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Rouanet, Pierre. "Apprendre à un robot à reconnaître des objets visuels nouveaux et à les associer à des mots nouveaux : le rôle de l’interface." Thesis, Bordeaux 1, 2012. http://www.theses.fr/2012BOR14510/document.
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Cette thèse s’intéresse au rôle de l’interface dans l’interaction humain-robot pour l’apprentissage. Elle étudie comment une interface bien conçue peut aider les utilisateurs non-experts à guider l’apprentissage social d’un robot, notamment en facilitant les situations d’attention partagée. Nous étudierons comment l’interface peut rendre l’interaction plus robuste, plus intuitive, mais aussi peut pousser les humains à fournir les bons exemples d’apprentissage qui amélioreront les performances de l’ensemble du système. Nous examinerons cette question dans le cadre de la robotique personnelle où l’apprentissage social peut jouer un rôle clé dans la découverte et l’adaptation d’un robot à son environnement immédiat. Nous avons choisi d’étudier le rôle de l’interface sur une instance particulière d’apprentissage social : l’apprentissage conjoint d’objets visuels et de mots nouveaux par un robot en interaction avec un humain non-expert. Ce défi représente en effet un levier important du développement de la robotique personnelle, l’acquisition du langage chez les robots et la communication entre un humain et un robot. Nous avons particulièrement étudié les défis d’interaction tels que le pointage et l’attention partagée.Nous présenterons au chapitre 1 une description de notre contexte applicatif : la robotique personnelle. Nous décrirons ensuite au chapitre 2 les problématiques liées au développement de robots sociaux et aux interactions avec l’homme. Enfin, au chapitre 3 nous présenterons la question de l’interface dans l’acquisition des premiers mots du langage chez les robots. La démarche centrée utilisateur suivie tout au long du travail de cette thèse sera décrite au chapitre 4. Dans les chapitres suivants, nous présenterons les différentes contributions de cette thèse. Au chapitre 5, nous montrerons comment des interfaces basées sur des objets médiateurs peuvent permettre de guider un robot dans un environnement du quotidien encombré. Au chapitre 6, nous présenterons un système complet basé sur des interfaces humain-robot, des algorithmes de perception visuelle et des mécanismes d’apprentissage, afin d’étudier l’impact des interfaces sur la qualité des exemples d’apprentissage d’objets visuels collectés. Une évaluation à grande échelle de ces interfaces, conçue sous forme de jeu robotique afin de reproduire des conditions réalistes d’utilisation hors-laboratoire, sera décrite au chapitre 7. Au chapitre 8, nous présenterons une extension de ce système permettant la collecte semi-automatique d’exemples d’apprentissage d’objets visuels. Nous étudierons ensuite la question de l’acquisition conjointe de mots vocaux nouveaux associés aux objets visuels dans le chapitre 9. Nous montrerons comment l’interface peut permettre d’améliorer les performances du système de reconnaissance vocale, et de faire directement catégoriser les exemples d’apprentissage à l’utilisateur à travers des interactions simples et transparentes. Enfin, les limites et extensions possibles de ces contributions seront présentées au chapitre 10This thesis is interested in the role of interfaces in human-robot interactions for learning. In particular it studies how a well conceived interface can aid users, and more specifically non-expert users, to guide social learning of a robotic student, notably by facilitating situations of joint attention. We study how the interface can make the interaction more robust, more intuitive, but can also push the humans to provide good learning examples which permits the improvement of performance of the system as a whole. We examine this question in the realm of personal robotics where social learning can play a key role in the discovery and adaptation of a robot in its immediate environment. We have chosen to study this question of the role of the interface in social learning within a particular instance of learning : the combined learning of visual objects and new words by a robot in interactions with a non-expert human. Indeed this challenge represents an important an lever in the development of personal robotics, the acquisition of language for robots, and natural communication between a human and a robot. We have studied more particularly the challenge of human-robot interaction with respect to pointing and joint attention.We present first of all in Chapter 1 a description of our context : personal robotics. We then describe in Chapter 2 the problems which are more specifically linked to social robotic development and interactions with people. Finally, in Chapter 3, we present the question of interfaces in acquisition of the first words of language for a robot. The user centered approach followed throughout the work of this thesis will be described in Chapter 4. In the following chapters, we present the different contributions of this thesis. In Chapter 5, we show how some interfaces based on mediator objects can permit the guiding of a personal robot in a cluttered home environment. In Chapter 6, we present a complete system based on human-robot interfaces, the algorithms of visual perception and machine learning in order to study the impact of interfaces, and more specifically the role of different feedback of what the robot perceives, on the quality of collected learning examples of visual objects. A large scale user-study of these interfaces, designed in the form of a robotic game that reproduces realistic conditions of use outside of a laboratory, will be described in details in Chapter 7. In Chapter 8, we present an extension of the system which allows the collection of semi-automatic learning examples of visual objects. We then study the question of combined acquisition of new vocal words associated with visual objects in Chapter 9. We show that the interface can permit both the improvement of the performance of the speech recognition and direct categorization of the different learning examples through simple and transparent user’s interactions. Finally, a discussion of the limits and possible extensions of these contributions will be presented in Chapter 10
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CHOQUEHUANCA, CESAR RAUL MAMANI. "DESIGN AND ROBUST CONTROL OF A SELF-BALANCING PERSONAL ROBOTIC TRANSPORTER VEHICLE." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2010. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=17228@1.
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PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRONesta dissertação, um transportador pessoal robótico auto-equilibrante (TPRE) foi desenvolvido, consistindo de uma plataforma com duas rodas que funciona a partir do equilíbrio do indivíduo que o utiliza, assemelhando-se ao funcionamento do clássico pêndulo invertido. Entre as características que o TPRE tem, podem-se destacar a rapidez na movimentação, o uso de um espaço reduzido, alta capacidade de carga, e capacidade de fazer curvas de raio nulo. Ao contrário de veículos motorizados tradicionais, o TPRE utiliza alimentação elétrica, portanto não gera emissões poluentes e, além disso, não contribui com poluição sonora. Para a locomoção, são utilizados dois motores de corrente contínua de potências entre 0,7HP e 1,6HP. Para medir o ângulo de inclinação e a velocidade da variação do ângulo de inclinação, é utilizado um acelerômetro de três eixos e um girômetro de um eixo. Para indicar a direção do TPRE, foi utilizado um potenciômetro deslizante. A modelagem dinâmica do sistema foi feita usando o método de Kane, utilizada posteriormente em simulações na plataforma Matlab. O controlador lê os sinais provenientes do acelerômetro, do girômetro e do potenciômetro deslizante, e envia o sinal de controle, em forma de PWM, a placas controladoras de velocidade dos motores, usando a linguagem eLua. Os algoritmos de controle desenvolvidos neste trabalho foram PID, Fuzzy e Robusto, tendo como variáveis de controle o erro e a velocidade da variação do erro do ângulo de inclinação. Experimentos demonstram que os controles Fuzzy e Robusto reduzem significativamente as oscilações do sistema em terrenos planos em relação ao PID. Verifica-se também uma maior estabilidade para terrenos irregulares ou inclinados.
A Self Balancing Personal Transporter (SBPT) is a robotic platform with two wheels that functions from the balance of the individual who uses it, resembling the operation of classic inverted pendulum. In this thesis, a SBPT is designed, built and controlled. Among the features from the developed SBPT, it can be mentioned: relatively high speeds, agility, compact aluminum structure, zero turn radius, and high load capacity, when compared to other SBPT in the market. Unlike traditional motor vehicles, the SBPT uses electric power, so there is no polluent emissions to the environment and no noise pollution. It is powered by two motors with output powers between 0.7HP and 1.6HP. To measure the tilt angle and its rate of change, a three-axis accelerometer and a gyroscope are used. The turning commands to the SBPT are sent through a potentiometer attached to the handle bars. The method of Kane is used to obtain the system dynamic equations, which are then used in Matlab simulations. The controller, programmed in eLua, reads the signals from the accelerometer, gyroscope and potentiometer slider, process them, and then sends PWM output signals to the speed controller of the drive motors. This thesis studies three control implementations: PID, Fuzzy and Robust Control. The control variables are the error and error variation of the tilt angle. It is found that the Fuzzy and Robust controls are more efficient than the PID to stabilize the system on inclined planes and on rough terrain.
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Buckenham, M. A. "Reconstructing personal construct psychology : personal and social worlds." Thesis, Manchester Metropolitan University, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.264709.
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Hayosh, Daniel G. "Development of a Low-Cost Social Robotic Platform." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case156760134522865.
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Zylberstein, Adam, and Fredrik Mälberg. "ENSURING PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE OF ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY : A study exploring the determinants of robotic acceptance." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för ekonomi, samhälle och teknik, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-38002.
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Williams, Kenton J. (Kenton James). "Physics-, social-, and capability- based reasoning for robotic manipulation." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/70445.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 124-128).
