Emotion : appraisal-coping model for the "Cascades" problem

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Emotion : appraisal-coping model for the ”Cascades”

problem

Karim Mahboub, Evelyne Clément, Cyrille Bertelle, Véronique Jay

To cite this version:

Karim Mahboub, Evelyne Clément, Cyrille Bertelle, Véronique Jay. Emotion : appraisal-coping model

for the ”Cascades” problem. From System Complexity to Emergent Properties, 2009. �hal-02144553�

arXiv:0911.2405v1 [cs.AI] 12 Nov 2009

KarimMahboub

(1)

, EvelyneClément

(2)

,CyrilleBertelle

(1)

&VéroniqueJay

(1)

(1)

LITISLaboratory,UniversityofLeHavre

25,ruePhilippeLebon,BP54076058LeHavreCedex,Frane

Karim.Mahboublitislab.eu

Cyrille.Bertellelitislab.eu

Veronique.Jaylitislab.eu

(2)

Psy.COLaboratory,UniversityofRouen

RueLavoisier76821Mont-Saint-Aignan,Frane

Evelyne.Clementuniv-rouen.fr

ABSTRACT

Modelling emotion has beome a hallenge nowadays.

Therefore,several modelshavebeenprodued in order

to express humanemotional ativity. However, onlya

fewof them are urrentlyable to express the losere-

lationshipexistingbetweenemotionand ognition. An

appraisal-opingmodelis presentedhere,with theaim

to simulate the emotional impat aused by the eval-

uationof apartiularsituation (appraisal), along with

the onsequent ognitivereation intended to fae the

situation (oping). This model is applied to the Cas-

ades problem, asmall arithmetial exerie designed

for ten-year-old pupils. The goal is to reate a model

orresponding to a hild's behaviour when solvingthe

problemusinghisownstrategies.

Keywords: emotion modelling, deision making,

appraisal-opingmodel.

INTRODUCTION

As the study of emotion is beoming ruial today, in

severalelds ofstudy suh asneurologyorpsyhology,

omputersiene is gettingmoreandmoreinvolvedin

theproessofndingnewmodelsforrepresentingemo-

tions. Sine the middle of the 19th entury, psyhol-

ogists, biologists, but also neurologists have tried to

produemodelsdesignedtounraveltheemotionalpro-

esses. Sientists like Behara and Damasio [3℄ have

even provedthat humanemotional ativity has anin-

dispensableimpatondeisionmaking.

Theaimofthisartileistogloballydrawthepitureof

thelatestmodelsofemotioninomputersiene,start-

ing from apsyhologist point of view. The appraisal-

oping model will be presentedmore preisely, as well

asanexistingappliation example. Afterwards,wewill

presentasmalltoyproblemillustratingadeisionmak-

ingproblem,usingtheappraisal-opingstrategy. Even-

tually, asmall onlusionwill introdue future aspets

to bedeveloppedandotherprospets.

STATE OFTHE ART

Fromthemostreentapproahesofemotionmodelling,

twomajorognitivetypesofresearhmodelshavebeen

developed: hierarhialand omponential models (see

Baudi&Duhamp,2006[1℄).

Aording to the hierarhial approah, emotions have

their origin from early stages of development. Indeed,

emotions are hierarhially organised with numerous

disreteemotionsatabasilevelandemotionaldimen-

sionsatahigherlevel. Fundamentalemotionslikethirst

orfearareelementsintendedtobuildmoresophistiated

emotions, endingupwithveryomplexfeelingssuh as

jealousy orpride [7℄. Emotions at thebasilevelhave

an importantadaptivefuntion and arediretlylinked

to thebodystimuliandeetors.

In omponential models, emotions have qualitatively

dierentfaets[23℄. The so-alled"emotionalresponse

triad"isomposedofthethreemainomponentsforthe

emotion prodution: subjetive experiene, peripheral

physiologialresponsesand motorexpression, towhih

sometheoristsinludetwootheromponents,ognitive

and motivational. The omponential approah deals

with therelativerole assigned toeah ofthese ompo-

nents. Then,emotionsarereatedbysteppingthrough

all parts of theproess, from theognitivepereption,

untiltheatualresponse. Lazarus[13℄andSherer [20℄

areusuallyassoiatedwiththisapproah.

