Toward ethical cognitive architectures for the development of artificial moral agents

New technologies based on artificial agents promise to change the next generation of autonomous systems and therefore our interaction with them. Systems based on artificial agents such as self-driving cars and social robots are examples of this technology that is seeking to improve the quality of people’s life. Cognitive architectures aim to create some of the most challenging artificial agents commonly known as bio-inspired cognitive agents. This type of artificial agent seeks to embody human-like intelligence in order to operate and solve problems in the real world as humans do. Moreover, some cognitive architectures such as Soar, LIDA, ACT-R, and iCub try to be fundamental architectures for the Artificial General Intelligence model of human cognition. Therefore, researchers in the machine ethics field face ethical questions related to what mechanisms an artificial agent must have for making moral decisions in order to ensure that their actions are always ethically right. This paper aims to identify some challenges that researchers need to solve in order to create ethical cognitive architectures. These cognitive architectures are characterized by the capacity to endow artificial agents with appropriate mechanisms to exhibit explicit ethical behavior. Additionally, we offer some reasons to develop ethical cognitive architectures. We hope that this study can be useful to guide future research on ethical cognitive architectures.     

Resistance and outcome expectations in cognitive‐behavioural therapy for generalised anxiety disorder

Greater client resistance has been consistently found to be negatively associated with outcome in psychotherapy. However, the pathways through which resistance impacts such outcomes are underexplored. Given that client outcome expectation (OE) has been identified as an important common factor in psychotherapy, the goals of the present study were to examine: (a) the impact of resistance on subsequent client and therapist OE (COE & TOE, respectively); and (b) whether COE and/or TOE mediate the relationship between resistance and outcome. These relationships were tested among 44 clients with severe generalised anxiety disorder treated with cognitive‐behavioural therapy in the context of a randomised controlled trial (Westra, Constantino, & Antony, 2016). Resistance was measured at a mid‐treatment session, and COE and TOE were assessed at baseline and immediately after the resistance session. Treatment outcome was measured via client‐rated worry severity at post‐treatment. As predicted, higher resistance was associated with lower subsequent COE and TOE; B = ?.73, p < .001 and B = ?.46, p < .001, respectively. In turn, lower post‐resistance COE predicted higher post‐treatment worry (B = ?.5, p < .001), indicating mediation. In contrast, TOE did not mediate the relationship between resistance and outcome (B = ?.02, p = .876). These results suggest that resistance can be demoralising to both clients and therapists. However, only lower client morale may be detrimental to therapy outcome. This study contributes to understanding outcome pathways through two common therapy processes.     

How serious a fallacy is inconsistency?

Consistency is often pictured as an indispensable requisite for rationality. The paper argues that this is overly rigoristic. Inconsistency can be treated as a matter of isolable singularities rather than an all-destructive disaster. The paper, supports and illustrates a perspective on which consistency can be seen as a desideratum rather than a totaly non-negotiable demand. The argumentation of the paper casts consistency in the role of a cognitive ideal rather than a sine qua non condition of rational process.     

Stability of Cognitive Bias for Threat Cues in Phobia

The present study examined whether the cognitive bias for threat is a stable phenomenon in spider phobics and not in nonphobic controls. The rationale of this study was that the use of emotional bias for individual assessment in clinical practice requires stability of this phenomenon. In order to assess the stability of the emotional bias, the spider Stroop task was administered twice to spider phobics and controls, with a time lag of 3 weeks. In two experiments, spider phobics (n_{exp. 1} = 20; n_{exp. 2} = 33) and controls (n_{exp. 1} = 24; n_{exp. 2} = 25) were selected on basis of a structured interview. In the second experiment, subjects anticipated exposure to a real-life spider. Emotional bias was inferred from color-naming latencies on spider words versus control words. In line with our prediction, the bias for threat was stable in spider phobic individuals but not in controls. This stability could not be attributed to a general cognitive characteristic because a standard Stroop task did not differentiate between the spider phobics and the controls. The results support the view that cognitive processing of threat in anxiety is stable. It is proposed to use both the emotional bias and its stability as measures of the constraints on the flexibility of the cognitive fear-network.     

The Impact of Cognitive Diversity on Crisis Negotiations

This paper reports on a series of experiments designed to assess the impact of grouping decision makers by level of cognitive complexity on the outcomes they attain in crisis negotiations. The participants—University of Maryland undergraduates who took roles in a simulated international hostage crisis—used a computer decision support system and a controlled network environment for communications. The goal of the experiments was to better understand the dynamics that lead certain types of groupings to have greater success in negotiations, and that lead certain groups of adversaries to achieve more mutually beneficial outcomes such as compromise and agreement. The findings point to a positive relationship between the level of homogeneity in cognitive complexity among decision makers and the achievement of positive outcomes in crisis negotiations.     

汉语阅读困难儿童认知特征研究

为了解汉语阅读困难者的认知特征,本研究从９６７名５年级１１－１３岁学生中抽取了１１８名被试,将他们分成困难组（包括截点组和低成就组）和对照组,并将其在词语理解等８个认知变量上进行了比较。结果表明,图形记忆与加工能力及对词语和一般信息理解能力的缺损是汉语阅读困难者主要的认知特征。研究还表明,一般信息理解能力发展水平是区分一般阅读落后和特殊阅读落后的一个指标。     

前额叶损害对个体一般智力、认知策略与自我监控能力影响的研究

本研究随机挑选了15名因外伤而造成的前额叶损害者和15名正常成人,采用韦氏成人智力量表和自编的图片分类作业,考查了他们在一般智力、认知策略与自我监控能力方面的差异,研究结果表明:(1)前额叶损害对个体的一般智力产生显著的影响,但是其智力仍然处于正常范围,可见智力的脑结构范围极为广泛,智力是一个具有多重性的系统。(2)前额叶损害者对无关刺激的抑制,对有效信息的提取与加工放大的心理活动受到极大影响,认知策略转换能力明显低于正常人,表现出了明显的认知不随意性,额叶可能更多的与个体的计划、认知策略选择、自我监控密切相关;(3)前额叶损害者对具体概念与抽象概念的自我监控能力表现出了不同的影响,对前者的损害显著大于后者,这表明个体依据具体概念进行的形象思维与凭借抽象概念进行的逻辑思维有不同的脑机制。     

基于认知理论的测验编制技术—项目生成

传统测验重视统计技术,不重视测量结构的心理学意义,使得它的功能局限于筛选,不能提供更多的信息。由于认知心理学理论、心理计量学以及计算机技术的发展,使得基于认知理论指导下的项目生成技术逐渐成熟。该文从项目生成的概念、方法,及研究的意义和难点等方面对项目生成技术作了一个简要述评,以期推进我国认知心理学与心理测量学相结合的研究工作。