Emily Kieson - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Emily Kieson

Animals, Nov 26, 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Oct 1, 2020

Humans use food rewards as positive reinforcement for training horses, but there is little eviden... more Humans use food rewards as positive reinforcement for training horses, but there is little evidence to show that human interaction (scratching or patting) has reward value or if domestic horses perceive human touch as social bonding. Most equine training is based on negative reinforcement, but food is a known reward for training through positive reinforcement. This study looked at how horses perceive human interaction as a form of positive reward by examining whether scratching and patting can serve as a reward for a behavior and how this compares to known rewards (treats) based on horses' ability to use symbols to show preferences. A secondary purpose of this study was to explore behaviors before, during, and after the choice test and code changes based on known equine ethology and determine any correlations between known individual histories of horses, their behavior, and any differences in preferences for human interactions based on whether the human was familiar versus unfamiliar. For the quantitative component, the study counted the number of times each horse touched each target (touch counts) and behaviors were recorded with use of a GoPro Hero camera. The touch counts for each symbol for the last trial were compared using Observation Oriented Modelling (OOM), a non-parametric approach to analyze patterns in data, and the behaviors were coded and compared to known behaviors in equine ethology. Post-hoc analysis of final touch counts resulted in a pattern of fewer than 2 touches for both scratches and pats for most horses and consistently ten touches (the maximum) for treats for all horses. Post-hoc pattern analysis resulted in a Percent Correct Classification (PCC) index of 93.94 (c-value < .001) for the familiar human and 87.88 (c-value < .001) for the unfamiliar researcher suggesting that, given the study conditions, all horses in this study showed preference for treats over human contact, regardless of handling or training histories. All horses also displayed arousal behaviors during the study suggesting the study, and potentially the novel food component, induced an arousal response.

arXiv (Cornell University), Nov 22, 2016

We explore beyond existing work on learning from demonstration by asking the question: "Can robot... more We explore beyond existing work on learning from demonstration by asking the question: "Can robots learn to teach?", that is, can a robot autonomously learn an instructional policy from expert demonstration and use it to instruct or collaborate with humans in executing complex tasks in uncertain environments? In this paper we pursue a solution to this problem by leveraging the idea that humans often implicitly decompose a higher level task into several subgoals whose execution brings the task closer to completion. We propose Dirichlet process based non-parametric Inverse Reinforcement Learning (DPMIRL) approach for reward based unsupervised clustering of task space into subgoals. This approach is shown to capture the latent subgoals that a human teacher would have utilized to train a novice. The notion of "action primitive" is introduced as the means to communicate instruction policy to humans in the least complicated manner, and as a computationally efficient tool to segment demonstration data. We evaluate our approach through experiments on hydraulic actuated scaled model of an excavator and evaluate and compare different teaching strategies utilized by the robot.

Comprehensive Psychology, 2015

This article presents a series of exercises using consumer products to teach students and childre... more This article presents a series of exercises using consumer products to teach students and children basics of the scientific method. Ants and honey bees are used to test the effectiveness of popular...

Recently, collaborative robots have begun to train humans to achieve complex tasks, and the mutua... more Recently, collaborative robots have begun to train humans to achieve complex tasks, and the mutual information exchange between them can lead to successful robot-human collaborations. In this paper we demonstrate the application and effectiveness of a new approach called mutual reinforcement learning (MRL), where both humans and autonomous agents act as reinforcement learners in a skill transfer scenario over continuous communication and feedback. An autonomous agent initially acts as an instructor who can teach a novice human participant complex skills using the MRL strategy. While teaching skills in a physical (block-building) (n = 34) or simulated (Tetris) environment (n = 31), the expert tries to identify appropriate reward channels preferred by each individual and adapts itself accordingly using an exploration-exploitation strategy. These reward channel preferences can identify important behaviors of the human participants, because they may well exercise the same behaviors in similar situations later. In this way, skill transfer takes place between an expert system and a novice human operator. We divided the subject population into three groups and observed the skill transfer phenomenon, analyzing it with Simpson"s psychometric model. 5-point Likert scales were also used to identify the cognitive models of the human participants. We obtained a shared cognitive model which not only improves human cognition but enhances the robot's cognitive strategy to understand the mental model of its human partners while building a successful robot-human collaborative framework.

