Joint Attention, Imitation and Language Acquisition Akira Hirose lab　 Master 1 ６６４６６　Kunio Kitahara

Introduction To realize the making of versatile robots, there is a need for us to study the behavior in human interaction We focus our attention on communicative learning by introducing a case study of a research carried out by a robot in the areas of joint attention, imitation and language acquisition

Humans are influenced by the gaze direction of the eyes

automatic spatial coding of perceived gaze direction is revealed by the Simon Effect Simon effect：reaction times are usually faster when stimulus 　　and response occur at the same location than when they do not, even if the stimulus location is irrelevant to the task

It is easy to tell where a human being is looking at

Joint attention 12~18ヶ月の子供が獲得 To look where others are looking at by relying on others' gaze. This is the basis of infants’ communication ability

Acquisition of joint attention

Acquisition of joint attention The position of a gaze object is random There is correlation between the gaze objects and the eyes of a person A robot is able to have joint attention with a specific subject even if we do not tell it the correct direction of the gaze.

There are people who are not good at joint attention

Autism A neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests in delays of social interaction, language as used in social communication, or symbolic or imaginative play (according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders） 『精神障害の診断と統計の手引き』(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders )

Savant syndrome An autistic person who has striking feats of memory which often include arithmetic calculation and sometimes art or music

Savant syndrome A person who was paralyzed on the left frontal lobe by TMS temporarily can draw a picture realistically and notice the wrong characters in a sentence easily. Is autism caused by the fact that mirror neuron does not function?

Mirror neuron (Imitation neuron) Neuron which fires when an animal performs an action and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. In humans, mirror neurons are found in the inferior frontal cortex, close to Broca’s area, a language region.

Three phases of imitation Model imitation 　Exact same movement Movement imitation imitation which is matched according to one’s body shape/physique. Purpose level imitation 　　imitation that can achieve the same purpose

Example of an imitation by acquisition of joint attention Monkey who learned joint attention beforehand imitates the human’s action naturally

Is joint attention important for imitation?

Imitation that uses a gaze point

Imitation that uses a gaze point

Language Acquisition Vilayanur Ramachandran Mirror neuron is important for language acquisition

Language development study Ferdinand de Saussure 　structuralism Avram Noam Chomsky 　　　Generative grammar Tiedeman,D. Description study based on case study Anti Chomsky　 Cognitive linguistics etc.

Generative grammar Language acquisition is a transition from an initial general state to the respective correct states of different languages Universal Grammar (Initial state) belong to human beings inherently. The parameters for this grammar are changed when humans acquire a language A parse tree can be used to analyze a sentence 言語獲得は、初期状態から定常状態である個別言語への遷移である 普遍文法（初期状態）はヒトに固有で、言語獲得は、そのパラメータを変えていくことである 構文木(parse tree) によって文を解析していく

Cognitive linguistics The experiences and perceptions of human beings form the basis/essence of a language The speech is directed to the conceptual space of the brain of the listener and the meaning of the words in the speech is interpreted Language is a tool which can be used to direct the attention of a listener from a speaker 人間の感覚や経験こそが言語の本質である 言語は、聞き手の注意を新しいものへシフトさせている 受け手は、頭の中のある部分へ注意を向けることによって言葉の意味が解釈できる

Infanoid

SOINN SOINN (Self Organizing Incremental Neural Network)

Summary To realize the making of versatile robots, there is a need for us to study the behavior in human interaction We have examined a case study of a research carried out by a robot in the areas of joint attention, imitation and language acquisition 汎用性のあるロボットの研究のためには、人間の研究がヒントとなる 共同注意、共同注意を利用した模倣、共同注意と模倣を利用した言語獲得について調査し、それらのロボットにおける研究例を紹介した

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