title: Robots Learn to Recognize Individuals from Imitative Encounters with People and Avatars.
abstract: Prior to language, human infants are prolific imitators. Developmental science grounds infant imitation in the neural coding of actions, and highlights the use of imitation for learning from and about people. Here, we used computational modeling and a robot implementation to explore the functional value of action imitation. We report 3 experiments using a mutual imitation task between robots, adults, typically developing children, and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. We show that a particular learning architecture--specifically one combining artificial neural nets for (i) extraction of visual features, (ii) the robot's motor internal state, (iii) posture recognition, and (iv) novelty detection--is able to learn from an interactive experience involving mutual imitation. This mutual imitation experience allowed the robot to recognize the interactive agent in a subsequent encounter. These experiments using robots as tools for modeling human cognitive development, based on developmental theory, confirm the promise of developmental robotics. Additionally, findings illustrate how person recognition may emerge through imitative experience, intercorporeal mapping, and statistical learning.
authors: Laboratoire ETIS, UCP, UMR CNRS 8051, 95000 Cergy-Pontoise, France.
authors: Sofiane
authors: S
authors: Boucenna
authors: Laboratoire ISIR, Université UPMC, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France.|Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, APHP, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Cohen
authors: Institute for Learning &Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195 USA.
authors: Andrew N
authors: AN
authors: Meltzoff
authors: Laboratoire ETIS, UCP, UMR CNRS 8051, 95000 Cergy-Pontoise, France.
authors: Philippe
authors: P
authors: Gaussier
authors: Laboratoire ISIR, Université UPMC, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France.
authors: Mohamed
authors: M
authors: Chetouani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D011187:Posture; D012371:Robotics; D055815:Young Adult