Robots that can function in human-centric domains have the potential to help humans with the chores of everyday life. Moreover, dexterous robots with the ability to reason about the maneuvers they execute for manipulation tasks can function more autonomously and intelligently. This thesis outlines the development of a reasoning architecture that uses physics-, social-, and agent capability-based knowledge to generate manipulation strategies that a dexterous robot can implement in the physical world. The reasoning system learns object affordances through a combination of observations from human interactions, explicit rules and constraints imposed on the system, and hardcoded physics-based logic. Observations from humans performing manipulation tasks are also used to develop a unique manipulation repertoire suitable for the robot. The system then uses Bayesian Networks to probabilistically determine the best manipulation strategies for the robot to execute on new objects. The robot leverages this knowledge during experimental trials where manipulation strategies suggested by the reasoning architecture are shown to perform well in new manipulation environments.
by Kenton J. Williams.
S.M.
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Poblano, Raul-David Valdivia. "Exploration of robotic-wheel technology for enhanced urban mobility and city scale omni-directional personal transportation." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45756.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-52).
Mobility is traditionally thought of as freedom to access more goods and services. However, in my view, mobility is also largely about personal freedom, i.e., the ability to exceed one's physical limitations, in essence, to become "more than human" in physical capabilities. This thesis explores novel designs for omni-directional motion in a mobility scooter, car and bus with the aim of increasing personal mobility and freedom. What links these designs is the use of split active caster wheel robot technology. In the first section, societal and technological impacts of omni-directional motion in the city are examined. The second section of the thesis presents built and rendered prototypes of these three designs. The third and final section, evaluates implementation issues including robotic controls and an algorithm necessary for real world omni-directional mobility.
by Raul-David Valdivia Poblano.
S.M.
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Carinus, Suzaan. "Articulating a personal social media strategy." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/95672.
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Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: History and statistics confirm that social media and the internet has come a long way and is bound to keep evolving and growing in the future. But many opposing views and criticism surround the ubiquitous use thereof. One’s personal social media strategy is the basis of personal branding. Managing the strategy pro-actively and creatively is thus very important. The report gives a quick overview of the web key concepts, technologies and tools currently available for social media participation. These tools are grouped by looking at various current social media classification frameworks that exist. Alas, classification must also somehow make provision for forthcoming platforms – and is thus not conclusive. A discussion of the latest technological, digital and social media trends and adoption factors were also included. Knowledge of the trends influence the personal social media strategy formulation heavily. Intermediaries can also assist to provide the required knowledge or experience and also more extensive services if chosen, because creating content is much different from merely consuming it and the technologies, tools and trends change incredibly fast. Several case studies were analysed to gain insights about guidelines, etiquette, risks, challenges and achievements in the social media arena. The various lessons demonstrated the importance of establishing guidelines for social media participation. The case studies further demonstrated that the level of transparency the world has now, won’t support having different identities for a person. Everybody need to understand and accept the societal shift and adjust their behaviour accordingly, if they want to achieve success in the digital arena. This is also of the essence to CEO’s – as their companies will increasingly require their involvement in the social media arena, in order to remain relevant. All the relevant factors were taken into consideration in order to compile a suggested framework for personal social media strategy compilation. Following the framework, not as a recipe but as a mere guideline, will assist individuals to draw up their own personal social media strategy. The strategy consists of four phases, namely planning, organising, execution and monitoring and are set out with several building blocks contained in each, as well as advice on how to approach each building block. Despite the formality of the given framework, it is imperative to remember to have fun – if the creator is not, the audience certainly also won’t and all the effort will most definitely be wasted. Key words: Personal social media strategy; Social media; Social networking; Social media guidelines; Personal social media strategy framework
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Roberts, Francis Charles. "Social structures, epistemology and personal identity." Thesis, Open University, 1991. http://oro.open.ac.uk/57338/.
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In this thesis a set of interlocking arguments is fashioned. Each argument serves a dual purpose: it contributes to the acceptability of the main theme developed In the thesis and it increases the acceptability of the other arguments. At all stages the price paid for refusing to accept the conclusions drawn is cited. There are two driving forces behind the construction of the set of arguments. The first involves a recognition that there is a need for some 'underiabouring' work to be done for the Social Sciences; the second, relatedly. that there is a need to relocate the current debate in Anglo-Saxon Philosophy on, the question of Personal Identity. The colligation of the arguments accomplishes an 'underlabouring' task for the Social Sciences. This task consists of the identification of some of the Implications of the acceptance (whether tacit or explicitly stated) of two notions: the notions of what constitutes a person and what constitutes society. it Is argued that Possible uses of the concept of a person, inherent in any Interpretation of social phenomena, will constrain the explanatory power of any social scientific theory (or even ofa common system of beliefs) In which the interpretation is embedded. If one accepts a social scientific theory (or any common system of beliefs) which subsumes a concept of a person which does not see persons as essentially subjective, essentially social and essentially knowledge-seeking then one has to pay a series of penalties. Foremost among the penalties Is the sacrifice of the possibility of the expansion of the understanding of social phenomena. There are two concepts of society, embedded in contrasting systems of beliefs, whose acceptance has the effect of reinforcing the constraint on the explanatory power of the systems. One concept Involves a view of society as an object with causal powers, the other sees only Individuals as social causal agents. Whether it is Implicit or explicitly stated, the acceptance of either concept of society will cement the constraint on the expansion of one's understanding of social phenomena. The arguments go on to show that only the acceptance of a concept of society seen as an ensemble (itself devoid of detectable causal power) of social structures with causal powers can induce a lifting of some of the restrictions on the expansion of one's understanding of social phenomena. At the core of the arguments lies a fundamental distinction. This is the distinction which needs to be made between the functions of epistemological and ontological concepts which underpin one's understanding of social phenomena. It Is argued that, while such a distinction needs to be made, the relationship between the two functions is a symbiotic one - neither can operate without the other. The differentiation between the two functions is achieved by focusing on the distinction between knowledge and being - encapsulated in Chapter 2 by the distinction made between 'cultural environments' and 'social environments'. Linked to, and sustaining, the distinction between social and cultural environments is a distinction between two aspects of cognitive interactions between Individuals. These two aspects Involve a contrast between an Individual's sense of 'Interacting with' and a sense of 'being with' other Individuals. The former involves individuals in operating 'social kinds' while the latter involves them in sustaining the operating parameters of social kinds. Operations of social kinds are needed for changes in states of understanding to occur (in other words the operations have epistemological significance); by contrast the sustaining of the operational parameters of social kinds is significant with respect to the functions of ontological concepts. The failure of many theories of Personal Identity to address the problems generated by conflating epistemology and ontology In the social sciences renders such theories Inadequate to the task of providing a comprehensive analysis of Personal Identity. The arguments In the thesis pinpoint the nature of this Inadequacy, and show how it might be avoided.
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Fosch, Villaronga Eduard. "Towards a legal and ethical framework for personal care robots. Analysis of person carrier, physical assistant and mobile servant robots." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/457739.
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Podria donar-se el cas que qui creï un robot que interactua amb humans desconegui quins són els requeriments legals que ha de seguir per a complir amb la llei, ja sigui perquè no existeixi una llei específica per a dit producte, perquè no sigui molt clar quins són els impactes que dits dispositius tenen a nivell legal o simplement perquè la llei és massa genèrica i sigui necessària una concreció al cas concret. D’altra banda, no és menys cert que el ràpid avenç de les noves tecnologies també dificulta la resposta del sistema legislatiu: per exemple, la regulació de vehicles i transport no contempla un vehicle autònom sense conductor com a categoria, així com tampoc un hominoide que va pel carrer gaudeix de cap categoria concreta com altres (vianant, motocicleta, camió) tenen. Per aclarir, així doncs, quins són els aspectes legals a tenir en compte davant la creació d’una nova tecnologia – en aquest cas un robot – és important conduir un anàlisi dels diferents impactes que aquests poden tenir a nivell legal.
Aquesta avaluació s’hauria de fer, primer de tot, amb les regulacions existents i així determinar si la creació tecnològica es manté dins l’espai de llibertat legal. Si dit espai no s’oposa a la creació, els roboticistes podran continuar desenvolupant-la. En canvi, si els roboticistes troben algunes limitacions bé podran 1) ajustar el robot a les demandes del marc regulador existent; 2) iniciar una negociació amb el legislador per a canviar la llei, de manera que el robot compleixi amb la nova normativa; o 3) dur a terme el pla original i assumir el risc de no ser conforme a la normativa.
El legislador pot, per altra banda, discutir les regulacions existents amb els desenvolupadors de robots i donar una resposta jurídica en conseqüència. En un món idíl·lic, els robots no comporten cap espècie de risc i, per tant, qualsevol amenaça podria abordar-se des de la prevenció, i qualsevol oportunitat des de la facilitació. La realitat nogensmenys és molt més complexa i tot sovint els impactes són ben incerts, sobretot quan es tracta de robots enfocats a l’assistència personal. Així doncs, el legislador haurà de fer front a dita incertesa, a efectes ambigus, i a efectes desconeguts.
