scholarly journals What Happens When Robots Punish? Evaluating Human Task Performance During Robot-Initiated Punishment

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Himavath Jois ◽  
Alan R. Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Fixed Time ◽  
Robotic Exoskeleton ◽  
Subjective Perceptions ◽  
Social Authority ◽  
The Social ◽  
Human Participants

This article examines how people respond to robot-administered verbal and physical punishments. Human participants were tasked with sorting colored chips under time pressure and were punished by a robot when they made mistakes, such as inaccurate sorting or sorting too slowly. Participants were either punished verbally by being told to stop sorting for a fixed time, or physically, by restraining their ability to sort with an in-house crafted robotic exoskeleton. Either a human experimenter or the robot exoskeleton administered punishments, with participant task performance and subjective perceptions of their interaction with the robot recorded. The results indicate that participants made more mistakes on the task when under the threat of robot-administered punishment. Participants also tended to comply with robot-administered punishments at a lesser rate than human-administered punishments, which suggests that humans may not afford a robot the social authority to administer punishments. This study also contributes to our understanding of compliance with a robot and whether people accept a robot’s authority to punish. The results may influence the design of robots placed in authoritative roles and promote discussion of the ethical ramifications of robot-administered punishment.

Neurophysiological and behavioral indices of time pressure effects on visuomotor task performance

2000 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.M Slobounov ◽  
K Fukada ◽  
R Simon ◽  
M Rearick ◽  
W Ray
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Pressure Effects ◽  
Behavioral Indices ◽  
Visuomotor Task

scholarly journals Performance-based Social Comparisons in Humans and Long-tailed Macaques

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-350
Author(s):  
Stefanie Keupp ◽  
Farhan Abedin ◽  
Lena Jeanson ◽  
Carolin Kade ◽  
Josefine Kalbitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Comparison ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Social Comparisons ◽  
Task Type ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Human Thinking ◽  
Human Participants ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Foraging Task

Social comparisons are a fundamental feature of human thinking and affect self-evaluations and task performance. Little is known about the evolutionary origins of social comparison processes, however. Previous studies that investigated performance-based social comparisons in nonhuman primates yielded mixed results. We report three experiments that aimed (a) to explore how the task type may contribute to performance in monkeys, and (b) how a competitive set-up affects monkeys compared to humans. In a co-action touchscreen task, monkeys were neither influenced by nor interested in the performance of the partner. This may indicate that the experimental set-up was not sufficiently relevant to trigger social comparisons. In a novel co-action foraging task, monkeys increased their feeding speed in competitive and co-active conditions, but not in relation to the degree of competition. In an analogue of the foraging task, human participants were affected by partner performance and experimental context, indicating that the task is suitable to elicit social comparisons in humans. Our studies indicate that specifics of task and experimental setting are relevant to draw the monkeys’ attention to a co-actor and that, in line with previous research, a competitive element was crucial. We highlight the need to explore what constitutes “relevant” social comparison situations for monkeys as well as nonhuman animals in general, and point out factors that we think are crucial in this respect (e.g., task type, physical closeness, and the species’ ecology). We discuss that early forms of social comparisons evolved in purely competitive environments with increasing social tolerance and cooperative motivations allowing for more fine-grained processing of social information. Competition driven effects on task performance might constitute the foundation for the more elaborate social comparison processes found in humans, which may involve context-dependent information processing and metacognitive monitoring.

The influencing outcomes of job engagement: an interpretation from the social exchange theory

2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 873-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Yin
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Organizational Citizenship ◽  
Organizational Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Exchange Theory ◽  
Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Job Engagement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social

Purpose Job engagement is a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of an individual, the perfect link between individual characteristics, job factors and job performance and the important path of an organization creating competitive advantages. Based on the viewpoint of the social exchange theory, the study assumes that employees will generate different influencing outcomes, which are, in order, task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, job burnout and counter-productive work behavior (CWB), according to the degree to which they psychologically expect that job engagement could receive organizational rewards, and discusses the relationships between job engagement and task performance, organizational citizenship behavior and other variables. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from the employees working as the salesmen from 48 computer and computer parts sales companies. The questionnaires of the study were the paired questionnaires. In total, 150 supervisor questionnaires and 633 employee questionnaires have been distributed. Under every sales head, there were some employees. In total, 501 valid paired questionnaires were collected. AMOS 23.0 was employed to process the data in the structural equation modeling and the causal relationships among all the factors were explored. Findings The results revealed that employee job engagement had positive influence on task performance and organizational citizenship behavior and had negative influence on job burnout and counter-productive work behavior; among all the moderating variables, organizational justice just significantly and negatively moderates job engagement and CWB. Originality/value Job engagement is an actively and fully absorbing state of an individual in the work, the perfect link among individual characteristics, job factors and job engagement and the important path of an organization creating competitive advantages. Most of the past studies have explored the positive effects of job engagement. This study tries to explore the positive and negative effects of employee’s job engagement based on the social exchange theory.