APPRAISAL THEORIES

Appraisaltheoriessuggestthatemotion istheresultof

underlying mehanisms inludingthe subjetiveevalu-

ation of the signiane of a situation and its organ-

ism irumstanes (appraisal), and the oping meha-

nismsthatguideandprovideadaptiveresponses(Frijda,

1986[9℄;Lazarus,1991[14℄;Sherer,1984[20℄;Sherer,

[26℄,1993[27℄). AsnotedbyGrath andMarsella[10℄:

"Appraisaltheories posit that events do nothavesig-

niane in of themselves, but only by virtue of their

interpretation in the ontext of an individual's beliefs,

desires, intentions and abilities" (Grath & Marsella,

2004,p. 273). Thesignianeof aneventissupposed

tobeevaluatedon anumberof riteriasuhasitsrel-

evane for one'swell-being, its onduiveness forone's

plansandgoals,andtheabilityto opewith suhon-

sequenes.

Inthe framework of the Sherer'sComponent Proess

Model(Sherer1984[20℄,2001[24℄),Sander,Grandjean

&Sherer(2005[19℄)desribeemotionasanepisodeof

interrelated,synhronizedhangesinthestatesofallor

mostoftheveorganismi subsystems 1

in response to

theevaluationofanexternalorinternalstimulusevent

asrelevanttomajoronernsoftheorganism.",(p.318).

From this point of view, rather than stati and basi

states of the organism (e.g. Ekman, 1984 [8℄; Izard,

1971[11℄),emotions areadynamiproesswhoseom-

ponentsarethe ognitiveomponentwhih funtion is

theevaluationofobjetsandevents,theperipheraleer-

eneomponentwhihregulatesthesystem,themotiva-

tionalomponentwhihpreparesandguidestheations,

themotorexpressionomponentwhihsteadiesommu-

niationof reationand behaviouralintention, andthe

subjetivefeelingomponentwhih monitorstheinter-

nalstateandenvironmentinteration. Inotherrespets,

thismodelpostulatesthathangesinonesubsystemwill

tendtoeliitrelatedhangesin othersubsystems.

APPRAISAL-COPINGEXAMPLE

Based on the appraisal-oping approah, several new

models have been oneived (see gure 1). Grath

& Marsella [10℄ have produed a domain independent

model using ognitive maps. This model is intended

tomanipulateappraisalvariablestoanalysethepresent

andpast situations,and to design thefuture deisions

tomakeand theoping strategiesto adopt. Generally

speaking, the appraisal-oping approah oers a very

preise model of ognitive and emotional proesses in

deisionmaking (previousworkshavebeenarriedout

onthissubjet,see[16℄).

On the one hand, the environment is appraised with

respet to one's goals and beliefs. This evaluation is

realisedthroughaertainnumberof variablesdening

thedierentappraisingdimensionstobetakenintoa-

ount,suh astherelevane(Does the eventrequireat-

tentionoradaptive reation?) or unexpetedness(Was

1

Organismi subsystem (and their major substata are the

following): Information proessing (Central Nervous System

CNS),Support(CNS,Neuro-EndorineSystem,AutonomiNer-

vous System), Exeutive (CNS), Ation (Somati Nervous Sys-

tem),Monitor(CNS),fromSander,Grandjean&Sherer(2005,

On theother hand,onehasto opewith thesituation

appraisedbefore byusingoping strategies. These dif-

ferentstrategiesoeragreatrangeofpossibilities,from

theperfetontrolofthesituationuntilthetotalresig-

nation, when faingtheproblem. Theoping outome

alters theperson-environmentrelationshipnot onlyby

modifying the environment itself related to the prob-

lem,butalsobyhangingtheinterpretationandwilling

throughemotionalaspets.