Com veiem, legislador i creador de tecnologia robòtica hauran d’arribar a un acord per tal d’establir aquests nous escenaris incerts i inesperats. Un anàlisi exhaustiu i rigorós d’aquesta realitat evolutiva seria, per tant, útil per a entendre millor la tecnologia i preparar el camí per a un futur marc legal i ètic d’aquestes tecnologies robòtiques. Com es pot entreveure, aquest és un objectiu ampli i complex, tenint en compte la gran varietat de tecnologies robòtiques emergents. És per aquest motiu que aquesta tesi se centra en la identificació i l’avaluació dels impactes dels robots per a l’assistència personal. En concret, la tesi acompanya als roboticistes en el seu camí de compliment legal tot utilitzant les més innovadores metodologies d’avaluació de l’impacte (impact assessment en anglès).
Al dur a terme la metodologia de l’impacte es poden identificar més fàcilment els buits legals existents així com la manca de claredat del sistema normatiu. Dita informació s’ha recollit al llarg d’aquest treball per a què pugui ser considerada pel futur legislador que s’ocupi de la creació del marc jurídic per als robots d’assistència personal, incloent transportadors de persones, assistents físics i robots mòbils de servei.Roboticists building robots that interact with humans may be clueless about what regulations apply to their product. They might not even know whether they are legally responsible for their products. Sometimes, even law is not prepared to promptly accommodate new types of technology, e.g. driverless cars. Therefore, when a new robot is created or a new function/use is introduced, an assessment of the impacts should be carried out. This assessment should be made first against regulations to make sure that this new technology or its new use remains within the existing liberty space. If the creators of the robot do not encounter any limitations, they can then proceed with its development. On the contrary, if there are some limitations, robot creators will either (1) adjust the robot to comply with the existing regulatory framework; (2) start a negotiation with the regulators to change the law, so that the original robot is compliant with a new regulation; or (3) carry out the original plan and risk to be non- compliant. The regulator can discuss existing (or lacking) regulations with robot developers and give a legal response accordingly. In an ideal world, robots are clear of impacts and therefore threats can be responded in terms of prevention and opportunities in form of facilitation. In reality, the impacts of robots are often uncertain and less clear, especially when they are inserted in care applications. Therefore, regulators will have to address uncertain risks, ambiguous impacts and yet unknown effects. Technology is rapidly developing, and regulators and robot creators inevitably have to come to terms with new and unexpected scenarios. A thorough analysis of this new and continuously evolving reality could be useful to better understand the current situation and pave the way to the future creation of a legal and ethical framework that takes into proper account all these new technologies. This is clearly a wide and complex goal, considering the variety of new technologies available today and those under development. Therefore, this thesis focuses on the evaluation of the impacts of personal care robots. In particular, it analyzes how roboticists adjust their creations to the existing regulatory framework for legal compliance purposes. By carrying out the impact assessment analysis, existing regulatory gaps and lack of regulatory clarity can be highlighted. These gaps should of course be considered further on by lawmakers for a future legal framework for personal care robot.
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Stayton, Erik Lee. "Humanizing autonomy : social scientists' and engineers' futures for robotic cars." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2020. https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129050.
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Thesis: Ph. D. in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (HASTS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Science, Technology and Society, September, 2020Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 376-398).
Highly automated cars -- unlike robots in factories -- must operate in existing social spaces, which are complex and hard to control. Unlike household robots, these systems are also fast and dangerous. The fundamental problem of getting robots to interact in the world will be getting them to do the "right thing" -- according to developers, users, and societies. But what is "right" is a matter of perspective, and there will be many ways to achieve any particular robotic performance. Through ethnographic fieldwork at a site of robotic vehicle development, I investigate alternative strategies for robotic cars and discuss their social implications. Supported by a framework from multispecies ethnography and the practices of robot developers, I argue that robots do not see like humans or experience the world as humans do. But they must be explicitly made to think -- to represent the world and act in it --
in ways that work for people, and obey people's intersubjective assumptions about how robots will act in a given moment. Faced with this difficult set of design constraints, developers seek to humanize robots to make them socially acceptable, or robot-proof the world to make it safer for robots, through four idioms or strategies of heterogeneous engineering: mapping and annotating, perceptual omniscience, AI decision-making, and human-in-the-loop supervised operation. Social scientists involved in the design process challenge and complicate these four approaches, and introduce a fifth one: humanizing robots by allowing them to communicate via external human-machine interfaces. These idioms form a language by which to characterize approaches to socially integrated robotic systems. The debates between them show that different humanizing idioms imply different perspectives on social order, what it takes to be a competent social actor, and how humans and machines can work together.
Each idiom imagines different kinds of future worlds in which robotic technologies come to coexist with humans, with vastly different political consequences. Social scientists are vital participants in the project of exploring the contours of these futures, and I suggest new approaches and open questions for the development of social scientists' engagement in technology development.
by Erik Lee Stayton.
Ph. D. in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (HASTS)
Ph.D.inHistory,Anthropology,andScience,TechnologyandSociety(HASTS) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Science, Technology and Society
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Thellman, Sam. "Social Dimensions of Robotic versus Virtual Embodiment, Presence and Influence." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Interaktiva och kognitiva system, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-130645.
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Robots and virtual agents grow rapidly in behavioural sophistication and complexity. They become better learners and teachers, cooperators and communicators, workers and companions. These artefacts – whose behaviours are not always readily understood by human intuition nor comprehensibly explained in terms of mechanism – will have to interact socially. Moving beyond artificial rational systems to artificial social systems means having to engage with fundamental questions about agenthood, sociality, intelligence, and the relationship between mind and body. It also means having to revise our theories about these things in the course of continuously assessing the social sufficiency of existing artificial social agents. The present thesis presents an empirical study investigating the social influence of physical versus virtual embodiment on people's decisions in the context of a bargaining task. The results indicate that agent embodiment did not affect the social influence of the agent or the extent to which it was perceived as a social actor. However, participants' perception of the agent as a social actor did influence their decisions. This suggests that experimental results from studies comparing different robot embodiments should not be over-generalised beyond the particular task domain in which the studied interactions took place.
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Delaunay, Frédéric C. "A retro-projected robotic head for social human-robot interaction." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/4871.
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As people respond strongly to faces and facial features, both consciously and subconsciously, faces are an essential aspect of social robots. Robotic faces and heads until recently belonged to one of the following categories: virtual, mechatronic or animatronic. As an original contribution to the field of human-robot interaction, I present the R-PAF technology (Retro-Projected Animated Faces): a novel robotic head displaying a real-time, computer-rendered face, retro-projected from within the head volume onto a mask, as well as its driving software designed with openness and portability to other hybrid robotic platforms in mind. The work constitutes the first implementation of a non-planar mask suitable for social human-robot interaction, comprising key elements of social interaction such as precise gaze direction control, facial expressions and blushing, and the first demonstration of an interactive video-animated facial mask mounted on a 5-axis robotic arm. The LightHead robot, a R-PAF demonstrator and experimental platform, has demonstrated robustness both in extended controlled and uncontrolled settings. The iterative hardware and facial design, details of the three-layered software architecture and tools, the implementation of life-like facial behaviours, as well as improvements in social-emotional robotic communication are reported. Furthermore, a series of evaluations present the first study on human performance in reading robotic gaze and another first on user’s ethnic preference towards a robot face.
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Lin, Tao. "Personal social networks, neighborhood social environments and activity-travel behavior." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2015. https://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_oa/224.
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Rapidly rising levels of car ownership in newly developed economies and increasing travel demand worldwide over the past several decades have intensified the negative externalities of transportation, such as traffic congestion and air pollution. To develop policies that mitigate these problems through managing and controlling travel demand, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of the determinants of individuals’ activity-travel behavior. A considerable amount of research has been conducted around the impact of the built environment on travel behavior. As well, over the past decade, the social contexts of travel have gradually been recognized as important explanatory factors of activity-travel behavior. Thus, the link between social contexts and activity-travel behavior has become a much discussed research topic recently. This study aims to contribute to this growing literature by investigating three important but under-explored areas related to the connection between social contexts and activity-travel behavior: 1) how social network attributes influence the choice of companions for conducting daily activities and travel; 2) how personal social networks and neighborhood social environments influence activity location choices and time use; and 3) how the dynamics of social networks and changes in residential social environments induce activity-travel behavior changes as a result of home relocation. This study adopts a longitudinal design and uses both cross-sectional data and longitudinal panel data. Multivariate modelling approaches including Structure Equation Modelling (SEM), multilevel logistic regression and a doubly censored Tobit model are employed. Findings from this study show that social network variables are significant determinants in explaining individuals’ engagements in joint/solo activities/travel and choices of companions for joint activities. Social network attributes and neighborhood social environments are also found to significantly influence individuals’ choices between in- and out-of-neighborhood locations for activities and time use. The study also demonstrates that changes in travel after residential relocation are induced by changes both in the built and social environments as well as the geography of social networks. These findings contribute to the knowledge about the social contexts of activity-travel behavior.
