Descripción del proyecto
Investigar la capacidad humana para entender las acciones de los demás
A pesar de los grandes progresos realizados en la neurociencia cognitiva y en las disciplinas afines, no existe un modelo computacional y neurobiológicamente plausible de la interpretación que hacen los seres humanos del comportamiento de otras personas. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos TrackingMinds pondrá en práctica un enfoque multimodal y matemáticamente preciso para arrojar luz sobre la capacidad mental de las personas para analizar la mente de otras e inferir sus creencias y preferencias ocultas. TrackingMinds se centrará en la manera en que observamos a otros y en cómo predecimos sus decisiones y aprendemos a partir de ellas. El proyecto también contribuirá al desarrollo de unos mejores sistemas de inteligencia artificial interactiva, predicciones de equilibrio en teoría económica e incluso enfoques innovadores frente a la pérdida de capacidades sociales en los trastornos mentales.
Objetivo
A core research question in cognitive neuroscience and many other disciplines is to understand how humans interpret the behavior of others. Despite the plethora of empirical work on human Theory of Mind, we still lack a computationally and neurobiologically plausible model. The goal of the current project is to fill this gap by leveraging our extensive knowledge of decision making, which has been formalized as a process of evidence accumulation. Thus, my central hypothesis is that humans utilize their own evidence-accumulation machinery to track others’ minds and to infer their hidden beliefs and preferences. Importantly, my theory goes far beyond previous accounts (e.g. the mirror neuron system), as it specifies not only how we observe others, but also how we predict and learn from their decisions.
I will subject this hypothesis to a series of studies that test its behavioral, physiological and neurobiological implications. Thereto, I will employ cutting-edge cognitive neuroscience tools, including cognitive modeling, eye tracking, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and electroencephalography (EEG). Moreover, I will use EEG hyperscanning to probe the synchronization of brain signals related to evidence accumulation in interacting people. Finally, I will develop a multi-agent artificial intelligence (AI) system that can infer the hidden beliefs of other agents on the basis of their decision processes. I will then show that this AI system provides superior performance in coordinating its actions with human partners.
The multi-modal and mathematically rigorous approach of TrackingMinds will advance our understanding of human mentalizing abilities profoundly. Thereby, it will stimulate further research and applications. First, it can help to devise better interactive AI systems. Second, it has strong implications for equilibrium predictions in economic theory. Third, it can foster new interventions of social mental disorders such as autism and social anxiety.
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ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitución de acogida
20148 Hamburg
Alemania