PSI TheoryBasic Concepts

PSI concepts

• Motivation– Five basic needs drive behaviour– From basic needs, intentions are built

• Action Regulation– Intention is selected and executed– Action regulation is modulated by…

• Emotions– Emotions emerge from the system through

modulation of the cognitive processes– the agent does not “have” an emotion, but it thinks

and acts emotionally

Motivation (1)

• 5 basic needs that trigger behaviour1. Existence preserving needs

food, water, avoidance of pain not relevant here

2. Species preserving needs sexuality

3. Need for affiliation need to belong to a group and engage in social

interactions (“signals of legitimacy”)

4. Need for certainty predictability of events and consequences

5. Need for competence capability of mastering problems and tasks, including

satisfying one’s needs

Motivation (2)

Figure from Dörner (2006)

Deviation of actual level from a set-point symbolises strength of need

Increase through activities of the agent and over time

Decrease through actions that satisfy the needs

Motivation (3)

• Intentions are calculated from basic needs and additional information on goals and their success probability

• Intention = ∑(needs*goal)*success probability*urgency– Strength of needs: deviations from set-points– Goal:

• In the formula: relations of goal achievement to the satisfaction of specific need (“need satisfaction profile”)

– Success probability:• Experiences related to the goal, taken from memory• Level of competence

Action Regulation (1)

• Intentions are stored in memory

• They compete against each other

• One intention is selected depending on the strength of the intention

• The selected intention triggers action selection and execution

Action Regulation (2)

• First, automatic and highly ritualised actions are applied, if available

• If there are no automatic reactions available, planning mechanisms, e.g. by combining new action sequences from familiar actions

• If this also fails, the system uses trial and error or explores the environment to gather more information (depends on competence)

Action regulation is modulated by parameters that represent emotional status…

Emotions (1)

• Modulation depends on three parameters– Activation (depends on general pressure from the

motivational system; calculated as the sum of all needs)

• High: high preparedness for reaction• Low: low preparedness for action, “relaxed”

– Selection Threshold (depends on activation)• High: concentration on currently active intention, “rigid”• Low: easily to be distracted by competing intentions, “nervous”

– Resolution Level (depends on activation)• High: accuracy of cognitive processes (perception, planning)• Low: rough planning, more misjudgements in perception and

planning

Emotions (2) - Anger

• intention can not be executed due to unexpected obstacle– High need for certainty, high need for competence

(but NOT exceeding a maximum that prevents the agent from doing anything at all)

– High arousal agent is prepared to act– High selection threshold agent concentrates on the

intention– Low resolution level agent does not carefully check

conditions of actions (perception) or their consequences (planning)

Emotions (3) - Anger

Example:

a child wants to watch TV but the mother says no; the child reacts with physical symptoms of arousal (blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate rise activation), does not engage in another leisure activity but insists on watching TV ( selection threshold), chooses actions like shouting, stamping etc. that make the mother furious and lead to further sanctions and punishments.

Emotions (4) - Joy

• intention can (surprisingly) be executed, due to minor obstacles– Low need for certainty, low to medium need for

competence– Medium arousal agent is rather relaxed– Medium to high selection threshold agent

concentrates on the intention, but is also sensitive to other important information

– Medium to high resolution level agent carefully checks conditions of actions (perception) and their consequences (planning)

Emotions (5) - Joy

Example:

a child wants to watch TV and the mother lets her watch her favourite programme with her friend; the child shows some expressions of joy like hugging the mother or the friend, running to the TV tray, etc., concentrates and enjoys on the programme but also chats with her friend, i.e. she is able to quite accurately perceive her environment and react to it without major misjudgements.

Emotions (6) - Anxiety

• intention can persistently not be executed – Very high need for certainty, high need for

competence, (almost) reaching a maximum that prevents the agent from doing anything at all

– High arousal agent is prepared to act– Low selection threshold agent searches the

environment for information and is easily distracted– High resolution level agent carefully checks and

re-checks conditions of actions (perception) and their consequences (planning)

Emotions (7) - Anxiety

Example:

a child watches TV while the mother is out of the house, even though she knows that she is not allowed to; she does not know when the mother will be back and she expects serious punishment in case she is detected; while watching the programme, she is highly activated and nervous, can not concentrate on the programme but keeps listening for cues that the mother returns, and worries about what will happen then, instead of enjoying the programme.

PSI architecture

Cognitive-emotional-motivationalArchitecture

Memory

Motivation(Needs)

SelectionThreshold

Activation

ResolutionLevel

Emotional Parameters