International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 2018

Practitioners of Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies (EAAT) use these therapies to help indi... more Practitioners of Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies (EAAT) use these therapies to help individuals suffering from a wide range of physical and psychological disorders as an alternative practice in physical and psychotherapy. Although there is plenty of research to support the benefits of these therapies, there is little research in equine behavior in this context, specifically how equine behaviors can best be utilized to improve the health of the human component. Although much of EAAT uses horses in physical therapy, newer practices in EAAT focus on assisting individuals in building and improving interpersonal skills through practicing those skills with horses. To fully understand and develop this area of EAAT, researchers need to look at the behavioral patterns of horses, how they learn and adapt to changes in human emotions and behaviors, and how these behaviors correspond to bonding within equine-human interactions. To do this, scientists need to rely upon the principles of learning theory and behavioral sciences associated with comparative psychology. The scientific methods used in comparative psychology provide a strong foundation from which to research these areas of EAAT.

The researchers in this study have developed a novel approach using mutual reinforcement learning... more The researchers in this study have developed a novel approach using mutual reinforcement learning (MRL) where both the robot and human act as empathetic individuals who function as reinforcement learning agents for each other to achieve a particular task over continuous communication and feedback. This shared model not only has a collective impact but improves human cognition and helps in building a successful human-robot relationship. In our current work, we compared our learned reinforcement model with a baseline non-reinforcement and random approach in a robotics domain to identify the significance and impact of MRL. MRL contributed to improved skill transfer, and the robot was able successfully to predict which reinforcement behaviors would be most valuable to its human partners.

Robots are capable of training humans to achieve complex tasks, and their helpful feedback can le... more Robots are capable of training humans to achieve complex tasks, and their helpful feedback can lead to useful human-robot collaborations. In this research we present a reinforcement learning model influenced by human cognition which is repurposed to enhance human learning, investigate a robot's ability to encourage and motivate humans and improve their performance. During teaching the robot trades off between exploration and exploitation to understand the human perception and develop a successful motivational approach. We compare our learned reinforcement model with a baseline nonreinforcement approach and with a random reinforcer, and achieve more effective teaching in the learned reinforcement condition. In addition, we discovered an extremely strong relationship (r = 0.88) between the robot's regret, in a machine learning sense, and the performance of its human partner.

We explore beyond existing work in learning from demonstration by asking the question: “Can robot... more We explore beyond existing work in learning from demonstration by asking the question: “Can robots learn to guide?”, that is, can a robot autonomously learn an instructional policy from expert demonstration and use it to instruct humans in executing complex task? As a solution, we propose learning of instructional policy (piI)(\pi^{I})(piI) that maps the state to an instruction for a human. To learn piI\pi^{I}piI, we define action primitives that addresses the challenge of mapping continuous state action trajectories to human parse-able instructions. Action primitives are demonstrated to be very effective in automatic segmentation of demonstration trajectories into fewer repetitive and reusable segments, and a highly scalable approach in comparison to the existing state-of-the art. Finally, we construct a non-generic policy model as a generative model for instructional policies to generate instruction for an entire task. With few modifications, the proposed model is demonstrated to perform autonomous execution of complex truck loading task on hydraulic actuated scaled excavator robot. Guidance approach is tested based on a controlled group study involving 75 participants, who learn to perform the same task.

The goal of this study was to test two visual co-robot interfaces (one simple and one more comple... more The goal of this study was to test two visual co-robot interfaces (one simple and one more complex) and their effectiveness in teaching a novice participant to operate a complex machine at a later date without assistance. Participants (N = 113) were randomly assigned to one of three groups (one with a basic user interface, one with a more complex guidance interface, and one without an interface) to test the teaching ability of the co-robot in training the user to perform a task with a remote-controlled excavator. Each group was asked to load dirt from a bin into a small model dump truck (in scale with the excavator) with the help of the robot instructor and were asked to return a few days later to complete the task again without the robot instructor. Trials were monitored for completion time and errors and compared to those of an expert operator. The result was that the simple interface was slightly more effective than the more complex version at teaching humans a complicated task. This suggests that novices may learn better and retain more information when given basic feedback (using operant conditioning principles) and less guidance from robot teachers. As robots are increasingly used to help humans learn skills, industries may benefit from simpler guided instructions rather than more complex versions. Such changes in training may result in improved situational awareness and increased safety in the workplace.

