scholarly journals Robocalypse? Yes, Please! The Role of Robot Autonomy in the Development of Ambivalent Attitudes Towards Robots

Author(s):  
Julia G. Stapels ◽  
Friederike Eyssel

AbstractAttitudes towards robots are not always unequivocally positive or negative: when attitudes encompass both strong positive and strong negative evaluations about an attitude object, people experience an unpleasant state of evaluative conflict, called ambivalence. To shed light on ambivalence towards robots, we conducted a mixed-methods experiment with N = 163 German university students that investigated the influence of robot autonomy on robot-related attitudes. With technological progress, robots become increasingly autonomous. We hypothesized that high levels of robot autonomy would increase both positive and negative robot-related evaluations, resulting in more attitudinal ambivalence. We experimentally manipulated robot autonomy through text vignettes and assessed objective ambivalence (i.e., the amount of reported conflicting thoughts and feelings) and subjective ambivalence (i.e., self-reported experienced conflict) towards the robot ‘VIVA’ using qualitative and quantitative measures. Autonomy did not impact objective ambivalence. However, subjective ambivalence was higher towards the robot high versus low in autonomy. Interestingly, this effect turned non-significant when controlling for individual differences in technology commitment. Qualitative results were categorized by two independent raters into assets (e.g., assistance, companionship) and risks (e.g., privacy/data security, social isolation). Taken together, the present research demonstrated that attitudes towards robots are indeed ambivalent and that this ambivalence might influence behavioral intentions towards robots. Moreover, the findings highlight the important role of technology commitment. Finally, qualitative results shed light on potential users’ concerns and aspirations. This way, these data provide useful insights into factors that facilitate human–robot research.

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Cacioppo ◽  
Catherine J. Norris ◽  
Jean Decety ◽  
George Monteleone ◽  
Howard Nusbaum

Prior research has shown that perceived social isolation (loneliness) motivates people to attend to and connect with others but to do so in a self-protective and paradoxically self-defeating fashion. Although recent research has shed light on the neural correlates of social perception, cooperation, empathy, rejection, and love, little is known about how individual differences in loneliness relate to neural responses to social and emotional stimuli. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we show that there are at least two neural mechanisms differentiating social perception in lonely and nonlonely young adults. For pleasant depictions, lonely individuals appear to be less rewarded by social stimuli, as evidenced by weaker activation of the ventral striatum to pictures of people than of objects, whereas nonlonely individuals showed stronger activation of the ventral striatum to pictures of people than of objects. For unpleasant depictions, lonely individuals were characterized by greater activation of the visual cortex to pictures of people than of objects, suggesting that their attention is drawn more to the distress of others, whereas nonlonely individuals showed greater activation of the right and left temporo-parietal junction to pictures of people than of objects, consistent with the notion that they are more likely to reflect spontaneously on the perspective of distressed others.


Author(s):  
Preston B. Cosgrove ◽  
Peter M. Jonas

Much like a jigsaw puzzle box top guides one in how to connect the pieces, an individual's research paradigm operates as a conscious or subconscious influence in conducting a research project. This chapter starts by making the argument for the critical role of research paradigms before moving into a thorough investigation of the paradigmatic origins of the qualitative-quantitative “debate.” While mixed-methods research is often seen as the mediator in the dispute, the authors then articulate four broad ways in which mixed methods research addresses the paradigm divide at the heart of qualitative and quantitative research. The result is paradigmatically complex, but offers researchers flexibility as they seek to address their research question.


2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 955-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald E. Goldsmith ◽  
Ronald A. Clark ◽  
Barbara Lafferty

Using animals to test cosmetic products is controversial, but little research has explored its social and psychological influences. Relationships between two personality constructs related to nonconformity (independence and anticonformity) and attitudes toward animal testing were studied using data from a survey of 418 students. The Independence Orientation and Nonconformity Orientation Scales (Ringness, 1970) were used to measure independence and anticonformity. Results showed that behavioral intentions were unrelated to age, women were more likely to get involved in antitesting behavior than were men, holding antitesting attitudes redicted intended action, and higher levels of anticonformity were associated with opposition as well, even when the effects of the other variables were held constant.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 3659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Zambon ◽  
Massimo Cecchini ◽  
Enrico Maria Mosconi ◽  
Andrea Colantoni

