Imitation in Animals and Artifacts

Imitation in Animals and Artifacts
Author: Chrystopher L. Nehaniv
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 644
Release: 2002
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 9780262042031

An interdisciplinary overview of current research on imitation in animals and artifacts.

Imitation and Social Learning in Robots, Humans and Animals

Imitation and Social Learning in Robots, Humans and Animals
Author: Chrystopher L. Nehaniv
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 409
Release: 2007-03-29
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1139461958

Mechanisms of imitation and social matching play a fundamental role in development, communication, interaction, learning and culture. Their investigation in different agents (animals, humans and robots) has significantly influenced our understanding of the nature and origins of social intelligence. Whilst such issues have traditionally been studied in areas such as psychology, biology and ethnology, it has become increasingly recognised that a 'constructive approach' towards imitation and social learning via the synthesis of artificial agents can provide important insights into mechanisms and create artefacts that can be instructed and taught by imitation, demonstration, and social interaction rather than by explicit programming. This book studies increasingly sophisticated models and mechanisms of social matching behaviour and marks an important step towards the development of an interdisciplinary research field, consolidating and providing a valuable reference for the increasing number of researchers in the field of imitation and social learning in robots, humans and animals.

The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Psychology, Vol. 1

The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Psychology, Vol. 1
Author: Philip David Zelazo
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 1049
Release: 2013-03-21
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0199958459

This handbook provides a comprehensive survey of what is now known about psychological development, from birth to biological maturity, and it highlights how cultural, social, cognitive, neural, and molecular processes work together to yield human behavior and changes in human behavior.

The Meme Machine

The Meme Machine
Author: Susan Blackmore
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2000-03-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0191574619

Humans are extraordinary creatures, with the unique ability among animals to imitate and so copy from one another ideas, habits, skills, behaviours, inventions, songs, and stories. These are all memes, a term first coined by Richard Dawkins in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene. Memes, like genes, are replicators, and this enthralling book is an investigation of whether this link between genes and memes can lead to important discoveries about the nature of the inner self. Confronting the deepest questions about our inner selves, with all our emotions, memories, beliefs, and decisions, Susan Blackmore makes a compelling case for the theory that the inner self is merely an illusion created by the memes for the sake of replication.

The Question of Animal Culture

The Question of Animal Culture
Author: Kevin N. Laland
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2009-02-16
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780674031265

Fifty years ago, a troop of Japanese macaques was observed washing sandy sweet potatoes in a stream, sending ripples through the fields of ethology, comparative psychology, and cultural anthropology. The issue of animal culture has been hotly debated ever since. Now Kevin Laland and Bennett Galef have gathered key voices in the often rancorous debate to summarize the views along the continuum from “Culture? Of course!” to “Culture? Of course not!” The result is essential reading for anyone interested in the validity of animal culture, and what it might say about our own.

Trends in Intelligent Robotics

Trends in Intelligent Robotics
Author: Prahlad Vadakkepat
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 382
Release: 2010-09-01
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 3642158099

th This volume contains the papers selected for the 13 FIRA Robot World Congress, held at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Bangalore, India, September 15-17, 2010. The Federation of International Robot-soccer Association (FIRA – www.fira.net) is a non-profit organization that annually organizes robotic competitions and meetings around the globe. The robot soccer competitions started in 1996, and FIRA was est- lished on, June 5, 1997. The robot soccer competitions are aimed at promoting the spirit of science and technology to the younger generation. The congress is a forum to share ideas and future directions of technologies, and to enlarge the human networks in the robotics area. The objectives of the FIRA Cup and Congress are to explore the technical dev- opments and achievements in the field of robotics, and provide participants with a robot festival including technical presentations, robot soccer competitions, and exh- its under the theme “Where Theory and Practice Meet.” FIRA India aims to propagate and popularize robotics and robotic competitions across India.

The Evolution of Culture

The Evolution of Culture
Author: Stefan Linquist
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 659
Release: 2017-03-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 135189014X

Recent years have seen a transformation in thinking about the nature of culture. Rather than viewing culture in opposition to biology, a growing number of researchers now regard culture as subject to evolutionary processes. Recent developments in this field have shifted some of the traditional academic fault lines. Alliances are forming between researchers trained in anthropology, evolutionary biology, psychology and philosophy. Meanwhile, several distinct schools of thought have appeared which differ in their vision of what an evolutionary approach to culture should look like. This volume contains some of the most influential publications on these subjects from the past few decades. A theoretical background chapter and critical introduction identify the core issues at stake in the new study of cultural evolution. These chapters are followed by sections on each of the four dominant approaches: the phylogenetic approach, memetics, dual inheritance theory and niche construction. Following these are two chapters on closely related topics: the psychological mechanisms of culture and the existence of culture in non-human animals. Overall, this volume provides an up to date overview of some of the most exciting trends in contemporary evolutionary thought.

Social Learning

Social Learning
Author: William Hoppitt
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2013-07-21
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0691150710

Many animals, including humans, acquire valuable skills and knowledge by copying others. Scientists refer to this as social learning. It is one of the most exciting and rapidly developing areas of behavioral research and sits at the interface of many academic disciplines, including biology, experimental psychology, economics, and cognitive neuroscience. Social Learning provides a comprehensive, practical guide to the research methods of this important emerging field. William Hoppitt and Kevin N. Lala define the mechanisms thought to underlie social learning and demonstrate how to distinguish them experimentally in the laboratory. They present techniques for detecting and quantifying social learning in nature, including statistical modeling of the spatial distribution of behavior traits. They also describe the latest theory and empirical findings on social learning strategies, and introduce readers to mathematical methods and models used in the study of cultural evolution. This book is an indispensable tool for researchers and an essential primer for students. Provides a comprehensive, practical guide to social learning research Combines theoretical and empirical approaches Describes techniques for the laboratory and the field Covers social learning mechanisms and strategies, statistical modeling techniques for field data, mathematical modeling of cultural evolution, and more

Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior

Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior
Author:
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 3052
Release: 2019-01-21
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0128132523

Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior, Second Edition, Four Volume Set the latest update since the 2010 release, builds upon the solid foundation established in the first edition. Updated sections include Host-parasite interactions, Vertebrate social behavior, and the introduction of ‘overview essays’ that boost the book's comprehensive detail. The structure for the work is modified to accommodate a better grouping of subjects. Some chapters have been reshuffled, with section headings combined or modified. Represents a one-stop resource for scientifically reliable information on animal behavior Provides comparative approaches, including the perspective of evolutionary biologists, physiologists, endocrinologists, neuroscientists and psychologists Includes multimedia features in the online version that offer accessible tools to readers looking to deepen their understanding

From Motor Learning to Interaction Learning in Robots

From Motor Learning to Interaction Learning in Robots
Author: Olivier Sigaud
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 534
Release: 2010-02-04
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 3642051804

From an engineering standpoint, the increasing complexity of robotic systems and the increasing demand for more autonomously learning robots, has become essential. This book is largely based on the successful workshop “From motor to interaction learning in robots” held at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robot Systems. The major aim of the book is to give students interested the topics described above a chance to get started faster and researchers a helpful compandium.