International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 2018

Researchers have established new techniques to study human-robot interactions based on current kn... more Researchers have established new techniques to study human-robot interactions based on current knowledge in interspecies communication and comparative psychology. Studies on animal acceptance of robot conspecifics in complex social environments has led to the development of robots that adapt to animal and human behaviors. Using a robot with adaptable algorithms developed by the authors, the researchers hypothesized that, by using familiar visual rewards as positive reinforcement, robots could use operant conditioning principles to teach humans a basic task. The robot in this study independently determined optimal control of construction equipment by capturing the motions from an expert operator. The robot then attempted to teach those same skills to novice operators using familiar, yet simple, visual reinforcement tools. In this study, participants were asked to manipulate a model excavator using feedback from the guidance system on a nearby computer screen. Participants were assigned randomly to one of 3 groups: simple visual reinforcement, complex guidance, and no visual feedback (blank screen). To measure learning, participants returned a day later to repeat the task without the guidance. The group using simple feedback resulted in cycle times that were closer to the expert times than both the complex or control groups and had significantly different end times (p < 0.05) than either group. This result supports the hypothesis that, similar to what has been found in vertebrates and invertebrates, robots can shape behaviors of humans using visual positive reinforcement.

Ciência Animal Brasileira, Sep 1, 2016

This article briefly describes different conditioning techniques used to help understand learning... more This article briefly describes different conditioning techniques used to help understand learning in farm livestock and economically important animals. A basic overview of conditioning is included along with the importance of different conditioning methods, associative and non-associative learning, and how these principles apply to chickens, horses, cows, goats, pigs, and sheep. Additional information on learning theory specific for each animal is also provided.

Asian Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, Dec 23, 2019

This article provides a brief history and description of comparative psychology and provides pers... more This article provides a brief history and description of comparative psychology and provides perspectives about the current state of comparative psychology and unique research opportunities in Asia. An argument is made for why comparative psychology is needed in Asia and practical, teaching, and other aspects and applications are discussed. The application of comparative psychology in equine-human and canine-human interactions and therapies are highlighted.

Journal of Veterinary Behavior, Sep 1, 2016

Horses may display increased locomotory and vocal activity when separated from their preferred pa... more Horses may display increased locomotory and vocal activity when separated from their preferred partners, which can increase anxiety levels and injury risk. This study evaluated physiological and behavioral evidence of separation anxiety in separated preferred partners, and the potential stress-reducing effect of Confidence EQÒ (CEVA), a pheromone gel for intranasal application. Four strongly bonded horse pairs of various breeds were familiarized three times with Polar equine belts and the intranasal application of the product or a placebo. A Latin Square research design was used with complete randomization of separation combinations comprising 2 horses  2 locations  2 treatments. Baseline recordings of heart rate (HR) and HR variability were undertaken on pasture for one hour prior to separation. Both horses were given either a placebo or treatment thirty minutes before the one-hour separation (stall, pasture, with conspecifics). All sessions were videographed for behavioral analysis. MANOVA with pairwise comparisons was performed on standardized physiological or behavioral variables to test for location and treatment effects. There were no significant differences between treatments within separation locations (Z < 1.26; P > 0.05), or when comparing the physiological disparity between pasture and barn locations (Z ¼ 1.76, P > 0.05). These results suggest that the pheromone does not profoundly reduce separation anxiety, but could potnetially have potential for mitigation of the extremeness of anxiety, especially when separation involves relocation of horses to a novel environment. Further research with larger sample sizes for its use in increasing the safety of horse and handler during training of horses is needed.