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Butt, Trevor. "The personal and social construction of meaning." Thesis, University of Huddersfield, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.285591.
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This submission for a PhD comprises a collection of published work with a supportive analysis and commentary. It is an investigation of how meaning resides in the world, while still relying on personal and social construction. It provides a critique of both the individualism of personal construct theorists and the anti-humanism of the social constructionists. The project draws on clinical and experimental evidence, as well as on an analysis of the work of George Kelly, contemporary constructivists, social constructionists, and existential phenomenologists. Kelly's (1955) personal construct psychology (PCP) is extended as an existential phenomenology that privileges the interpersonal realm in construing. The fifteen papers in the collection are grouped around five themes: i) the problem of cognitivism in personal construct psychology ii) choice iii) the integrity of the self iv) the critique of social constructionism v) constructivism and existential phenomenology. Within these themes, a wide range of issues is focused on. This includes, firstly, a variety of phenomena which occur in everyday life, but stand out in relief in psychotherapy (for example, self-deception and 'neurotic' choices), which have generally been focused on by clinical personality theories. And secondly, personal experience said to be characteristic in post modernity (for example, individuals' sense of fragmentation and the proliferation of sexual preferences and identities), which have traditionally been the province of sociology, and more recently, of social constructionism. In conclusion, it is argued that PCP can viably be seen as a theory of social action when it is viewed as a type of existential phenomenology. Construing is seen as being located in action in interpersonal contexts, and not 'inside' individuals. In conferring meaning on events, individuals draw on surrounding social constructions, although they do not absorb them uncritically. Personal construction is also limited by the individual's experience as an embodied subject and to this extent, it is argued, meaning is both'made' and'found'.
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Fredriksson, Desireé, and Malin Reuterwall. "Utmaningar vid implementation av robotic process automation." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för informatik, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-159514.
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Automation of work processes has become an important part of increasing business competitiveness, efficiency and quality. One type of technology used for this is Robotic Process Automation (RPA). It is a relatively new technology that, through a defined workflow, performs the tasks instead of a human being. The technology does not require integration but interacts with systems through the interface, just as a person would. Existing research has focused on the potential of RPA and not as thoroughly on challenges that can relate to the implementation of the technology. Therefore, the purpose of this analysis regards the identification of possible challenges relating to RPA, their nature and when they may occur. To collect empirical data, four semi-structured interviews with participants in a previous RPA-project were conducted, as well as observations of a consulting company presenting its RPA product for a potential client and trying to identify potential workflows to automate at a workshop with customers. This consulting company has recently made an investment to provide RPA as a product and believes that it has great potential but has come to the realization that there are challenges surrounding the implementation of the technology. The result of this study could identify a number of challenges that existing research indicated before. These challenges related to organizational change of business, technical implementation, and competence. In addition to that, another challenge could be identified regarding profitability. Finally, the result suggests that clear communication in the various implementation phases makes it beneficial to avoid these challenges and the negative impact they may have on the RPA-project and its result.
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DuFour, Devanie. "Development of a robotic arm to teach autistic children social movements." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/46640.
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Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 14).
By controlling a robotic arm, autistic children can learn the movements associated with social interactions. The goals of my invention are that autistic children would safely interact with the robotic arm and mimic the robotic arm to replicate movements associated with social interactions. The results from my Peter J. Eloranta Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship suggest that all autistic children successfully learned social movements by mimicking a robotic arm. A more effective robotic arm would better replicate human motion than currently available commercial products. Additionally, a protective sleeve that conceals wiring and joints would make this product safer for young children, the main client of the invention.
by Devanie DuFour.
S.B.
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Belo, José Pedro Ribeiro. "Um simulador para robótica social aplicado a ambientes internos." Universidade de São Paulo, 2018. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/55/55134/tde-24102018-154804/.
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A robótica social representa um ramo da interação humano-robô que visa desenvolver robôs para atuar em ambientes não estruturados em parceria direta com seres humanos. O relatório A Roadmap for U.S. Robotics From Internet to Robotics, de 2013, preconiza a obtenção de resultados promissores em 12 anos desde que condições apropriadas sejam disponibilizadas para a área. Uma das condições envolve a utilização de ambiente de referência para desenvolver, avaliar e comparar o desempenho de sistemas cognitivos. Este ambiente é denominado Robot City com atores, cenários (casas, ruas, cidade) e auditores. Até o momento esse complexo ambiente não se concretizou, possivelmente devido ao elevado custo de implantação e manutenção de uma instalação desse porte. Nesta dissertação é proposto um caminho alternativo através da definição e implementação do simulador de sistemas cognitivos denominado Robot House Simulator (RHS). O simulador RHS tem como objetivo disponibilizar um ambiente residencial composto por sala e cozinha, no qual convivem dois agentes, um robô humanoide e um avatar humano. O agente humano é controlado pelo usuário do sistema e o robô é controlado por uma arquitetura cognitiva que determina o comportamento do robô. A arquitetura cognitiva estabelece sua percepção do ambiente através de informações sensoriais supridas pelo RHS e modeladas por uma ontologia denominada OntSense. A utilização de uma ontologia garante rigidez formal aos dados sensoriais além de viabilizar um alto nivel de abstração. O RHS tem como base a ferramenta de desenvolvimento de jogos Unity sendo aderente ao conceito de código aberto com disponibilização pelo repositório online GitHub. A validação do sistema foi realizada através de experimentos que demonstraram a capacidade do simulador em prover um ambiente de validação para arquiteturas cognitivas voltadas à robótica social. O RHS é pioneiro na integração de um simulador e uma arquitetura cognitiva, além disto, é um dos poucos direcionados para robótica social provendo rica informação sensorial, destacando-se o modelamento inédito disponibilizado para os sentidos de olfato e paladar.Social robotics represents a branch of human-robot interaction that aims to develop robots to work in unstructured environments in direct partnership with humans. The Roadmap for Robotics from the Internet to Robotics, 2013, predicts achieving promising results in 12 years as long as appropriate conditions are made available to the area. One of the conditions involves the use of a reference environment to develop, evaluate and compare the performance of cognitive systems. This environment is called Robot City with actors, scenarios (houses, streets, city) and auditors. To date, this complex environment has not been materialized, possibly due to its high cost of installing and maintaining. In this dissertation an alternative way is proposed through the definition and implementation of the simulator of cognitive systems called Robot House Simulator (RHS). The RHS simulator aims to provide a residential environment composed of living room and kitchen, in which two agents live together, a humanoid robot and a human avatar. The human avatar is controlled by the user of the system and the robot is controlled by a cognitive architecture that determines the behavior of the robot. The cognitive architecture establishes its perception of the environment through sensorial information supplied by the RHS and modeled by an ontology called OntSense. The use of an ontology guarantees formal rigidity to the sensory data in addition to enabling a high level of abstraction. The RHS simulator is based on the Unity game engine and is adheres to the open source concept, available on the GitHub online repository. The validation of the system was performed through experiments that demonstrated the simulators ability to provide a validation environment for cognitive architectures aimed at social robotics. The RHS simulator is a pioneer in the integration of a simulator and a cognitive architecture. In addition, it is one of the few for social robotics to provide rich sensory information where it is worth noting the unprecedented modeling available to the senses of smell and taste.
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Keenan, Douglas E. (Douglas Earl). "The Effectiveness of a Personal Robot in Presenting a Sound/Filmstrip as Measured by a Robotic Technology Achievement Test." Thesis, North Texas State University, 1986. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc798054/.
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The problem of this study was to compare the effects of two methods of filmstrip presentation on student achievement. One method employed a personal robot to automatically advance a filmstrip projector in sequence with an audio cassette tape while the other method had a person manually advancing a filmstrip projector in sequence with an audio cassette tape. These were the findings of the study: The pretested experimental and control subjects learned from the sound/filmstrip. The pretested experimental and control groups' mean posttest scores were significantly higher (p < .05) than their pretest mean scores. The experimental groups did not achieve significantly higher mean scores (p > .05) on a posttest, delayed retest, or module mean tests than the control groups. Using the findings of this study, the following conclusions were drawn. Students Learn from a sound/filmstrip on robotic technology whether it is presented by a human being or by a robot. A robot is a viable alternative to the human teacher in situations where the student-teacher interaction is limited.
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Brown, LaVonda N. "Developing an engagement and social interaction model for a robotic educational agent." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/54440.
