scholarly journals Infants Learn to Follow Gaze in Stages: Evidence Confirming a Robotic Prediction

Open Mind ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Priya Silverstein ◽  
Jinzhi Feng ◽  
Gert Westermann ◽  
Eugenio Parise ◽  
Katherine E. Twomey
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Horizontal Plane ◽  
Vertical Plane ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Gaze Following ◽  
Structured Learning ◽  
Social Reinforcement ◽  
The Core ◽  
Communicative Intention ◽  
Great Debate

Abstract Gaze following is an early-emerging skill in infancy argued to be fundamental to joint attention and later language development. However, how gaze following emerges is a topic of great debate. Representational theories assume that in order to follow adults’ gaze, infants must have a rich sensitivity to adults’ communicative intention from birth. In contrast, learning-based theories hold that infants may learn to gaze follow based on low-level social reinforcement, without the need to understand others’ mental states. Nagai et al. (2006) successfully taught a robot to gaze follow through social reinforcement and found that the robot learned in stages: first in the horizontal plane, and later in the vertical plane—a prediction that does not follow from representational theories. In the current study, we tested this prediction in an eye-tracking paradigm. Six-month-olds did not follow gaze in either the horizontal or vertical plane, whereas 12-month-olds and 18-month-olds only followed gaze in the horizontal plane. These results confirm the core prediction of the robot model, suggesting that children may also learn to gaze follow through social reinforcement coupled with a structured learning environment.

scholarly journals New evidence for learning-based accounts of gaze following: Testing a robotic prediction

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priya Silverstein ◽  
Gert Westermann ◽  
Eugenio Parise ◽  
Katherine Elizabeth Twomey
Keyword(s):  
Vertical Plane ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Gaze Following ◽  
Social Reinforcement ◽  
Shared Attention ◽  
Developmental Theories ◽  
Great Debate ◽  
Science Framework ◽  
Advanced Robotics ◽  
New Evidence

Gaze following is an early-emerging skill in infancy argued to be fundamental to joint attention and later language. However, how gaze following emerges has been a topic of great debate. The most widely-accepted developmental theories suggest that infants are able to gaze follow only by understanding shared attention. Another group of theories suggests that infants may learn to follow gaze based on low-level social reinforcement. Nagai et al. [Advanced Robotics, 20, 10 (2006)] successfully taught a robot to gaze follow purely through social reinforcement, and found that the robot learned to follow gaze in the horizontal plane before it learned to follow gaze in the vertical plane. In the current study, we tested whether 12-month-old infants were also better at gaze following in the horizontal than the vertical plane. This prediction does not follow from the predominant developmental theories, which have no reason to assume differences between infants’ ability to follow gaze in the two planes. We found that infants had higher accuracy when following gaze in the horizontal than the vertical plane (p = .01). These results confirm a core prediction of the robot model, suggesting that children may also learn to gaze follow through reinforcement learning. This study was pre-registered, and all data, code, and materials are openly available on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/fqp8z/).

Predictions of Actions and Their Justifications in False-Belief Tasks: The Role of Executive Function

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Putko ◽  
Agata Złotogórska
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Mental States ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Current Location ◽  
False Belief Tasks ◽  
Development Of Language

Abstract The main objective of this study was to examine whether children’s ability to justify their action predictions in terms of mental states is related, in a similar way as the ability to predict actions, to such aspects of executive function (EF) as executive control and working memory. An additional objective was to check whether the frequency of different types of justifications made by children in false-belief tasks is associated with aforementioned aspects of EF, as well as language. The study included 59 children aged 3-4 years. The ability to predict actions and to justify these predictions was measured with false-belief tasks. Luria’s hand-game was used to assess executive control, and the Counting and Labelling dual-task was used to assess working memory capacity. Language development was controlled using an embedded syntax test. It was found that executive control was a significant predictor of the children’s ability to justify their action predictions in terms of mental states, even when age and language were taken into account. Results also indicated a relationship between the type of justification in the false-belief task and language development. With the development of language children gradually cease to justify their action predictions in terms of current location, and they tend to construct irrelevant justifications before they begin to refer to beliefs. Data suggest that executive control, in contrast to language, is a factor which affects the development of the children’s ability to justify their action predictions only in its later phase, during a shift from irrelevant to correct justifications.

scholarly journals Dielectric anisotropy as indicator of crystal orientation fabric in Dome Fuji ice core: method and initial results