Christianity

2019 ◽  
pp. 213-254
Author(s):  
Yaacob Dweck
Keyword(s):  
Religious Belief ◽  
Overwhelming Majority ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Ancient Judaism ◽  
Social Authority ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Law ◽  
The One

This chapter studies Jacob Sasportas's The Fading Flower of the Zevi within the context of Jewish responses to Christianity. Unlike the overwhelming majority of Sephardim in northwestern Europe, Sasportas had little to say about Christianity for much of his life. This changed dramatically in 1665–1666 when he made a pointed analogy between the followers of Sabbetai Zevi and the early followers of Jesus. Sabbetai Zevi and the Sabbatian movement forced Sasportas to confront Christianity. The emergence of a contemporary Jewish heresy—for no actual social distinctions divided “believers” from “unbelievers” in the early stages of the movement—propelled him to reimagine Christianity, which he now described as a heretical or ideological offshoot of ancient Judaism. Sasportas's turn to Christianity was not at all directed at learned Protestant readers in contemporary Hamburg or Amsterdam. Rather, it was an attempt to convince his fellow Jews that the figure they had embraced as the Messiah was closer to Jesus than to the redeemer envisioned in the final chapters of Maimonides's Code. Religious belief threatened the inviolate status of the law and, therefore, undermined the social authority of the one who determined the law: the rabbi.

Status and Evaluation Potential in the Social Facilitation and Impairment of Task Performance

1979 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franklin G. Miller ◽  
Marion F. Hurkman ◽  
Jennesse Barker Robinson ◽  
Richard A. Feinberg
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Social Facilitation ◽  
The Social

Cumulative Effects of Foraging Behavior and Social Dominance on Brain Development in a Facultatively Social Bee (Ceratina australensis)

2015 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra M. Rehan ◽  
Susan J. Bulova ◽  
Sean O''Donnell
Keyword(s):  
Brain Development ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Mushroom Body ◽  
Cumulative Effects ◽  
Body Volume ◽  
Total Brain Volume ◽  
Carpenter Bee ◽  
The Social ◽  
Foraging Experience ◽  
Mushroom Body Calyx

In social insects, both task performance (foraging) and dominance are associated with increased brain investment, particularly in the mushroom bodies. Whether and how these factors interact is unknown. Here we present data on a system where task performance and social behavior can be analyzed simultaneously: the small carpenter bee Ceratina australensis. We show that foraging and dominance have separate and combined cumulative effects on mushroom body calyx investment. Female C. australensis nest solitarily and socially in the same populations at the same time. Social colonies comprise two sisters: the social primary, which monopolizes foraging and reproduction, and the social secondary, which is neither a forager nor reproductive but rather remains at the nest as a guard. We compare the brains of solitary females that forage and reproduce but do not engage in social interactions with those of social individuals while controlling for age, reproductive status, and foraging experience. Mushroom body calyx volume was positively correlated with wing wear, a proxy for foraging experience. We also found that, although total brain volume did not vary among reproductive strategies (solitary vs. social nesters), socially dominant primaries had larger mushroom body calyx volumes (corrected for both brain and body size variation) than solitary females; socially subordinate secondaries (that are neither dominant nor foragers) had the least-developed mushroom body calyces. These data demonstrate that sociality itself does not explain mushroom body volume; however, achieving and maintaining dominance status in a group was associated with mushroom body calyx enlargement. Dominance and foraging effects were cumulative; dominant social primary foragers had larger mushroom body volumes than solitary foragers, and solitary foragers had larger mushroom body volumes than nonforaging social secondary guards. This is the first evidence for cumulative effects on brain development by dominance and task performance.

