiomatic approach to define a unique distance between rankings with the CART approach to find a stable prediction tree. Furthermore, our method is not limited by any particular design of the pattern of ties. The method is evaluated in an extensive full-factorial Monte Carlo study with a new simulation design.     

3D feedback and observation for motor learning: Application to the roundoff movement in gymnastics

In this paper, we assessed the efficacy of different types of visual information for improving the execution of the roundoff movement in gymnastics. Specifically, two types of 3D feedback were compared to a 3D visualization only displaying the movement of the expert (observation) as well as to a more ‘traditional’ video observation. The improvement in movement execution was measured using different methods, namely subjective evaluations performed by official judges, and more ’quantitative appraisals based on time series analyses. Video demonstration providing information about the expert and 3D feedback (i.e., using 3D representation of the movement in monoscopic vision) combining information about the movement of the expert and the movement of the learner were the two types of feedback giving rise to the best improvement of movement execution, as subjectively evaluated by judges. Much less conclusive results were obtained when assessing movement execution using quantification methods based on time series analysis. Correlation analyses showed that the subjective evaluation performed by the judges can hardly be predicted/ explained by the ‘more objective’ results of time series analyses.     

青少年反应性攻击和结果评价的ERPs研究：基于自我控制资源的视角

采用竞争反应时任务并结合ERPs技术,以39名高中生为有效被试,从自我控制资源的视角揭示青少年反应性攻击和结果评价的电生理机制。行为结果发现：高自我损耗者比低自我损耗者表现出更多攻击行为;ERPs结果发现：(1) 在攻击决策阶段,高自我损耗者前脑区域所诱发的P2波幅显著高于低自我损耗者;(2) 在结果评价阶段,“输”反馈比“赢”反馈诱发更负的FRN成分,且仅在“输”反馈条件下,高自我损耗者比低自我损耗者所诱发的FRN更负。从一定程度上说明自我损耗是导致青少年反应性攻击行为的重要原因,高自我损耗会加剧反应性攻击行为的发生。     

The influence of natural contour and face size on the spatial frequency tuning for identifying upright and inverted faces

Psychological Research - It has previously been proposed that holistic face processing is based on low spatial frequencies (SFs) whereas featural processing relies on higher SFs, a hypothesis still...     

Experimental Power for Indirect Effects in Group-randomized Studies with Group-level Mediators

Mediation analyses have provided a critical platform to assess the validity of theories of action across a wide range of disciplines. Despite widespread interest and development in these analyses, literature guiding the design of mediation studies has been largely unavailable. Like studies focused on the detection of a total or main effect, an important design consideration is the statistical power to detect indirect effects if they exist. Understanding the sensitivity to detect indirect effects is exceptionally important because it directly influences the scale of data collection and ultimately governs the types of evidence group-randomized studies can bring to bear on theories of action. However, unlike studies concerned with the detection of total effects, literature has not established power formulas for detecting multilevel indirect effects in group-randomized designs. In this study, we develop closed-form expressions to estimate the variance of and the power to detect indirect effects in group-randomized studies with a group-level mediator using two-level linear models (i.e., 2-2-1 mediation). The results suggest that when carefully planned, group-randomized designs may frequently be well positioned to detect mediation effects with typical sample sizes. The resulting power formulas are implemented in the R package PowerUpR and the PowerUp!-Mediator software (causalevaluation.org).     

基于游戏的心理测评

基于游戏的心理测评是指通过游戏或游戏化的活动, 对一个人的能力、人格等心理特性和行为进行量化测评。早期主要用于评估教育和训练的效果, 而后发展成对心理特性的测评。基于游戏的测评作为一项新技术在测评形式、测评过程和测评结果上均具有优势。目前基于游戏的测评形成了以证据中心设计为基础的范式, 用于指导建立测评工具和开展实证研究, 并在测评个体认知能力和非认知能力方面均有实践。然而当前该技术仍处于起步阶段, 未来研究可以在任务设计、结果分析及实践应用方面进一步拓展深入。     

基于外域范例可拓推理的研究

基于范例推理(CBR)是人类常用的一种解决问题方式,也是人工智能的一种研究范式,在许多领域都得到了应用。但CBR也可能受到心理定势和负迁移的影响,对于创造性思维有一定的负面作用。研究对CBR进行了改进,提出了在外域搜索范例并作可拓变换的方法,称为基于外域范例的可拓推理,并将它运用到产品创新构思系统的设计中,为把认知心理学应用到国家经济建设中提供了新思路。     

The Behavioural Economist and the Social Planner: To Whom Should Behavioural Welfare Economics Be Addressed?

ABSTRACT

This paper compares two alternative answers to the question ‘Who is the addressee of welfare economics?’ These answers correspond with different understandings of the status of the normative conclusions of welfare economics and have different implications for how welfare economics should be adapted in the light of the findings of behavioural economics. The conventional welfarist answer is that welfare economics is addressed to a ‘social planner’, whose objective is to maximize the overall well-being of society; the planner is imagined as a benevolent despot, receptive to the economist's advice. The alternative contractarian answer is that welfare economics is addressed to individuals who are seeking mutually beneficial agreements; a contractarian recommendation has the form ‘It is in the interests of each of you separately that all of you together agree to do x’. Each of these answers should be understood as a literary convention that uses a highly simplified model of politics. I defend the contractarian approach and show that it is less supportive of ‘soft paternalism’ than is the welfarist approach.     

The Consultation-Demonstration Interview

In recent years the consultation-demonstration interview, in which a family is interviewed before a workshop, has become increasingly prevalent. While this method of presenting the therapist's style of interviewing can be an exciting and valuable learning experience, it can also lead to a sense of boredom and disappointment. In some instances, the experience can be traumatic, especially for the family and the guest therapist. Common pitfalls in the organization and planning of the interview are explored, and a number of specific recommendations are made for attempting to maximize the potential in this interview process. Written to both the planner and the leader of the workshop in family therapy, this paper is based on the author's personal experience.