Animals, Jan 7, 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 2016

Horses may display increased locomotory and vocal activity when separated from their preferred pa... more Horses may display increased locomotory and vocal activity when separated from their preferred partners, which can increase anxiety levels and injury risk. This study evaluated physiological and behavioral evidence of separation anxiety in separated preferred partners, and the potential stress-reducing effect of Confidence EQÒ (CEVA), a pheromone gel for intranasal application. Four strongly bonded horse pairs of various breeds were familiarized three times with Polar equine belts and the intranasal application of the product or a placebo. A Latin Square research design was used with complete randomization of separation combinations comprising 2 horses  2 locations  2 treatments. Baseline recordings of heart rate (HR) and HR variability were undertaken on pasture for one hour prior to separation. Both horses were given either a placebo or treatment thirty minutes before the one-hour separation (stall, pasture, with conspecifics). All sessions were videographed for behavioral analysis. MANOVA with pairwise comparisons was performed on standardized physiological or behavioral variables to test for location and treatment effects. There were no significant differences between treatments within separation locations (Z < 1.26; P > 0.05), or when comparing the physiological disparity between pasture and barn locations (Z ¼ 1.76, P > 0.05). These results suggest that the pheromone does not profoundly reduce separation anxiety, but could potnetially have potential for mitigation of the extremeness of anxiety, especially when separation involves relocation of horses to a novel environment. Further research with larger sample sizes for its use in increasing the safety of horse and handler during training of horses is needed.

Animals, 2023

Studies show that horses express favoritism through shared proximity and time and demonstrate uni... more Studies show that horses express favoritism through shared proximity and time and demonstrate
unique affiliative behaviors such as allogrooming (mutual scratching) with favorite conspecifics.
Allogrooming also occurs more frequently during stress and has been observed to occur more frequently
in domestic herds than feral. The role of partner preference, lateralization, and duration of allogrooming
as measures of social bonding has remained unclear. The present study looked at two socially stable
herds of mares (n = 85, n = 115) to determine the frequency, duration, visual field of view and partner
preference during allogrooming in both pasture settings (low stress) and confined settings (higher
stress). One hundred and fifty-three videos for both herds were coded for allogrooming behaviors with
6.86 h recorded in confined conditions and 31.9 h in pasture settings. Six allogrooming sessions were
observed in the pasture setting with an average duration of 163.11 s. In confined settings, a total of
118 allogrooming sessions were observed with an average duration of 40.98 s. Significant (p < 0.01)
differences were found between settings for duration (s), number of allogrooming pairs, and frequency
of allogrooming (per min) for each herd. All observed allogrooming sessions involved pairs of favored
conspecifics (one partner per horse). The current study suggests that horses may have friendships that
can be observed through the demonstration of specific affiliative behaviors during times of stress with
more frequent, but shorter affiliative interactions with preferred partners during times of stress. This
context suggests that horses adhere to the “tend and befriend” principles of friendship in animals.

International Journal of Zoology and Animal Biology, 2022

Horses have played an important role in human history and the techniques and strategies with whic... more Horses have played an important role in human history and the techniques and strategies with which we interact with them is based on concepts of operant conditioning with emphasis on negative and positive reinforcement. The human-horse interactions in training are primarily based on the desires and goals of the human with the recognition that proper response to horse behaviors should be considered in order to effectively achieve the desired training goal and minimize stress. When considering the concepts of language and communication, horse owners need to consider the ethological communication strategies of horses and the role they play in traditional horse-human interactions. By including principles of interspecies communication, mutual development of language, and pro-social behaviors, it may be possible to involve horses in the decision-making processes in which they are so often involved.

arXiv: Robotics, Nov 22, 2016

We explore beyond existing work on learning from demonstration by asking the question: "Can robot... more We explore beyond existing work on learning from demonstration by asking the question: "Can robots learn to teach?", that is, can a robot autonomously learn an instructional policy from expert demonstration and use it to instruct or collaborate with humans in executing complex tasks in uncertain environments? In this paper we pursue a solution to this problem by leveraging the idea that humans often implicitly decompose a higher level task into several subgoals whose execution brings the task closer to completion. We propose Dirichlet process based non-parametric Inverse Reinforcement Learning (DPMIRL) approach for reward based unsupervised clustering of task space into subgoals. This approach is shown to capture the latent subgoals that a human teacher would have utilized to train a novice. The notion of "action primitive" is introduced as the means to communicate instruction policy to humans in the least complicated manner, and as a computationally efficient tool to segment demonstration data. We evaluate our approach through experiments on hydraulic actuated scaled model of an excavator and evaluate and compare different teaching strategies utilized by the robot.

