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Transferring Adaptive Theory of Mind to Social Robots: Insights from Developmental Psychology to Robotics

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Social Robotics (ICSR 2019)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 11876))

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Abstract

Despite the recent advancement in the social robotic field, important limitations restrain its progress and delay the application of robots in everyday scenarios. In the present paper, we propose to develop computational models inspired by our knowledge of human infants’ social adaptive abilities. We believe this may provide solutions at an architectural level to overcome the limits of current systems. Specifically, we present the functional advantages that adaptive Theory of Mind (ToM) systems would support in robotics (i.e., mentalizing for belief understanding, proactivity and preparation, active perception and learning) and contextualize them in practical applications. We review current computational models mainly based on the simulation and teleological theories, and robotic implementations to identify the limitations of ToM functions in current robotic architectures and suggest a possible future developmental pathway. Finally, we propose future studies to create innovative computational models integrating the properties of the simulation and teleological approaches for an improved adaptive ToM ability in robots with the aim of enhancing human-robot interactions and permitting the application of robots in unexplored environments, such as disasters and construction sites. To achieve this goal, we suggest directing future research towards the modern cross-talk between the fields of robotics and developmental psychology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Essex, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK

    Francesca Bianco & Dimitri Ognibene

Authors
  1. Francesca Bianco
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  2. Dimitri Ognibene
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesca Bianco .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Robotics Lab, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Leganés, Madrid, Spain

    Miguel A. Salichs

  2. The National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Shuzhi Sam Ge

  3. Faculty of Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant, The Netherlands

    Emilia Ivanova Barakova

  4. Mechanical & Industrial, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

    John-John Cabibihan

  5. Department of Aerospace Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Alan R. Wagner

  6. Robotics Lab - Department of Systems Engineering and Automation, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Leganés, Madrid, Spain

    Álvaro Castro-González

  7. Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, USA

    Hongsheng He

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Bianco, F., Ognibene, D. (2019). Transferring Adaptive Theory of Mind to Social Robots: Insights from Developmental Psychology to Robotics. In: Salichs, M., et al. Social Robotics. ICSR 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11876. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35888-4_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35888-4_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-35887-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-35888-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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