Investigations on empathy towards humans and robots using fMRI

Pütten, Astrid M. Rosenthal‐von der; Schulte, Frank; Eimler, Sabrina C.; Sobieraj, Sabrina; Hoffmann, Laura; Maderwald, Stefan; Brand, Matthias; Krämer, Nicole C.

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.01.004

Cited by 123 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…anger) facial expressions alone are better interpreted (Salvador, Silver, & Mahoor, 2015). Another study found that participants showed the same neural activation pattern in an fMRI study towards an affectionate video of a human versus a robot, while they gave a higher neural reaction for the human compared to the robot video in the abusive context (Rosenthal-von der Pütten et al, 2014). These together with our results suggest that, apart from the design issues, there is natural variation in humans' perception of the different emotions referring to robots.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Humans attribute emotions to a robot that shows simple behavioural patterns borrowed from dog behaviour

Gácsi

Kis

Faragó

et al. 2016

Computers in Human Behavior

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In social robotics it has been a crucial issue to determine the minimal set of relevant behaviour actions that humans interpret as social competencies. As a potential alternative of mimicking human abilities, it has been proposed to use a non-human animal, the dog as a natural model for developing simple, non-linguistic emotional expressions for non-humanoid social robots. In the present study human participants were presented with short video sequences in which a PeopleBot robot and a dog displayed behaviours that corresponded to five emotional states (joy, fear, anger, sadness, and neutral) in a neutral environment. The actions of the robot were developed on the basis of dog expressive behaviours that had been described in previous studies of dog-human interactions. In their answers to open-ended questions, participants spontaneously attributed emotional states to both the robot and the dog.They could also successfully match all dog videos and all robot videos with the correct emotional state. We conclude that our bottom up approach (starting from a simpler animal signalling system, rather than decomposing complex human signalling systems) can be used as a promising model for developing believable and easily recognisable emotional displays for non-humanoid social robots. Highlights:Humans spontaneously attribute emotions to an ethologically inspired robot 2 Dog emotional videos prime the attribution of emotions to robot videos Participants were able to match both dog and robot videos to the corresponding emotions Experience with dogs does not help identify dog and robot emotions

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Humans attribute emotions to a robot that shows simple behavioural patterns borrowed from dog behaviour

Gácsi

Kis

Faragó

et al. 2016

Computers in Human Behavior

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“…In addition, more empathy was elicited toward physically embodied robots than toward disembodied ones. This phenomenon, known as the media equation , shows that people mindlessly react socially to robots, computers, and virtual agents (Nass, Moon, Morkesm, Kim, & Fogg, ; see Rosenthal‐von der Pütten et al., ).…”

Section: Empathy and Modern Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some evidence of the emotional attachment to robots is provided in a study in which participants watched two types of interactions with a toy‐robot named Pleo (a friendly video and a torture video). In reaction to the torture video, the study participants showed increased physiological arousal, reported negative feelings and expressed emotional empathy for the robot (Rosenthal‐von der Pütten et al., ). However, in reaction to the friendly video, participants also reacted emotionally but no different physiological activation patterns emerged for the affectionate interaction with toy.…”

Section: Empathy and Modern Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main concerns are humanoid appearance, human‐like behavior, and participant acceptance for robots to fulfill tasks of varying complexities (from entertaining to serious exercise tasks). Until now, little research has been conducted on the reception of and response to the “personality” of the robot, robot gender, and social behaviors, such as listening, conducting conversations, and gesticulation (see Rosenthal‐von der Pütten et al., ).…”

Section: Empathy and Modern Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Empathy and Modern Technology: A Neuroergonomics Perspective

Wachowicz

Lewandowska

Popek

et al. 2015

Hum Ftrs & Erg Mfg Svc

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The primary purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of empathy in the design of advanced systems in manufacturing and service industries in order to ensure suitable working conditions for employees from the social and technological point of view. The origins and components of empathy are briefly reviewed. The neural underpinnings of three components of empathy, including cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects, are considered in the context of human–human and human–machine interactions, as well as design of working environments. Finally, the potential advantages of applying empathy‐related knowledge to the design and development of human‐centered technology are discussed.

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“…The first fMRI study, which compared brain activity triggered by action observation of robotic versus human actions, has suggested that internal simulation of actions is triggered only by biological agents (Tai, Scherfler, Brooks, Sawamoto, & Castiello, 2004). Accordingly, it has also been shown that there is less activity in areas associated with empathy and less emotional distress when people observe abusive behavior directed to a robot in comparison to a human (Rosenthal-von der P€ utten et al, 2014). However, more recent investigations have reported internal action simulation, although weaker than for human actions, for non-goal-directed robotic actions (Bisio et al, 2014;Hofree, Urgen, Winkielman, & Saygin, 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Fronto‐parietal coding of goal‐directed actions performed by artificial agents

Kupferberg

Iacoboni²,

Flanagin

et al. 2017

Human Brain Mapping

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With advances in technology, artificial agents such as humanoid robots will soon become a part of our daily lives. For safe and intuitive collaboration, it is important to understand the goals behind their motor actions. In humans, this process is mediated by changes in activity in fronto-parietal brain areas. The extent to which these areas are activated when observing artificial agents indicates the naturalness and easiness of interaction. Previous studies indicated that fronto-parietal activity does not depend on whether the agent is human or artificial. However, it is unknown whether this activity is modulated by observing grasping (self-related action) and pointing actions (other-related action) performed by an artificial agent depending on the action goal. Therefore, we designed an experiment in which subjects observed human and artificial agents perform pointing and grasping actions aimed at two different object categories suggesting different goals. We found a signal increase in the bilateral inferior parietal lobule and the premotor cortex when tool versus food items were pointed to or grasped by both agents, probably reflecting the association of hand actions with the functional use of tools. Our results show that goal attribution engages the fronto-parietal network not only for observing a human but also a robotic agent for both self-related and social actions. The debriefing after the experiment has shown that actions of human-like artificial agents can be perceived as being goal-directed. Therefore, humans will be able to interact with service robots intuitively in various domains such as education, healthcare, public service, and entertainment.

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Investigations on empathy towards humans and robots using fMRI

Cited by 123 publications

References 55 publications

Humans attribute emotions to a robot that shows simple behavioural patterns borrowed from dog behaviour

Humans attribute emotions to a robot that shows simple behavioural patterns borrowed from dog behaviour

Empathy and Modern Technology: A Neuroergonomics Perspective

Fronto‐parietal coding of goal‐directed actions performed by artificial agents

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