PSI Theory

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• PSI Theory
• Basic Concepts

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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

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Motivation (1)

• 5 basic needs that trigger behaviour
• Existence preserving needs
• food, water, avoidance of pain not relevant here
• Species preserving needs
• sexuality
• Need for affiliation
• need to belong to a group and engage in social
  interactions (signals of legitimacy)
• Need for certainty
• predictability of events and consequences
• Need for competence
• capability of mastering problems and tasks,
  including satisfying ones needs

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Motivation (2)

• 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

• Figure from Dörner (2006)

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Motivation (3)

• Intentions are calculated from basic needs and
  additional information on goals and their success
  probability
• Intention ?(needsgoal)success
  probabilityurgency
• 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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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)

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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.

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PSI architecture