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Effective educational agents should accomplish four essential goals during a student's learning process: 1) monitor engagement, 2) re-engage when appropriate, 3) teach novel tasks, and 4) improve retention. In this dissertation, we focus on all of these objectives through use of a teaching device (computer, tablet, or virtual reality game) and a robotic educational agent. We begin by developing and validating an engagement model based on the interactions between the student and the teaching device. This model uses time, performance, and/or eye gaze to determine the student's level of engagement. We then create a framework for implementing verbal and nonverbal, or gestural, behaviors on a humanoid robot and evaluate its perception and effectiveness for social interaction. These verbal and nonverbal behaviors are applied throughout the learning scenario to re-engage the students when the engagement model deems it necessary. Finally, we describe and validate the entire educational system that uses the engagement model to activate the behavioral strategies embedded on the robot when learning a new task. We then follow-up this study to evaluate student retention when using this system. The outcome of this research is the development of an educational system that effectively monitors student engagement, applies behavioral strategies, teaches novel tasks, and improves student retention to achieve individualized learning.
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Ågren, Hanna, and Linda Sommansson. "Upplevda psykosociala arbetsförhållanden bland uthyrd personal." Thesis, Kristianstad University College, Department of Behavioural Sciences, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-3901.
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Inom postmodernismen är begrepp som flexibilitet och förändring aktuella och dagens arbetsmarkand kräver att organisationerna ska hantera denna ombytlighet. Detta har lett till att bemanningsbranschen har vuxit. Syftet med vår studie var att få förståelse för uthyrd personals arbetssituation. Åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes på anställda i ett större bemanningsföretag. Resultatet visar att deltagarna står inför många men korta sociala relationer. På grund av detta anses den enda kontinuerliga sociala kontakten, med den personalansvarige på bemanningsföretaget, vara av vikt. Överlag fann vi brister i det sociala stöd den uthyrde erhåller. Majoriteten av deltagarna anser att deras kompetens inte tas tillvara men att arbetet är utvecklande på grund av de erfarenheter dom erhåller. Trots detta är förhoppningen för många att genom bemanningsföretaget få ett stationärt arbete. Ett stort missnöje bland deltagarna i studien är avsaknad av belöning och feedback. Precis som begreppet flexibilitet är flitigt använt på arbetsmarkanden, menar deltagarna även att flexibilitet är en förutsättning i individens personlighetsdrag för att kunna arbeta som uthyrd. Genomgående var också att upplevelsen av arbetssituationen även beror på uppdragets längd.
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Köster, Antonia [Verfasser]. "Social Referrals via Personal Communication Tools / Antonia Köster." Berlin : epubli, 2019. http://d-nb.info/1192229266/34.
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Heille, Gregory. "A paradigm for preaching personal and social transformation." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1991. http://www.tren.com.
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Coia, Lesley Kathryn. "Conceptualising the person in personal and social education." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 1992. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10018817/.
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The purpose of this thesis is to explore implications of a necessary presupposition of a theory of the person in the aims of Personal and Social Education (PSE), with the aim of furnishing a conception of the person which retains a significant concept of personal agency in light of constraints on action. From the position that the concept of the person as agent is central to the aims of PSE, it is argued that given the tension between the conception of the person as autonomous and recognition of the plasticity of persons, the justification of the unity of persons suggests itself as a relevant and useful approach. This is held to provide a means of approaching issues of personhood which are central to the concerns of PSE and which also provides important insights into the some issues of agency. It is argued in the second chapter that the relation between a theory of personal identity and the aims of PSE which presuppose such a theory is best understood as one of interdependence. From this position, it is argued that the conception of the person as potentially autonomous does not necessitate acceptance of a strict identity or non-reductionist theory of personal identity. It is argued, on the grounds of internal coherence and the ideals evident in discussions of PSE, that the alternative, a continuity theory is preferable. In the fourth chapter the issue of constraints on the concept of the person and their effect on the acceptability of theories of personal identity is addressed. It is argued that certain constraints lead to the rejection of reductionism with respect to persons but do not affect the acceptability of a continuity theory or its importance. The argument supports the view that the concept of personal identity and the concept of the person are indeterminate and allow a qualified form of social ascriptivism. Implications of the conception of the person which has been argued for, are illustrated and explored in the fmal two chapters, where the discussion focuses on the use of students' autobiographical writing in PSE. The argument is made that the conception of the person argued for in the previous chapters has advantages over that contained in the traditional understanding of autobiography. Consideration of narrative and its role in making sense of experience leads to supplementation and refinement of the conceptualisation of the person advocated.
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McCarthy, Catherine. "Social anxiety : personal narratives on journeys to recovery." Thesis, University of East London, 2014. http://roar.uel.ac.uk/4379/.
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Introduction: Social anxiety is a common experience. For some it is a debilitating, chronic difficulty, which becomes problematic during childhood and can have devastating effects. Talking therapies are useful for many, particularly in reducing anxiety. However, many people never access treatment and for those that do, therapies do not tend to improve their quality of life, particularly their social worlds. Do we need to look beyond clinical recovery measures when assessing therapeutic outcomes? There has been no research that has explored personal recovery in social anxiety. This thesis seeks to understand whether people with problematic social anxiety experience personal recovery and if so, how. Methods: A participatory action research (PAR) approach was used to develop the project. People with problematic social anxiety advised on study design, data collection, analysis and dissemination of the findings. 8 narratives of living with problematic social anxiety were collected to explore how people negotiate social anxiety and what this can tell us about personal recovery. A narrative analysis was then carried out, drawing upon Frank’s (1995, 2012) dialogical narratives analysis of illness stories and Adame and Hornstein’s (2006) typology of emotional distress narratives. Findings: The participants’ stories of living with problematic social anxiety highlighted the variety of ways that people make sense of this difficulty. The types of stories told were reminiscent of Frank’s (1995, 2010) illness narratives, as people told stories of restitution, chaos and quest. People drew upon traditional, counter and alternative mental health narratives to negotiate social anxiety, reminding us of the multiple ways people can find to overcome emotional distress. Discussion: The PAR study showed how people struggling with a mental health difficulty can be at the centre of research which strives to better understand their struggles and improve talking therapies. The study reminds us that the “social” aspects of social anxiety need to be better acknowledged within therapies so that we do not only focus on reducing anxiety but help people improve their relationships and quality of life.
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El-Amin, Cheryl W. "Personal and professional spirituality: Muslim social workers' perspectives." ScholarWorks, 2009. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/676.
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Research in the area of religion and spirituality in social work practice is lacking minority practitioner representation. This phenomenological study explored the questions of how American Muslim social workers define and experience the religious/spiritual, and perceive the propriety of integrating either, in practice. Ibn Khaldun and Durkheim, early social theorists, suggested that group feeling and affiliation impact personal and professional perception and decision making. American societal views of Muslims are often negative and uninformed. A group of 15 Muslim practitioners with bachelor's or more advanced degrees in social work were recruited through a survey administered via an Internet survey site. In depth telephone interviews were conducted that clarified personal and professional descriptions and experiences of the religious/spiritual. Transcript statements were critically reviewed for range of meaning (horizonalization) and reduced to their thematic essences following the phenomenological thematic analysis paradigm. Trustworthiness of the study was verified through ongoing bracketing of the researcher's assumptions and maintenance of a data collection journal. Findings indicated that participants favored a client-centered approach based on the social work standard of self determination. Most participants differentiated and acknowledged the value of spirituality more than religion in practice. Practitioners, cognizant of possible negative interpretations of Muslims and Islam, rely on the client to initiate religious themes in therapy. This finding suggests the need for future study of client views. Implications for social change are evidenced in the clients' assurance that Muslim practitioners' professional integration of the religious/spiritual is client driven and bound by competent social work ethical practice.
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Peacock, Rosemary Elizabeth. "Relationships, personal communities and visible facial difference." Thesis, University of Bradford, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/14381.
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People with visible facial difference often experience other people reacting negatively to their appearance. For many, this is part of everyday life. Research has identified social support as critical in adaptation processes. This is the case both for those whose facial difference was apparent at birth, and those who experienced injury or illness. There is a lack of a comprehensive theoretical construct for exploring how personal communities provide resources needed by adults to live well with visible facial difference. The combination of semi-structured interviews and creation of personal community maps provided opportunities to explore the interplay between respondent accounts and patterns of relationships people are embedded within. Seventeen adults with visible facial difference and two unaffected ‘significant others’ were interviewed. The findings provide evidence that personal communities are important social spaces for negotiation of resources that enable adults to feel connected, valued and safer within wider communities. Social support was not described as a property of the individual, but as experienced with combinations of people that change according to situation, place, or time. A diversity of personal community patterns were found, largely consistent with findings from Spencer and Pahl (2006), with one variation which increased intimate support. Some personal communities were less supportive and consequently people were at risk of isolation. Processes within personal communities were helpful both in dealing with negative social environments and in helping establish different versions of ‘normal’ life. The importance of focussing on social contexts, when seeking to understand how people live with visible facial differences, is highlighted.