Innovations play a significant role in the primary sector (i.e., agriculture, fisheries and forestry), ensuring a greater performance towards bioeconomy and sustainability. Innovation is being progressively applied to examining the organization of joint technological, social, and institutional modernizations in the primary sector. Exploring the governance of actor relations, potential policies, and support structures is crucial in the phase of innovation, e.g., during research activities, often applied at the national or sectorial scale. However, when opposing normative guidelines for alternative systems of agriculture arise (e.g., the industrial agriculture paradigm), modernizations in agricultural and forestry may contribute to outlining more sustainable systems. To date, innovations in the primary sector do not seem as advanced as in other sectors, apart from industrial agriculture, which sometimes appears to be the most encouraged. The present review aims to shed light on innovations that have been identified and promoted in recent years in the primary sector, including agriculture and forestry. The need to pursue sustainable development in this sector requires the inclusion of a fourth dimension, namely energy. In fact, energy sustainability is an issue that has been much discussed in recent years. However, the need for progressive technological progress is indispensable to ensure long-lasting energy efficiency. The aim is to understand what innovations have been implemented recently, highlighting opportunities and limitations for the primary sector.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farah Otaki ◽  
Shroque Zaher ◽  
Stefan Du Plessis ◽  
Ritu Lakhtakia ◽  
Nabil M. Zary ◽  
...  

Significant concern has been raised regarding the effect of COVID-19 on medical education. The aim of this study was to shed light on the distance learning experiences of medical students and their instructors. A convergent mixed methods approach was utilized. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected using a survey. The percentage of the total average of satisfaction among stakeholders was 76.4%. The qualitative analysis revealed several themes. This study introduced the 4Ps Model of Transitioning to Distance Learning. It would be useful to leverage the lessons-learned to tailor blended medical programs, with a reasonable melange of experiences. The study also contributes to the mixed methods research through showcasing a means of adapting it to evaluate critical situations reliably and rapidly.


Author(s):  
Melanie Wachsmann ◽  
Anthony Onwuegbuzie ◽  
Susan Hoisington ◽  
Vanessa Gonzales ◽  
Rachael Wilcox ◽  
...  

Onwuegbuzie et al. (2018) documented that the degree of collaboration is higher for mixed researchers than for qualitative and quantitative researchers. The present investigation examined the (a) link between the research experience of lead authors and their propensity to collaborate (Quantitative Phase), and (b) role of research experience in collaborative mixed research studies (Qualitative Phase). Analyses of articles published in the Journal of Mixed Methods Research from 2007 (its inception) to the third issue in 2018 (time of data collection) revealed that the average research experience of lead authors decreased from 20.29 in 2007 to 14.24 in 2017 (last complete year), representing a significant reduction of 29.8%. No statistically significant relationship emerged between degree of collaboration and research experience. The qualitative phase yielded 3 themes and 9 subthemes that identified several differences and similarities between the desire for collaboration and research experience. In particular, for the least-experienced mixed methods researchers, collaboration might be associated with negative emotions (e.g., frustration, stress, anxiety) and this coupled with the lack of perceived weaknesses reported by the most-experienced sub-participants, suggest that years of experience have an impact on their affective state during the conduct of collaborative mixed methods research studies. Implications of these findings are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-167
Author(s):  
Szilvia Bátyi

The article reports the findings of a retrospective study which looked at Hungarian learners’ attitudes towards Russian people, the Russian language and teachers of Russian. Mixed-methods sequential explanatory design (Ivankova, Creswell, & Stick, 2006) was applied which combines the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data in two consecutive phases. First person accounts turned out to be a useful and relevant resource for exploring individual differences in proficiency in Russian. Differences in attitudes appear to play a role in the developmental process, but to what extent this refers to attrition or non-acquisition is unclear.


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Arceneaux

AbstractIntuitions guide decision-making, and looking to the evolutionary history of humans illuminates why some behavioral responses are more intuitive than others. Yet a place remains for cognitive processes to second-guess intuitive responses – that is, to be reflective – and individual differences abound in automatic, intuitive processing as well.


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