Reaching long-term goals based on local interaction between an organism and the environment: computer simulations based on adaptive behavior

An agent-based computer simulation created using the adaptive-behavior approach has shown that in some cases it is possible to reach a long-term goal (defined here as a desirable place far removed from the agent in time and in space) without necessarily having an exhaustive, predefined plan of action, but rather by using a set of rules on sensorimotor couplings that govern the organism's local interaction with its environment. We used an agent-based simulation program that emulated a two-dimensional microworld in which agents interacted with their environment and other agents through a set of sensorimotor couplings to reach a long-term goal. The main hypothesis was that the sensorimotor coupling, which consisted of following other agents, led to the emergence of collective behavior that enabled the agents to attain the long-term goal. We systematically varied the sensorimotor couplings that allowed agents to follow other agents, agents' perceptual field length, and the number of obstacles. In total, there were 160 independent simulations for each design cell. Analysis supported the hypothesis and suggested that, in addition to the process of reaching long-term goals, other cognitive processes, such as categorization, memory, and reasoning, can be reconsidered bearing in mind the emergence of behavior and an approach based on interaction between the organism and its environment.     

Reliability of 2D:4D measurements using a direct method suitable for clinical settings

The second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) indicates androgen exposure during early development. Numerous methods are used in the assessment of 2D:4D, however, some are not reliable enough and others are difficult to perform in large epidemiological studies. We assessed the reliability of 2D:4D using a direct method with a caliper, and compared it with a computer-assisted analysis on scanned images. Both methods were moderately correlated, but the scan method produced slightly lower 2D:4D. The main source of variation was differences between subjects (real variation). Reliability was higher among men and among younger participants. All reliability coefficients were higher than 0.8 when three repeated measurements were averaged. Our results suggest that reliability is influenced by participants’ characteristics. Digit ratios determined directly with calipers are reliable when repeated measurements are averaged.     

Do children realize that pretend emotions might be unreal?

This research is aimed at comparing children's understanding of the distinction between external and internal emotion in deception and pretend play situations. A total of 337 children from 4 to 12 years of age participated in the study. Previous research suggests that in deception situations this understanding is very rudimentary at the age of 4 years, whereas 6-year-olds can articulate it in words. In the present work the children were asked to make this distinction in pretend play or deception tasks. The results show that in pretend play situations children start making this distinction at the age of 6 years, and their performance is better when the simulated emotion is negative rather than positive. These findings suggest that 4-year-olds are not aware that the emotions expressed in pretend play situations might be different from internal emotions.     

Impact of interactivity on identification with characters in fiction

The effect of interactivity on identification with characters in audiovisual fiction was observed. 310 participants were asked to watch a film in one of these two conditions: 1) interactive (they selected the plot), and 2) non-interactive (they consumed the fiction in a conventional way). After watching the movie, they completed a questionnaire with the EDI scale of identification and empathy with characters, created by Igartua and Paez. The capacity to intervene in the configuration of the plot (interactivity) affected identification with characters. The results provide data about the psychology of media and interactivity in communication and allow us to understand the processes of empathy and identification with characters.     

P-SPACE: A program for simulating spatial behavior in small groups

P-SPACE is a computer program that simulates spatial behavior in a small group of individuals. The program describes how interpersonal distances change through time as a result of changes in microlevel features, such as the minimization of local dissatisfaction. Agents are located in a two-dimensional lattice and can move some discrete space units at each discrete time unit within their neighborhood. A nonsymmetrical matrix of ideal distances between agents must be specified. Agents move in order to minimize their dissatisfaction, defined as a function of the discrepancy between possible future distances and ideal distances between agents. At each iteration, agents will move to those cells in their neighborhoods for which the function is minimized. Depending on the specific values in the ideal-distance matrix, different kinds of social dynamics can be simulated.     

ACACIA: an agent-based program for simulating behavior to reach long-term goals

We present ACACIA, an agent-based program implemented in Java StarLogo 2.0 that simulates a two-dimensional microworld populated by agents, obstacles and goals. Our program simulates how agents can reach long-term goals by following sensorial-motor couplings (SMCs) that control how the agents interact with their environment and other agents through a process of local categorization. Thus, while acting in accordance with this set of SMCs, the agents reach their goals through the emergence of global behaviors. This agent-based simulation program would allow us to understand some psychological processes such as planning behavior from the point of view that the complexity of these processes is the result of agent–environment interaction.