In order to represent theinformation aboutthe situa-

tion, Grath & Marsella [10℄ use ausal maps. In the

followingsenario(gure2),anonologist,Dr. Tom,is

supposedtohelpaneleven-year-oldboy,Jimmy,forhis

stage4inoperableaner,eitherbygivinghimmorphine

(whih relieves the pain but hastens death) orleaving

him suer (and letting him prolong his life). A ausal

map (see gure 2) representsthe pastand present sit-

uations, aswell as the possible deisions to make and

theirexpetedonsequenes.

Thisausalmapanevolvewiththemodiationofthe

parameters. Forexample,UJ im^{ishowDr. Tomapprei-}

atesJim'sdesirabilityfortheorrespondingevent. This

value anbe updatedafter theoping proess, dealing

withemotionalaspets. OneDr. Tomre-appraisesthe

onsequenes of his deision (by dereasing the prob-

ability parameter of the "Death hastened" event), he

aepts to giveJim morphine, following Jim's mother

request.

However,themajorproblemwhenusingthis tehnique

is the storage of the information taken from the envi-

ronment. Infat,wehavetwooptions.

Therstoptionistoputalltheinformationweneedex-

pliitlyontheobjettobeevaluated. Forinstane,ifan

individualiswathingaphotographofhiswifeandkids,

the variablesindiatingpleasantnessorprideare tobe

desribedon the photograph. With this method, eah

objetin theenvironmentis learlyidentied aspleas-

antormysteriousorannoying,et. Theimplementation

isthereforeeasier,andthepossibilityofinteratingwith

theemotionalrepresentationoftheobjetishenetriv-

ial. Themain problemis alakofexibility,espeially

if more than one individual has to evaluate the same

objet.

Theseondoptionistheinternalstorageoftheobjets

data, diretly into the brain, using amemory strategy

(Tulvingetal.,1972[29℄). Withthistehnique,memory

is divided into several ategories,eah of whih stores

dierentkindofinformation. Ontheonehand,thelong-

termmemorysystemisomposedoftheepisodimem-

ory(i.e. itreferstoknowledgeofepisodesandfatsthat

anbeonsiouslyrealledandrelated)andtheseman-

ti memory (underlying absolute knowledge and lan-

guage; semantimemory is ontext-independent). On

the otherhand,the short-termmemory,also known as

workingmemorystorestheurrentontext-relateddata.

be triggeredfrom the appraisal proesses. Indeed, the

evaluation ativity requires knowledge, and emotion is

partof thememory proessesofenoding, storageand

retrieval(Tulving&Thomson,1973[30℄). Formodelling

purpose,weassumethatmemoryissplitintothreeat-

egories:

• ^{The semantior fatual memory whih storesthe}

globalknowledgeoftheworldandtheinformation

onsidered to be fats,like"Paris isthe apital of

Frane".

• ^{The episodi or} autobiographial memory whih ontainsthe personal events that happened in an

individual's life. This type of memory is strongly

linkedwithaspatio-temporalontext.

• ^{The working memory is the urrent dynami rep-}

resentation that an individual has in mind when

solvingapartiularproblem.

Eahtimeamemoryelementisenoded(i.e. addedinto

thebrain),itisstoredalongwiththeurrentemotional

learning ontext e_t0. Later on, when the information isrequiredandmust be foundin thememory,theur-

rent emotionalontext et ^{will beompared to the for-}

meremotional learningontextrelated to therequired

memoryitem. If the old emotional ontext equalsthe

urrentone(i.e. ifet₀=et^{)theretrievalmehanismwill}

befailitated. Ontheontrary,ifthetwovaluesaredif-

ferent(et₀ 6=et^{),theretrievalproesswillbemademore}

THE CASCADES" PROBLEM

The Casades" problem is a puzzle-like situation in

whih the goalis to ll upthe grid with numbers a-

ordingtothefollowinginstrution: Eahboxontains

thesumofthenumberssituated aboveit. Lookforthe

missing numbersinthegrid".

Theinitialstateandtherstsolvingsteparepresented

hereafter(gure 3).

Ten-year-oldhildrenwill be invitedto solvetheprob-

lem. In order to study how the emotions are eliited

over the ourse of the problem, emotional manifesta-

tions will be reorded without interruption during the

problem-solving ativity. Inline with thework ofClé-

ment &Duvallet (2007[6℄),wewill fous ontwokinds

of responseomponents: thephysiologialeletroder-

mal ativity and theexpressivefaialexpressions

omponents.

