Krach, S., Hegel, F.,
Sagerer, G, Binkofski, F., & Kircher, T (2008)
Can machines think?
Interaction and Perspective taking with robots investigated via fMRI
PloS ONE 3, 7, e2597
A key question for robotic dialogue design is ' how to
communicate the internal system state of a robot in a way that is
understandable to the human user'
Research
question
do we attribute human like properties to machines? Even those
that look and/or behave like humans?
Specifically
Activity of right TPC and medial Pre frontal cortex is
hypothesised to linearly increase with the perceived grade of human likeness of
the interactants
Studies investigating TOM with fMRI
• usually
asked participants to take the perspective of various stimuli types, cartoon
characters, persons on a photograph, ie ps asked to explicitly evaluate TOM in a highly controlled context
• More
recently used reciprocal interactive games between human participants in order to access a more implicit perspective
Design
Highly interactive game scenario
4 opponents, ' all hypothetically differing liberally in the
perceived grade of human likeness. 'Human likeness was operationalised by
increasing the degree of anthropomorphism and embodiment'. ( Embodiment refers to the need for
physicality in attribution processes, anthropomorphism as a way of explaining
things in a way that we understand). It might be that a robot gives a greater
sense of presence especially if it engages with the shared environment. Robots
anthropomorphise more easily when they more like humans they are interacting
with
• A
computer CP no human shape, no perceivable button pressing
• A
functionally designed Lego robot FR no human shape, button pressing with
artificial hands
• An
anthropomorphic model. Human like shape, button pressing with human like hands
• Human
partner HP human shape, button pressing with human like hands
Video of the image beamed into the scanner. P was in fact always
playing with the same confederate but did not know that assumed opponent was as
per video image
Findings
' as a prerequisite to derive meaningful interpretations of the
behavioural and functional imaging data on-line response behaviour and
questionnaires indicated that all 20 participants
• believed
in the setting I.e they believed to really interact with the partners online'
• '
neither reaction times nor button passing differed significantly between
conditions'
• 'Overall,
participants played rather competitive with a ratio of around 60/40
(competitive/cooperative) decisions, irrespective of the partner being played'
• Debriefing
questionnaire
• Fun Intelligence
CP
• Competiveness
CP
• Human
likeness and sympathy rated only
for AR, FR
fMRI findings
' participants increasingly engaged cortical regions
corresponding to the classical TOM network the more respective games partners
exhibited human like features'
TPJ - each comparison
MPFC pro innately dorsal - AP & HP only
Implications and conclusions
' To summarise the present study provides first evidence that
the degree of human-likeness of a counterpart modulates its perception, influences
the communication and behaviour, biases mental state attribution, and, finally
, affects cortical activity during such interactions'