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Moshkina, Lilia V. "An integrative framework of time-varying affective robotic behavior." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/39568.
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As robots become more and more prevalent in our everyday life, making sure that our interactions with them are natural and satisfactory is of paramount importance. Given the propensity of humans to treat machines as social actors, and the integral role affect plays in human life, providing robots with affective responses is a step towards making our interaction with them more intuitive. To the end of promoting more natural, satisfying and effective human-robot interaction and enhancing robotic behavior in general, an integrative framework of time-varying affective robotic behavior was designed and implemented on a humanoid robot. This psychologically inspired framework (TAME) encompasses 4 different yet interrelated affective phenomena: personality Traits, affective Attitudes, Moods and Emotions. Traits determine consistent patterns of behavior across situations and environments and are generally time-invariant; attitudes are long-lasting and reflect likes or dislikes towards particular objects, persons, or situations; moods are subtle and relatively short in duration, biasing behavior according to favorable or unfavorable conditions; and emotions provide a fast yet short-lived response to environmental contingencies. The software architecture incorporating the TAME framework was designed as a stand-alone process to promote platform-independence and applicability to other domains.
In this dissertation, the effectiveness of affective robotic behavior was explored and evaluated in a number of human-robot interaction studies with over 100 participants. In one of these studies, the impact of Negative Mood and emotion of Fear was assessed in a mock-up search-and-rescue scenario, where the participants found the robot expressing affect more compelling, sincere, convincing and "conscious" than its non-affective counterpart. Another study showed that different robotic personalities are better suited for different tasks: an extraverted robot was found to be more welcoming and fun for a task as a museum robot guide, where an engaging and gregarious demeanor was expected; whereas an introverted robot was rated as more appropriate for a problem solving task requiring concentration. To conclude, multi-faceted robotic affect can have far-reaching practical benefits for human-robot interaction, from making people feel more welcome where gregariousness is expected to making unobtrusive partners for problem solving tasks to saving people's lives in dangerous situations.
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Baray, Gamze. "Self-defining social groups and the relation between social and personal identity." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.440342.
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Wahlgren, Liselotte. "Arbete på en flexibel arbetsmarknad : En studie om fastanställd personal som arbetar tillsammans med inhyrd personal." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för samhällsstudier (SS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-96916.
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In recent years, the labor market has become increasingly flexible, and companies need to relate to an increasingly globalized market to survive and thrive. To meet the needs of this new environment, more and more companies are relying on temporary workers, mainly with the help of staffing agencies. Consequently, they can handle work stoppages as well as secure the employment of permanent staff when the workload decreases. When temporary staff arrive at a workplace, two different groups meet, the temporary worker and the permanent staff. There are some differences between the two groups mainly that the permanent workers have easier access to resources, higher level of job security as well as more opportunities for further training. The meeting between these two groups give rise to a range of different reactions, both at the individual and group level. The purpose of the current study is to investigate how permanent staff is affected by working together with temporary workers. The study is conducted using semi-structured interviews. In order to analyze the material, the following theoretical frameworks have been used: To illustrate how the individual is affected, Nilsson's (2009) theories about social identity, and the individual and the group are used. This is supplemented by Kazemi et al. (2009) theory of group and change. By using Lindqvist et al. (2014) theory of organizational culture and change, it is also possible to scrutinize what is happening at the organizational level and how it affects the individual and the group. The results of the current study show that the staff is indeed affected by working together with temporary workers.The biggest effect is in the field of employee turnover. The turnover is often a result of the organization attempting to meet the needs of the flexible market, which creates periods with more workload due to higher demand. The employee turnover have an effect on the wellbeing of the permanent staff.
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Schönbeck, Helene. "ARBETSTILLFREDSTÄLLELSE HOS AMBULERANDE PERSONAL PÅ ETT BEMANNINGSFÖRETAG." Thesis, Kristianstad University College, Department of Behavioural Sciences, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-4103.
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Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om de speciella villkor som kommer med en ambulerande anställning i ett bemanningsföretag har någon påverkan på arbetstillfredställelsen. Tidigare forskning har visat på att det finns en del brister inom bemanningsbranschen som inte finns inom traditionella, stationära, arbetsplatser. Många av dessa brister kunde sammankopplas till Herzbergers et. al. (1999) tvåfaktorsteori på vilken undersökningen främst baserades. Den innebär att det på arbetsplatsen finns två olika sorters faktorer som påverkar tillfredställelsen på arbetsplatsen. Hygienfaktorerna som skapar otrivsel när de saknas och motivationsfaktorerna som skapar trivsel när de är närvarande. En enkätstudie genomfördes på ett bemanningsföretag i Stockholm. Tvåfaktorsteorin fick stöd genom att signifikanta samband framkom som visade att motivations- och hygienfaktorerna påverkar arbetstillfredställelsen. Motivations- och hygienfaktorerna var varken höga eller låga. Det sociala stödet däremot visade sig vara högt vilket är ovanligt för branschen. Intressanta samband fanns också med ålder och en önskan att få en stationär anställning
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Jeong, Sooyeon. "Developing a social robotic companion for stress and anxiety mitigation in pediatric hospitals." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/100663.
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Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2014.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 115-120).
The potential value of using social robot has started to be explored in the fields of education, eldercare and health management for the past decade. However, there has not been much research in how robots can socially engage in order to reduce negative affects of patients in pediatric context. This thesis introduces the Huggable robot that was made to mitigate stress and anxiety of child patients at a hospital and take a role of social and emotional advocate for them during hospital stay. The mechanism of the hardware and software system is illustrated extensively throughout the thesis, followed by the description of the experimental study design that compares the impact of three different interventions (a plush teddy bear, virtual Huggable on a screen and the robotic Huggable) on child patients' levels of mood, stress and pain. Insights from pilot sessions showed that people were able to bond with the Huggable robot emotionally and socially well and other activities that would help patients build higher self-efficacy for enduring medical procedures are proposed. The recruitment process for potential subjects has begun at the hospital site and the formal experiment will be executed shortly.
by Sooyeon Jeong.
M. Eng.
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Wimbs, Malinda L. "Exploring Personal and Societal Expectations of Blind Veterans." Thesis, Walden University, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10279892.
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More U.S. men and women are returning from military service obligations with physical and mental disabilities which complicate their transition to civilian life. Few researchers, however, have examined the post service experiences of blind veterans and whether they are affected by societal expectations of people living with disabilities. The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain knowledge about the experiences of U.S. veterans who suffered vision loss, and the influence of societal expectations on their lives. Hermeneutic phenomenological methodology was used to explore the personal meanings 8 veterans, who lost their vision during active service, attached to their experiences as they transition into daily routines. Using a 4 stage hermeneutic analysis and an interpretive lens resulted in the emergence of 6 major themes: (1) Never give up, (2) Mantras and declarations, (3) Previous beliefs and helping, (4) Struggles after vision loss (5) Current thought about disabilities and (6) Independence. Key findings suggested the veterans’ previous thoughts about disabilities hindered their initial adjustments to losing their vision. All of them experienced a time of distress that aligned with their previous thoughts concerning people living with obvious disabilities requiring help, and independent skills training programs greatly contributed to their increased confidence to live independently. Blind veterans’ personal descriptions of becoming blind may provide social workers, vocational rehabilitation counselors, and other human service professionals with information they can use to enhance programming and services for these individuals. Other implications for positive social change include the possible development of social change initiatives to change public perceptions of blind veterans.
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Boskic, Natasha. "Ethics in immersive gameworlds : personal growth and social change." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/37739.
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This research was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of ethical issues confronting Alternative Reality Game (ARG) players who, when faced in a gameworld with actual life problems, must collectively reach solutions which are expressed through narratives and critical literacy. The aim of this research was to draw on the experience of game players engaging in the ARG, “Urgent Evoke,” in order to respond to the following research questions: 1) What kinds of moral functioning are evident in human play in immersive gameworlds; 2) How can players and educators who use these spaces grow as individuals in their ethical sensibilities?
The method of analysis for this study was virtual ethnography, including pre- and postgame surveys and interviews and the analysis of artifacts created during the game. The four-component model of moral functioning (Narvaez & Lapsley, 2005) was used as a framework for analysis with the following main categories: judgment, sensitivity, motivation, and action. However, because Narvaez and Lapsley’s division in skills and sub-skills appeared too inflexible for broad understanding of the behaviours under review, additional coding was applied.
Study results suggest that ARGs motivate players to contribute to the game, and that through such contribution participants may arrive at understandings that encourage them to make changes in their behaviours outside of the gameworld. In the four component areas, the ARG offered fertile space for growth and learning through discussion, negotiation, and reflection. The study suggests that ARGs can be used successfully to encourage sensitivity to questions of ethics.