Although thedenitionof emotionsremainsontrover-

sial, some researhers distinguish emotions and other

relatednotionsasmoodorpersonalitytraitsontheba-

sisoftheirbehaviouraltimeourseandintensity: emo-

tionsaredenedasshort-livedbehaviouraldispositions,

moodsareoflongerdurationandlowerintensity,while

personality traits reet relatively stable behavioural

tendenies.

Nevertheless,itisgenerallyassumedthatemotionsmay

be evaluated by three kinds of responses: the physio-

logial responses whih the eletrodermal ativity and

theheart ratearethemostwidelyused,the expressive

responsesinluding faial,voal,gesturaland postural

expressions and the subjetive responses basedin part

Figure3: TheCasades initialgridandtherstsolvingstep.

Dourish,&Sengers,2007[4℄,forritialreviews).

Conerning the physiologial omponent, and in par-

tiular the eletrodermal ativity, the study of Pehi-

nendaand Smith (1996)providespsyhologialsigni-

aneofspontaneousskinondutaneativity. Inthat

work,partiipantsweregiventosolveasetofanagrams

whihdiultywasmanipulatedbyboththeobjetive

diulty(easy,moderately,diult,extremelydiult)

andtheamountoftimeavailabletosolvetheproblems

(30 vs. 120 seonds). The authors demonstrate that

theskinondutaneativityduringproblemsolvingis

orrelatedtotheappraisalsofopingpotential: inadif-

ult problem, appraisals ofoping potential basedon

self-reportare espeiallylowandprodueseletivedis-

engagementof the task, yielding redued skin ondu-

tane ativity. The spontaneous eletrodermal ativ-

ityisinterpretedasreetingtaskengagement(Pehi-

nenda,2001[17℄).

Moreover, the results of Clément and Duvallet (2007

[6℄) support theidea that skin ondutaneativity is

aonvergentmeasureofappraisal-relatedproessesand

thatfaialexpressionsreettheappraisalsoftheevents

aordingtotheironduiveness forthegoal(Kaiser&

Wehrle,2001[12℄; Sherer,1999[21℄; Smith, 1991[25℄;

THE APPRAISAL-COPING MODEL

The appraisal-oping model adaptation to the "Cas-

ades" problem (see gure 4) allows us to analyse in

amoreauratewaythehildren'sognitiveemotional

ativities. Theappraisal stepdealswiththeevaluation

and the predition of theplan seleted by thehildin

order tosolvetheproblem. Aordingto thisappraisal

step,thehildwillllinahexagon,followinghisseleted

plan,ororretapreviousresult,oriftheappraisalstep

leads to a bad evaluation, he will hange his plan (we

observethat theexerieinstrutionsareinterpretedin

manydierentways,espeiallyforhildrenwithshool

diulties).

The oping strategy is the atual deisiona hild will

take with respet to his previous hoies. The oping

proess is usually aompanied by an emotional rea-

tionwhihdependsontheappraisalonsequenes. For

instane, if the hild deides to reinfore his strategy,

his emotionalstatewillbepositive. On theontrary,if

he ontinuallyhanges hisplans, thesituation will end

CONCLUSIONAND PROSPECTS

Contrarytothelassialmodels whih studyognition

ina"old"way,independentlyfromanyemotionalpro-

ess, we are now trying to unravel the mysteries un-

derlying the emotion-ognition interation. This new

hallenge makesresearhers produe a new generation

of ognitive models, based on more aurate systems,

suhastheappraisal-opingapproah.

Themultidisiplinaryworkarriedoutsofarallowsusa

betterunderstandingofemotionmehanisms,bybring-

ingouttwoomplementaryapproahes:

• ^{The produed model aims to analyse the experi-}

mental data.

• ^Theexperimentaldataometostrengthenorques- tiontheexistingmodel.

Asa future work, the strategiesseleted in theoping

proessare to be examinedmorepreisely, in order to

extrat ognitive-emotional individual proles, and es-

peially whenit omesto help pupils with shooldi-

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