Animals

The nomenclature used to describe animals working in roles supporting people can be confusing. Th... more The nomenclature used to describe animals working in roles supporting people can be confusing. The same term may be used to describe different roles, or two terms may mean the same thing. This confusion is evident among researchers, practitioners, and end users. Because certain animal roles are provided with legal protections and/or government-funding support in some jurisdictions, it is necessary to clearly define the existing terms to avoid confusion. The aim of this paper is to provide operationalized definitions for nine terms, which would be useful in many world regions: “assistance animal”, “companion animal”, “educational/school support animal”, “emotional support animal”, “facility animal”, “service animal”, “skilled companion animal”, “therapy animal”, and “visiting/visitation animal”. At the International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ) conferences in 2018 and 2020, over 100 delegates participated in workshops to define these terms, many of whom co-authored this paper. Th...

Animals, Nov 26, 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Oct 1, 2020

Humans use food rewards as positive reinforcement for training horses, but there is little eviden... more Humans use food rewards as positive reinforcement for training horses, but there is little evidence to show that human interaction (scratching or patting) has reward value or if domestic horses perceive human touch as social bonding. Most equine training is based on negative reinforcement, but food is a known reward for training through positive reinforcement. This study looked at how horses perceive human interaction as a form of positive reward by examining whether scratching and patting can serve as a reward for a behavior and how this compares to known rewards (treats) based on horses' ability to use symbols to show preferences. A secondary purpose of this study was to explore behaviors before, during, and after the choice test and code changes based on known equine ethology and determine any correlations between known individual histories of horses, their behavior, and any differences in preferences for human interactions based on whether the human was familiar versus unfamiliar. For the quantitative component, the study counted the number of times each horse touched each target (touch counts) and behaviors were recorded with use of a GoPro Hero camera. The touch counts for each symbol for the last trial were compared using Observation Oriented Modelling (OOM), a non-parametric approach to analyze patterns in data, and the behaviors were coded and compared to known behaviors in equine ethology. Post-hoc analysis of final touch counts resulted in a pattern of fewer than 2 touches for both scratches and pats for most horses and consistently ten touches (the maximum) for treats for all horses. Post-hoc pattern analysis resulted in a Percent Correct Classification (PCC) index of 93.94 (c-value < .001) for the familiar human and 87.88 (c-value < .001) for the unfamiliar researcher suggesting that, given the study conditions, all horses in this study showed preference for treats over human contact, regardless of handling or training histories. All horses also displayed arousal behaviors during the study suggesting the study, and potentially the novel food component, induced an arousal response.

arXiv (Cornell University), Nov 22, 2016

We explore beyond existing work on learning from demonstration by asking the question: "Can robot... more We explore beyond existing work on learning from demonstration by asking the question: "Can robots learn to teach?", that is, can a robot autonomously learn an instructional policy from expert demonstration and use it to instruct or collaborate with humans in executing complex tasks in uncertain environments? In this paper we pursue a solution to this problem by leveraging the idea that humans often implicitly decompose a higher level task into several subgoals whose execution brings the task closer to completion. We propose Dirichlet process based non-parametric Inverse Reinforcement Learning (DPMIRL) approach for reward based unsupervised clustering of task space into subgoals. This approach is shown to capture the latent subgoals that a human teacher would have utilized to train a novice. The notion of "action primitive" is introduced as the means to communicate instruction policy to humans in the least complicated manner, and as a computationally efficient tool to segment demonstration data. We evaluate our approach through experiments on hydraulic actuated scaled model of an excavator and evaluate and compare different teaching strategies utilized by the robot.