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Tomotaka Saruya ◽  
Shuji Fujita ◽  
Ryo Inoue
Keyword(s):  
Crystal Orientation ◽  
Horizontal Plane ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Vertical Plane ◽  
Vertical Direction ◽  
Core Sample ◽  
Dielectric Anisotropy ◽  
Principal Axes ◽  
Polycrystalline Ice ◽  
Initial Results

Abstract Polycrystalline ice is known to exhibit macroscopic anisotropy in relative permittivity (ɛ) depending on the crystal orientation fabric (COF). Using a new system designed to measure the tensorial components of ɛ, we investigated the dielectric anisotropy (Δɛ) of a deep ice core sample obtained from Dome Fuji, East Antarctica. This technique permits the continuous nondestructive assessment of the COF in thick ice sections. Measurements of vertical prism sections along the core showed that the Δɛ values in the vertical direction increased with increasing depth, supporting previous findings of c-axis clustering around the vertical direction. Analyses of horizontal disk sections demonstrated that the magnitude of Δɛ in the horizontal plane was 10–15% of that in the vertical plane. In addition, the directions of the principal axes of tensorial ɛ in the horizontal plane corresponded to the long or short axis of the elliptically elongated single-pole maximum COF. The data confirmed that Δɛ in the vertical and horizontal planes adequately indicated the preferred orientations of the c-axes, and that Δɛ can be considered to represent a direct substitute for the normalized COF eigenvalues. This new method could be extremely useful as a means of investigating continuous and depth-dependent variations in COF.

scholarly journals From Gaze Perception to Social Cognition: The Shared-Attention System

2021 ◽  
pp. 174569162095377
Author(s):  
Lisa J. Stephenson ◽  
S. Gareth Edwards ◽  
Andrew P. Bayliss
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Evaluation Agency ◽  
Gaze Following ◽  
Gaze Perception ◽  
Shared Attention ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Attention System ◽  
Sas Model

When two people look at the same object in the environment and are aware of each other’s attentional state, they find themselves in a shared-attention episode. This can occur through intentional or incidental signaling and, in either case, causes an exchange of information between the two parties about the environment and each other’s mental states. In this article, we give an overview of what is known about the building blocks of shared attention (gaze perception and joint attention) and focus on bringing to bear new findings on the initiation of shared attention that complement knowledge about gaze following and incorporate new insights from research into the sense of agency. We also present a neurocognitive model, incorporating first-, second-, and third-order social cognitive processes (the shared-attention system, or SAS), building on previous models and approaches. The SAS model aims to encompass perceptual, cognitive, and affective processes that contribute to and follow on from the establishment of shared attention. These processes include fundamental components of social cognition such as reward, affective evaluation, agency, empathy, and theory of mind.

scholarly journals A New Method for the Calculation of Energy and Power Requirements of Bucket Wheel Excavators

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-20
Author(s):  
József András ◽  
József Kovács ◽  
Endre András ◽  
Ildikó Kertész ◽  
Ovidiu Bogdan Tomus
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Numerical Method ◽  
Horizontal Plane ◽  
Vertical Plane ◽  
New Method ◽  
Energy Requirements ◽  
Belt Conveyor ◽  
Analytical Formulas ◽  
Power And Energy ◽  
Continuous Working

Abstract The bucket wheel excavator (BWE) is a continuous working rock harvesting device which removes the rock by means of buckets armoured with teeth, mounted on the wheel and which transfers rock on a main hauling system (generally a belt conveyor). The wheel rotates in a vertical plane and swings in the horizontal plane and raised / descended in the vertical plane by a boom. In this paper we propose a graphical-numerical method in order to calculate the power and energy requirements of the main harvesting structure (the bucket wheel) of the BWE. This approach - based on virtual models of the main working units of bucket wheel excavators and their working processes - is more convenient than those based on analytical formulas and simplification hypotheses, and leads to improved operation, reduced energy consumption, increased productivity and optimal use of available actuating power.

