Self-Other Discrimination - a Prerequisite of Man-Robot Cooperation?

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Mario Kupnik; Professor Dr. André Seyfarth, since 12/2019
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology ; Electronic Semiconductors, Components and Circuits, Integrated Systems, Sensor Technology, Theoretical Electrical Engineering
• Term: from 2018 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 402740893

The predominant goal is to put rather philosophical concepts of self-other-discrimination on an experimentally provable basis. Thereto we limit the discourse to sensorimotor control and look for core mechanisms that enable discriminating between self-made and foreign-made sensory inflow. Humans and robots are subject to the same physical conditions in the production and control of their movements and must therefore rely on comparable measuring methods. We therefore expect comparable problem solutions. The interest in the interaction between humans and robots under “haptic closure” of their end effectors leads us to focus on the psycho-physiological side on haptics and proprioception. On the technical side, we concentrate on the corresponding measurement technique. Embedding the topic into the appropriately expanded automata theory provides insights, how humans principally deal with foreign objects, with their own limbs, with artificial limbs, with smart machines and robots, and even with their conspecifics. We hope that the planned investigations will underpin these insights empirically. Therefore, we expect results relevant for the theory of movement control as well as for the practice of human-robot interaction.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 2134: The active self
• Co-Investigators: Dr.-Ing. Christian Hatzfeld; Professor Dr.-Ing. Roland Werthschützky
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Karl Theodor Kalveram, until 12/2019 (†)