Comprehensive Psychology, 2015

This article presents a series of exercises using consumer products to teach students and childre... more This article presents a series of exercises using consumer products to teach students and children basics of the scientific method. Ants and honey bees are used to test the effectiveness of popular...

Recently, collaborative robots have begun to train humans to achieve complex tasks, and the mutua... more Recently, collaborative robots have begun to train humans to achieve complex tasks, and the mutual information exchange between them can lead to successful robot-human collaborations. In this paper we demonstrate the application and effectiveness of a new approach called mutual reinforcement learning (MRL), where both humans and autonomous agents act as reinforcement learners in a skill transfer scenario over continuous communication and feedback. An autonomous agent initially acts as an instructor who can teach a novice human participant complex skills using the MRL strategy. While teaching skills in a physical (block-building) (n = 34) or simulated (Tetris) environment (n = 31), the expert tries to identify appropriate reward channels preferred by each individual and adapts itself accordingly using an exploration-exploitation strategy. These reward channel preferences can identify important behaviors of the human participants, because they may well exercise the same behaviors in similar situations later. In this way, skill transfer takes place between an expert system and a novice human operator. We divided the subject population into three groups and observed the skill transfer phenomenon, analyzing it with Simpson"s psychometric model. 5-point Likert scales were also used to identify the cognitive models of the human participants. We obtained a shared cognitive model which not only improves human cognition but enhances the robot's cognitive strategy to understand the mental model of its human partners while building a successful robot-human collaborative framework.

International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 2018

Practitioners of Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies (EAAT) use these therapies to help indi... more Practitioners of Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies (EAAT) use these therapies to help individuals suffering from a wide range of physical and psychological disorders as an alternative practice in physical and psychotherapy. Although there is plenty of research to support the benefits of these therapies, there is little research in equine behavior in this context, specifically how equine behaviors can best be utilized to improve the health of the human component. Although much of EAAT uses horses in physical therapy, newer practices in EAAT focus on assisting individuals in building and improving interpersonal skills through practicing those skills with horses. To fully understand and develop this area of EAAT, researchers need to look at the behavioral patterns of horses, how they learn and adapt to changes in human emotions and behaviors, and how these behaviors correspond to bonding within equine-human interactions. To do this, scientists need to rely upon the principles of learning theory and behavioral sciences associated with comparative psychology. The scientific methods used in comparative psychology provide a strong foundation from which to research these areas of EAAT.

The researchers in this study have developed a novel approach using mutual reinforcement learning... more The researchers in this study have developed a novel approach using mutual reinforcement learning (MRL) where both the robot and human act as empathetic individuals who function as reinforcement learning agents for each other to achieve a particular task over continuous communication and feedback. This shared model not only has a collective impact but improves human cognition and helps in building a successful human-robot relationship. In our current work, we compared our learned reinforcement model with a baseline non-reinforcement and random approach in a robotics domain to identify the significance and impact of MRL. MRL contributed to improved skill transfer, and the robot was able successfully to predict which reinforcement behaviors would be most valuable to its human partners.

Robots are capable of training humans to achieve complex tasks, and their helpful feedback can le... more Robots are capable of training humans to achieve complex tasks, and their helpful feedback can lead to useful human-robot collaborations. In this research we present a reinforcement learning model influenced by human cognition which is repurposed to enhance human learning, investigate a robot's ability to encourage and motivate humans and improve their performance. During teaching the robot trades off between exploration and exploitation to understand the human perception and develop a successful motivational approach. We compare our learned reinforcement model with a baseline nonreinforcement approach and with a random reinforcer, and achieve more effective teaching in the learned reinforcement condition. In addition, we discovered an extremely strong relationship (r = 0.88) between the robot's regret, in a machine learning sense, and the performance of its human partner.