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Wu, Kai. "Migrants in Nanjing personal experiences and social process (China) /." Related electronic resource: Current Research at SU : database of SU dissertations, recent titles available full text, 2005. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/syr/main.
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Carragher, Lucia. "North-South Ireland co-operation in personal social services." Thesis, University of Ulster, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.416641.
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Fried, Limor. "Social defense mechanisms : tools for reclaiming our personal space." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33151.
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Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 67).
In contemporary Western society, electronic devices are becoming so prevalent that many people find themselves surrounded by technologies they find frustrating or annoying. The electronics industry has little incentive to address this complaint; I designed two counter-technologies to help people defend their personal space from unwanted electronic intrusion. Both devices were designed and prototyped with reference to the culture-jamming "Design Noir" philosophy. The first is a pair of glasses that darken whenever a television is in view. The second is low- power RF jammer capable of preventing cell phones or similarly intrusive wireless devices from operating within a user's personal space. By building functional prototypes that reflect equal consideration of technical and social issues, I identify three attributes of Noir products: Personal empowerment, participation in a critical discourse, and subversion.
by Limor Fried.
M.Eng.
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Carrigan, Mark Alexander. "Becoming who we are : personal morphogenesis and social change." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2014. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/65258/.
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This thesis investigates the relationship between personal change and social change, in order to theorise the former in a way amenable to better understanding the latter. It initially proceeds through a detailed critical engagement with the work of Antony Giddens on late modernity, arguing that in spite of its popularity and influence this account suffers from defects which only become apparent when the ideas offered are used to make sense of research data. Grounded in this critical analysis, the present project develops an account of ‘personal morphogenesis’: an analytical framework for studying processes of personal change in a sociological manner. This is developed and refined through a longitudinal case study which followed a varied cohort of undergraduate students through their first two years at university.
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Wyckoff, Donna Louise Galey. "Speaking about life experiences : personal narrativizing and social constructionism." The Ohio State University, 1994. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1285259040.
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Silva, Renato Ramos da. "Aperfeiçoamento de uma arquitetura para robótica social." Universidade de São Paulo, 2013. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/55/55134/tde-22042013-143425/.
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Um aspecto importante da interação humana é a atenção compartilhada. Ela é um processo de comunicação onde uma pessoa redireciona a sua atenção para um objeto ou evento e a outra pessoa ou pessoas seguem o seu olhar para o mesmo lugar. O processo é finalizado com a pessoa que segue a atenção realizando um apontamento sobre o objeto e um comentário sobre a situação. Esta habilidade importante é aprendida por nós durante o período da infância e hoje, alguns pesquisadores em robótica estão tentando desenvolver arquiteturas robóticas para aprender essa habilidade em robôs. Deste modo, o laboratório de aprendizado de robôs está trabalhando em uma arquitetura robótica para esse fim. Ela é composta por três módulos, percepção de estímulo, controle de consequência e emissão de resposta. Esta arquitetura robótica foi avaliada no controle de uma cabeça robótica e foi capaz de aprender a seguir o olhar e identificar alguns objetos. No entanto, todos esses módulos têm algumas limitações. A fim de ter uma melhor interação entre um robô e um humano e reduzir os efeitos das limitações, algumas melhorias foram desenvolvidas. Entre elas incluem um novo algoritmo de classificação das posições da cabeça através do histograma de gradiente orientado, inserir novas funcionalidades (definidas como reflexos) ao módulo de controle de consequência e novos algoritmos de aprendizado para selecionar a melhor ação. Todas as modificações realizadas reduziram as limitações e pode melhorar as interações entre um robô e um ser humanoOne important aspect of human interaction is the shared attention. It is a communication process where one person redirect his or her attention to an object or event and the other person or people follow gaze to the same place. This process end with a pointing and a comment about the situation by the person that follows the attention. This important ability was learned by us during the childhood and some roboticist are trying to develop robotics architectures to learn this ability in robots. In this way, the Learning Lab Robotics has been working on a robotic architecture used with this proposed. It is composed by three modules, stimulus perception, consequence control and response emission. This robotic architecture was evaluated to control a robotic head and it was capable to learn to follow gaze and identify some objects. However, all of these modules have some limitations. In order to take a better interaction between a robot and a human and reduce the effects of limitations, some improvements were developed. They include a new head pose classification algorithm using histogram of oriented gradient, increase the capability of consequence control with new reflexes and new learning algorithms to select the best action. All modification reduce the limitations and it can improve the interactions between a robot and a human being
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Jeffrey, Joshua Anthony Phillip Jr. "Exploring the personal and social value of tagging systems through social capital theory." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/14717.
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The purpose of this study was to explore social media usage and to investigate the
personal and collective value of social media. Using a case study methodology and a
social capital theoretical framework, I examined the personal and social strategies that emerged from three students using del.icio.us and CiteULike over a five-month period. I used a questionnaire, in-depth semi-structured interviews, and digital archival data logs to gather a holistic perspective of how these newcomers used tagging systems as tools that facilitate the creation and maintenance of relationships. This project represented the first
time a social capital theoretical framework was used to understand tagging systems
behaviour. My findings suggest that people develop personal and social strategies as
tagging systems members in order to maintain and build relationships with their real
world social ties. According to social capital theory, these actions represent social strategies that are designed to build bridging social capital, which brings people together through social networks that were not similar to each other (e.g. school), or bonding social capital, which reinforce close ties of people with similarities in key aspects (e.g. close friends). As social media continues to emerge as a space for building connections between other members, it is recommended that designers of social media develop future systems that support the creation and maintenance of online and offline relationships.
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Tejeda, Victoria Alexandria. "Studying Social Studies: Using Personal Narratives to Explore the Shifting Social Studies Curriculum." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/579066.
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The social studies curriculum has been shifting and developing since the inception of the subject itself. Current trends continue to move toward more inclusion of previously excluded cultures, religions, and experiences, as well as a more student-centered curriculum. This has not been a smooth transition, however, as some attempts continue to seem inadequate and others are met with continued conservative backlash. This thesis examines this shifting curriculum through the lens of well-remembered events from time spent as a student and a student teacher in social studies classrooms. An analysis of these experiences and related literature leads to an investigation of the possible implications for teachers and teacher education programs.
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Firmeza, JÃlia de Souza. "Personal values and involvement in social projects in the context of social responsibility." Universidade Federal do CearÃ, 2007. http://www.teses.ufc.br/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=3534.
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The theme social responsibility of organizations has had great projection nowadays. The companies that are considered socially responsible, among other actions, encourage voluntary work, encouragement that can vary from informal support, so that people can be volunteers
out of timetable work; to the creation of formal programs of the company, in which the workers are invited to participate, using the normal time of working hours or other organizational resources. The workersâ participation, however, is still reduced in social
projects that the companies develop. So, it is understandable that the personal values direct and guide the human behaviour and this research aims to verify the relation between personal values and the participation in social projects, supposing that the behavior of social
participation is directly related to collective and mixed values. Thus, the research searched, supported by authors such as: Karkotli and AragÃo and Melo Neto and Froes (in the social responsibility field) Schwartz and Tamayo (concerning to values) and Bordenave and Arango (in the participation theme) and through its objectives, first to describe the social projects of the company researched, then, to identify the type and level of participation of its workers and to identify also the axiological priority of the participants of the social projects of the company. The research was through quantitative and qualitative nature, and by exploratory and descriptive feature. The investigation occurred by means of a case study in a business as of city transportation as of passengers that is notable by its social responsibility. The results
related to the first specific aim become evident that the researched organization, through its actions of social responsibility, gives spaces of social participation for its workers. Concerning the workersâ participation, the data show that the company still has a reduced number of participants, although, they have a voluntary and conscious participation of their contributions in social matters. As for personal values related to participation in social projects, in a group of researched subjects, it was got as a result, the presence of values of collective interests, such as, conformity and benevolence, and the value of universalism, characterized by individual and collective interests.Nos dias de hoje, cada vez mais aufere destaque o tema da responsabilidade social das organizaÃÃes. Empresas consideradas cidadÃs ou socialmente responsÃveis, entre outras aÃÃes, estimulam o trabalho voluntÃrio, incentivo este que pode variar do apoio informal para que as pessoas se dediquem ao voluntariado espontÃneo fora do horÃrio de trabalho atà a criaÃÃo de programas formais da empresa, nos quais os funcionÃrios sÃo convidados a participar, utilizando tempo da jornada normal de trabalho ou outros recursos organizacionais. A participaÃÃo dos funcionÃrios, contudo, ainda à reduzida, nos projetos sociais que as empresas desenvolvem. Compreendendo que os valores pessoais orientam e guiam o comportamento humano, esta pesquisa tem por objetivo verificar a relaÃÃo entre os valores pessoais e a participaÃÃo em projetos sociais, supondo que o comportamento de participaÃÃo social està diretamente relacionado com valores coletivos e mistos. Para tanto, buscou, apoiado em autores como, Karkotli e AragÃo e Melo Neto e Froes (no campo da responsabilidade social), Schwartz e Tamayo (no tem valores) e Bordenave e Arango (na temÃtica participaÃÃo) e mediante seus objetivos, primeiramente descrever os projetos sociais da empresa pesquisada, identificar o tipo e grau de participaÃÃo de seus funcionÃrios e identificar a prioridade axiolÃgica dos participantes dos projetos sociais da empresa. A pesquisa foi de natureza quantitativa e qualitativa, de carÃter exploratÃrio e descritivo. A investigaÃÃo ocorreu por intermÃdio do estudo de caso em uma empresa de transporte urbano de passageiros que se destaca em responsabilidade social. Os resultados referentes ao primeiro objetivo especÃfico evidenciam que a organizaÃÃo pesquisada, por meio de suas aÃÃes de responsabilidade social, faz-se espaÃo de participaÃÃo social para seus funcionÃrios. No que concerne à participaÃÃo dos funcionÃrios, os dados demonstram que a empresa ainda conta com reduzido nÃmero de participantes, embora tenham uma participaÃÃo voluntÃria e consciente da contribuiÃÃo nas questÃes sociais. Quanto aos valores pessoais relacionados à participaÃÃo em projetos sociais, no grupo de sujeitos pesquisados, obteve-se como resultado a presenÃa dos valores de interesses coletivos, como conformidade e benevolÃncia, e o valor de universalismo, caracterizado por interesses individuais e coletivos.