The effects of innovative, consumer and social characteristics on willingness to try nano-foods

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 653-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsin Hsin Chang ◽  
Ching Ying Huang ◽  
Chen Su Fu ◽  
Ming Tse Hsu
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Relative Advantage ◽  
Social Characteristics ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Technology Application ◽  
Subjective Perceptions ◽  
Perceived Benefit ◽  
The Social

Purpose By integrating the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, technology acceptance model (TAM), and social capital theory, the purpose of this paper is to: develop a model of consumer behavior and trial willingness toward nano-foods from product, consumer, and social perspectives; examine the effects of innovative features, consumer characteristics, and trust in authority on subjective perceptions (perceived trustworthiness and perceived benefit) as well as the social influence on attitudes toward nano-foods and trial willingness; examine the moderating role of product uncertainty on the relationship between these characteristics and subjective perceptions; and examine the effect of perceived benefit on perceived trustworthiness. Design/methodology/approach The results of the structural equation model (SEM), with nano-food knowledge data collected from 431 respondents, supported the research model and revealed the main effects hypothesized in this study and the moderating effect of product uncertainty. Simple slope analysis was further adopted to test the significant moderating effects. Findings The SEM results indicated that innovative characteristics (relative advantage, lack of observability, and novelty), consumer characteristics (perceived technology application), and social characteristics (trust in authority) affect perceived trustworthiness or perceived benefit. Social influence also has a direct effect on attitude toward nano-foods and trial willingness. Product uncertainty significantly moderates the relationship between characteristics (relative advantage and perceived technology application) and subjective perceptions (perceived trustworthiness and perceived benefit). Research limitations/implications With increasing numbers and kinds of nanotechnology products now being developed and sold, it is important to go further to determine consumer perceptions and attitudes toward these. This study, thus, applied the DOI, TAM, and social capital theory to examine this issue. However, other theories might also be used to carry out research from other perspectives. This study should, thus, be seen as preliminary, and it is hoped that more works will discuss consumer attitudes toward nanotechnology products in the future. Practical implications When a new nano-food is introduced, the current study suggests that food manufacturers use the description on the package as a communicative tool. Detailing the advantages of nano-foods on food packages might be a useful way to enhance trial willingness and to reduce the fears and insecurities related to the use of nano-related products. In addition, if food manufacturers could cooperate with organizations or individuals seen as having some authority in this area (e.g. nanotechnology researchers) in order to disseminate accurate information about nanotechnology and related food products, this might be an effective way to increase sales and profits. Originality/value This is the first paper integrating the DOI, the social capital theory and the TAM to empirically investigate consumer willingness to try nano-food products.

scholarly journals When implicit prosociality trumps selfishness: the neural valuation system underpins more optimal choices when learning to avoid harm to others than to oneself

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas Lengersdorff ◽  
Isabella Wagner ◽  
Claus Lamm
Keyword(s):  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
The Social ◽  
Egocentric Bias ◽  
Right Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
Human Participants ◽  
The Right

Humans learn quickly which actions cause them harm. As social beings, we also need to learn to avoid actions that hurt others. It is currently unknown if humans are as good at learning to avoid others' harm (prosocial learning) as they are at learning to avoid self-harm (self-relevant learning). Moreover, it remains unclear how the neural mechanisms of prosocial learning differ from those of self-relevant learning. In this fMRI study, 96 male human participants learned to avoid painful stimuli either for themselves or for another individual. We found that participants performed more optimally when learning for the other than for themselves. Computational modeling revealed that this could be explained by an increased sensitivity to subjective values of choice alternatives during prosocial learning. Increased value-sensitivity was further associated with empathic traits. On the neural level, higher value-sensitivity during prosocial learning was associated with stronger engagement of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) during valuation. Moreover, the VMPFC exhibited higher connectivity with the right temporoparietal junction during prosocial, compared to self-relevant, choices. Our results suggest that humans are particularly adept at learning to protect others from harm. This ability appears implemented by neural mechanisms overlapping with those supporting self-relevant learning, but with the additional recruitment of structures associated to the social brain. Our findings contrasts with recent proposals that humans are egocentrically biased when learning to obtain monetary rewards for self or others. Prosocial tendencies may thus trump the egocentric bias in learning when another person's physical integrity is at stake.

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