Cognitive Pragmatics

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno G. Bara
Keyword(s):  
Figurative Language ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Unique Characteristic ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Mental Processes ◽  
Communicative Intention

Cognitive pragmatics focuses on the mental states and, to some extent, the mental correlates of the participants of a conversation. The analysis of the mental processes of human communication is based on three fundamental concepts: cooperation, sharedness, and communicative intention. All of the three were originally proposed by Grice in 1975, though each has since been refined by other scholars. The cooperative nature of communication is justified by the evolutionary perspective through which the cooperative reasoning underlying a conversation is explained. Sharedness accounts for the possibility of comprehending non-standard communication such as deceit, irony, and figurative language. Finally, communicative intention presents the unique characteristic of recursion, which is, according to most scientists, a specific trademark of humans among all living beings.

scholarly journals Mental states modulate gaze following, but not automatically

Cognition ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 180 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustav Kuhn ◽  
Ieva Vacaityte ◽  
Antonia D.C. D'Souza ◽  
Abbie C. Millett ◽  
Geoff G. Cole
Keyword(s):  
Mental States ◽  
Gaze Following

Many-legged maneuverability: dynamics of turning in hexapods

1999 ◽  
Vol 202 (12) ◽  
pp. 1603-1623 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.L. Jindrich ◽  
R.J. Full
Keyword(s):  
Horizontal Plane ◽  
Center Of Mass ◽  
Vertical Plane ◽  
Force Production ◽  
The Body ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Blaberus Discoidalis ◽  
Body Design ◽  
Reaction Forces ◽  
Straight Ahead

Remarkable similarities in the vertical plane of forward motion exist among diverse legged runners. The effect of differences in posture may be reflected instead in maneuverability occurring in the horizontal plane. The maneuver we selected was turning during rapid running by the cockroach Blaberus discoidalis, a sprawled-postured arthropod. Executing a turn successfully involves at least two requirements. The animal's mean heading (the direction of the mean velocity vector of the center of mass) must be deflected, and the animal's body must rotate to keep the body axis aligned with the heading. We used two-dimensional kinematics to estimate net forces and rotational torques, and a photoelastic technique to estimate single-leg ground-reaction forces during turning. Stride frequencies and duty factors did not differ among legs during turning. The inside legs ended their steps closer to the body than during straight-ahead running, suggesting that they contributed to turning the body. However, the inside legs did not contribute forces or torques to turning the body, but actively pushed against the turn. Legs farther from the center of rotation on the outside of the turn contributed the majority of force and torque impulse which caused the body to turn. The dynamics of turning could not be predicted from kinematic measurements alone. To interpret the single-leg forces observed during turning, we have developed a general model that relates leg force production and leg position to turning performance. The model predicts that all legs could turn the body. Front legs can contribute most effectively to turning by producing forces nearly perpendicular to the heading, whereas middle and hind legs must produce additional force parallel to the heading. The force production necessary to turn required only minor alterations in the force hexapods generate during dynamically stable, straight-ahead locomotion. A consideration of maneuverability in the horizontal plane revealed that a sprawled-postured, hexapodal body design may provide exceptional performance with simplified control.

Latencies of Tee Eye and Herd to Targets in the Vertical and Horizontal Planes

1988 ◽  
Vol 32 (19) ◽  
pp. 1424-1428
Author(s):  
William P. Janson ◽  
Gloria L. Calhoun
Keyword(s):  
Head Movement ◽  
Horizontal Plane ◽  
Vertical Plane ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Tracking Task ◽  
Manual Tracking ◽  
Verbal Command ◽  
Latency Data ◽  
Oculomotor Responses ◽  
Small Sample Sizes

Past studies involving oculomotor responses have typically been limited to refixations along the horizontal plane, small sample sizes, and little data pertaining to head movement. The study reported herein addresses these data voids by collecting both eye and head latency data for refixations in the horizontal and vertical planes. The subjects' task was to perform a central manual tracking task while periodically responding to a verbal command to classify a target on one of four peripheral monitors. Two targets were displayed along the horizontal plane and two along the vertical plane. Results from 620 trials indicated similar trends for the eye and head latency across all four monitor locations, suggesting no significant differences in eye or head latency as a function of target plane.

Developmental Pragmatics

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Rosenthal Rollins
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Young Child ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Shared Intentionality ◽  
Communicative Intention ◽  
The Social ◽  
Early Interaction

This chapter traces the development of communicative intention, conversation, and narrative in early interaction from infancy to early childhood. True communicative intention commences once the infant acquires the social cognitive ability to share attention and intention with another. The developing child’s pragmatic understanding is reflective of his/her underlying motivations for cooperation and shared intentionality. As children begin to understand others’ mental states, they can take others’ perspectives and understand what knowledge is shared and with whom, moving from joint perceptual focus to more decontextualized communicative intentions. With adult assistance, the young child is able to engage in increasingly more sophisticated conversational exchanges and co-constructed narratives which influence the child’s autonomous capabilities.

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