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Nash, Dennis William. "The idea of personal development with special reference to personal, social and moral development (PSME) in education." Thesis, University of Leeds, 1990. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/705/.
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The notion of Personal Development is situated in the domain of values, especially moral values. Moral values are concerned with what is right alongside what is good in its several aspects. For curriculum purposes, Personal Development finds its sense largely within the content provided by the terms 'moral' and 'social' in PSME. 'Personal' is not an independent category. But there is a certain overlap between Personal Development and Self-Development, where the latter term refers to an individual's generic human development. A person's individuality is not in a confluence of differently combined qualities and attributes. An individual is strongly a person in those values that he appropriates or endorses as his own. Values connect a person strongly with his unity and continuity as an individual over time. Our worth as persons attaches to our reciprocal relationships with each other and to ourselves for ourselves insofar as we maintain integrity in our own projects. To this extent values have an objective reference. I want to show the manner in which a person is attached to the values that confront him in a pluralist society. It is not just that values are realized in a person's life; it is the relation he has to those values. Those values are expressed in the constituents of Personal Development - namely, those personal qualities and attributes thought desirable - and will be 'strongly' or 'thinly' present in that person. In respect of these qualities and attributes he will be strongly or thinly attached to his human world. This is a question about the manner of our residence in our own being and about the relation that our being has to the 'ways of being persons' in the human world. A person is culturally emergent, although some versions of self-realization give the impression that the individual is prior to culture. There is a certain circularity in what we might call absolute or intrinsic values, especially moral ones. For example, we may want to say that we acquire virtues in order to flourish in life. But what constitutes flourishing will be captured in 'contested' value terms and will therefore shape what we take virtues to be.
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Karlsson, Robert, and Laila Stenfell. "Trivsel bland personal inom äldreomsorgen." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för hälsa och samhälle (HS), 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-24300.
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Uppsatsen bygger på sju enskilda intervjuer med vårdpersonal på ett större äldreboende i södra Sverige. Syftet är att belysa hur personalen trivs och vad som kan inverka på trivseln samt klargöra vad en bra respektive dålig arbetsmiljö kan vara. Därutöver diskuteras hur förhållandet kan se ut mellan sjukskrivningar, dålig arbetsmiljö och otrivsel. Frågeställningarna är: Hur trivs personalen på sin arbetsplats? Vad kan inverka på om man trivs eller inte trivs? Vad upplever personalen som en bra respektive dålig arbetsmiljö? När kan otrivsel och/eller dålig arbetsmiljö leda till sjukskrivningar? Metoden som använts är av kvalitativ karaktär i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer. För att analysera materialet har främst Karaseks modell om krav och kontroll använts. Studiens slutsatser är att arbetsledningen är en faktor som kan inverka på trivsel och arbetsmiljö och det verkar vara viktigt att arbetsledaren uppmärksammar personalens arbetssituation. Arbetskollegorna är en annan faktor som kan inverka på trivseln och det kan vara av värde att ha kollegor som både kan bistå med hjälp och emotionellt stöd. Värdefullt för trivseln kan även uppskattning från de äldre, chefer och arbetskamrater vara. Därutöver kan organisationen vara en bidragande faktor som inverkar på trivseln och det verkar vara av betydelse att arbetsmiljön möjliggör samvaro med såväl kolleger som chefer. Påverkansmöjligheter beträffande arbetssituationen förefaller även vara av vikt samt kompetensutveckling då det kan upplevas som stimulerande och utvecklande med olika utbildningar. För att arbetsmiljön skall vara bra tycks det vara viktigt med god samarbetsförmåga mellan samtliga yrkeskategorier. En dålig arbetsmiljö kan vara när det är stressigt, fysiskt tungt eller när påverkansmöjligheterna är små. Dålig fysisk arbetsmiljö med tunga lyft kan leda till sjukskrivningar. Det kan även otrivsel i kombination med dålig arbetsmiljö som när stora förändringar görs utan att personalen känner sig delaktig.
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Williams, John Barrie. "A repertory grid study of qualified, unqualified and qualifying social services social workers." Thesis, Cardiff University, 1990. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.319195.
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Chen, Ning. "Personal injustice and attributions for others' success." Diss., Restricted to subscribing institutions, 2009. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1973074411&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=1564&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Zwolinski, Mary. "Displays of Culture: Personal Museums in Wisconsin." TopSCHOLAR®, 1988. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2958.
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Fieldwork was undertaken in the state of Wisconsin to document and interpret privately owned and displayed collections. Collections were comprised of various types of objects, most commonly artworks created and/or collected by the collection owners. These collections often take on an environmental scope, occupying private spheres such as collection owners' homes or outbuildings. An examination of environmental type collections that are housed in bars was also undertaken.
Collections of this specific type are culturally and locally significant. The objects in the collections and the collection owners address and provide important information on such local or regional subjects as history, local storytelling practices, and local aesthetics. These collections also serve as natural repositories for the objects of various folkgroups relevant to the region. In this thesis that region is defined as the state of Wisconsin, and those folkgroups examined include occupational, recreational, and ethnic communities. Personal museums are one way that members of these communities preserve, display, interpret, and reaffirm their personal involvements in those groups. Collectors preserve and display tangible evidence of the significance of these communities and their affiliations with those groups. In this thesis I advocate a closer examination of personal museums by teachers, anthropologists, folklorists, and others interested in artifacts of culture.
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Zhang, Ting. "The Personal and Interpersonal Benefits of Rediscovery." Thesis, Harvard University, 2015. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:17467290.
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Individuals commonly fail to document their current experiences such that they often forget about these experiences altogether. In the context of learning, for example, experts may have difficulty remembering the experience of being inexperienced, making it difficult for them to help and train novices. Across three chapters, I explore the personal and interpersonal benefits of rediscovery—the process of revisiting past experiences that are non-salient or inaccessible in the moment. In the first chapter, I test whether individuals understand the benefits of rediscovery for themselves. Using a time capsule paradigm, I demonstrate that rediscovering past experiences, particularly ordinary ones, generates more interest and curiosity than expected. Whereas the first chapter focuses on the benefits of rediscovery at the individual level, the second and third chapters explore the interpersonal benefits of rediscovery. In the second chapter, studies with interns and medical students demonstrate that relative to relying on memories of past experiences, rediscovering these experiences (e.g., by reading their past accounts of these events) better equips individuals to understand and advise those with less experience. In the third chapter, a study of expert guitarists reveals that rediscovering the experience of inexperience enables experts to better relate to novices, helping them give advice that novices rate as more helpful and encouraging.Organizational Behavior
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Gielniak, Michael Joseph. "Adaptation of task-aware, communicative variance for motion control in social humanoid robotic applications." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/43591.
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An algorithm for generating communicative, human-like motion for social humanoid robots was developed. Anticipation, exaggeration, and secondary motion were demonstrated as examples of communication. Spatiotemporal correspondence was presented as a metric for human-like motion, and the metric was used to both synthesize and evaluate motion. An algorithm for generating an infinite number of variants from a single exemplar was established to avoid repetitive motion. The algorithm was made task-aware by including the functionality of satisfying constraints. User studies were performed with the algorithm using human participants. Results showed that communicative, human-like motion can be harnessed to direct partner attention and communicate state information. Furthermore, communicative, human-like motion for social robots produced by the algorithm allows humans partners to feel more engaged in the interaction, recognize motion earlier, label intent sooner, and remember interaction details more accurately.