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Overgenerality from Inference in Perspective-Taking

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Computational Theory of Mind for Human-Machine Teams (AAAI-FSS 2021)

Abstract

The representational and mental processes that support Theory of Mind need greater clarity to guide computational approaches. Perspective-taking is among the key abilities for Theory of Mind. In human visual perspective-taking, two kinds of judgments develop: Level 1 judges whether something can or cannot be seen, and Level 2 aligns perspectives using communication. To investigate these processes, simulated agents with limited visual range, and decentralized active-logic reasoning, moved, saw discrete spatial locations, and communicated locations visited (Level 2); and inferred the locations within other agents’ visual range (Level 1). Controlled conditions systematically varied team size and how far agents spread out. The results are consistent with an account in which Level 1 overgeneralizes and Level 2 corrects, and corrects more, as agents interact more frequently, in larger teams, or by spreading out less. This account of perspectival processes suggests that overgenerality might have both benefits and costs in Theory of Mind, and serve an important role in computation approaches.

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Acknowledgements

This research was partly supported by DARPA-PA-19-03-01-01-FP-037 to DP, TC, DJ, and JB.

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Correspondence to Timothy Clausner .

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Clausner, T. et al. (2022). Overgenerality from Inference in Perspective-Taking. In: Gurney, N., Sukthankar, G. (eds) Computational Theory of Mind for Human-Machine Teams. AAAI-FSS 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13775. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21671-8_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21671-8_12

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-21671-8

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