Smyk Nathan J, Weiss Staci Meredith, Marshall Peter J
Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
Front Psychol. 2018 Dec 10;9:2280. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02280. eCollection 2018.
Robots provide an opportunity to extend research on the cognitive, perceptual, and neural processes involved in social interaction. This study examined how sensorimotor oscillatory electroencephalogram (EEG) activity can be influenced by the perceived nature of a task partner - human or robot - during a novel "reciprocal touch" paradigm. Twenty adult participants viewed a demonstration of a robot that could "feel" tactile stimulation through a haptic sensor on its hand and "see" changes in light through a photoreceptor at the level of the eyes; the robot responded to touch or changes in light by moving a contralateral digit. During EEG collection, participants engaged in a joint task that involved sending tactile stimulation to a partner (robot or human) and receiving tactile stimulation back. Tactile stimulation sent by the participant was initiated by a button press and was delivered 1500 ms later via an inflatable membrane on the hand of the human or on the haptic sensor of the robot partner. Stimulation to the participant's finger (from the partner) was sent on a fixed schedule, regardless of partner type. We analyzed activity of the sensorimotor mu rhythm during anticipation of tactile stimulation to the right hand, comparing mu activity at central electrode sites when participants believed that tactile stimulation was initiated by a robot or a human, and to trials in which "nobody" received stimulation. There was a significant difference in contralateral mu rhythm activity between anticipating stimulation from a human partner and the "nobody" condition. This effect was less pronounced for anticipation of stimulation from the robot partner. Analyses also examined beta rhythm responses to the execution of the button press, comparing oscillatory activity when participants sent tactile stimulation to the robot or the human partner. The extent of beta rebound at frontocentral electrode sites following the button press differed between conditions, with a significantly larger increase in beta power when participants sent tactile stimulation to a robot partner compared to the human partner. This increase in beta power may reflect greater predictably in event outcomes. This new paradigm and the novel findings advance the neuroscientific study of human-robot interaction.
机器人为扩展关于社交互动中认知、感知和神经过程的研究提供了契机。本研究考察了在一种新型的“相互触摸”范式中，感觉运动振荡脑电图（EEG）活动如何受到任务伙伴（人类或机器人）的感知性质的影响。20名成年参与者观看了一个机器人的演示，该机器人可以通过其手上的触觉传感器“感受”触觉刺激，并通过眼睛水平的光感受器“看到”光线变化；机器人通过移动对侧手指对触摸或光线变化做出反应。在脑电图采集过程中，参与者参与一项联合任务，包括向伙伴（机器人或人类）发送触觉刺激并接收回触觉刺激。参与者发送的触觉刺激由按下按钮启动，并在1500毫秒后通过人类手上的可充气膜或机器人伙伴的触觉传感器传递。对参与者手指的刺激（来自伙伴）按固定时间表发送，与伙伴类型无关。我们分析了在预期右手受到触觉刺激时感觉运动μ节律的活动，比较了参与者认为触觉刺激由机器人或人类启动时中央电极部位的μ活动，以及“无人”接受刺激的试验。预期来自人类伙伴的刺激与“无人”条件下对侧μ节律活动存在显著差异。对于预期来自机器人伙伴的刺激，这种效应不太明显。分析还考察了对按下按钮执行的β节律反应，比较了参与者向机器人或人类伙伴发送触觉刺激时的振荡活动。按下按钮后额中央电极部位的β反弹程度在不同条件下有所不同，与向人类伙伴发送触觉刺激相比，参与者向机器人伙伴发送触觉刺激时β功率显著增加。β功率的这种增加可能反映了事件结果中更大的可预测性。这种新范式和新发现推进了人机交互的神经科学研究。