We explore beyond existing work in learning from demonstration by asking the question: “Can robot... more We explore beyond existing work in learning from demonstration by asking the question: “Can robots learn to guide?”, that is, can a robot autonomously learn an instructional policy from expert demonstration and use it to instruct humans in executing complex task? As a solution, we propose learning of instructional policy (piI)(\pi^{I})(piI) that maps the state to an instruction for a human. To learn piI\pi^{I}piI, we define action primitives that addresses the challenge of mapping continuous state action trajectories to human parse-able instructions. Action primitives are demonstrated to be very effective in automatic segmentation of demonstration trajectories into fewer repetitive and reusable segments, and a highly scalable approach in comparison to the existing state-of-the art. Finally, we construct a non-generic policy model as a generative model for instructional policies to generate instruction for an entire task. With few modifications, the proposed model is demonstrated to perform autonomous execution of complex truck loading task on hydraulic actuated scaled excavator robot. Guidance approach is tested based on a controlled group study involving 75 participants, who learn to perform the same task.

The goal of this study was to test two visual co-robot interfaces (one simple and one more comple... more The goal of this study was to test two visual co-robot interfaces (one simple and one more complex) and their effectiveness in teaching a novice participant to operate a complex machine at a later date without assistance. Participants (N = 113) were randomly assigned to one of three groups (one with a basic user interface, one with a more complex guidance interface, and one without an interface) to test the teaching ability of the co-robot in training the user to perform a task with a remote-controlled excavator. Each group was asked to load dirt from a bin into a small model dump truck (in scale with the excavator) with the help of the robot instructor and were asked to return a few days later to complete the task again without the robot instructor. Trials were monitored for completion time and errors and compared to those of an expert operator. The result was that the simple interface was slightly more effective than the more complex version at teaching humans a complicated task. This suggests that novices may learn better and retain more information when given basic feedback (using operant conditioning principles) and less guidance from robot teachers. As robots are increasingly used to help humans learn skills, industries may benefit from simpler guided instructions rather than more complex versions. Such changes in training may result in improved situational awareness and increased safety in the workplace.

International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 2018

Researchers have established new techniques to study human-robot interactions based on current kn... more Researchers have established new techniques to study human-robot interactions based on current knowledge in interspecies communication and comparative psychology. Studies on animal acceptance of robot conspecifics in complex social environments has led to the development of robots that adapt to animal and human behaviors. Using a robot with adaptable algorithms developed by the authors, the researchers hypothesized that, by using familiar visual rewards as positive reinforcement, robots could use operant conditioning principles to teach humans a basic task. The robot in this study independently determined optimal control of construction equipment by capturing the motions from an expert operator. The robot then attempted to teach those same skills to novice operators using familiar, yet simple, visual reinforcement tools. In this study, participants were asked to manipulate a model excavator using feedback from the guidance system on a nearby computer screen. Participants were assigned randomly to one of 3 groups: simple visual reinforcement, complex guidance, and no visual feedback (blank screen). To measure learning, participants returned a day later to repeat the task without the guidance. The group using simple feedback resulted in cycle times that were closer to the expert times than both the complex or control groups and had significantly different end times (p < 0.05) than either group. This result supports the hypothesis that, similar to what has been found in vertebrates and invertebrates, robots can shape behaviors of humans using visual positive reinforcement.

Ciência Animal Brasileira, Sep 1, 2016

This article briefly describes different conditioning techniques used to help understand learning... more This article briefly describes different conditioning techniques used to help understand learning in farm livestock and economically important animals. A basic overview of conditioning is included along with the importance of different conditioning methods, associative and non-associative learning, and how these principles apply to chickens, horses, cows, goats, pigs, and sheep. Additional information on learning theory specific for each animal is also provided.

Asian Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, Dec 23, 2019

This article provides a brief history and description of comparative psychology and provides pers... more This article provides a brief history and description of comparative psychology and provides perspectives about the current state of comparative psychology and unique research opportunities in Asia. An argument is made for why comparative psychology is needed in Asia and practical, teaching, and other aspects and applications are discussed. The application of comparative psychology in equine-human and canine-human interactions and therapies are highlighted.

Journal of Veterinary Behavior, Sep 1, 2016

Horses may display increased locomotory and vocal activity when separated from their preferred pa... more Horses may display increased locomotory and vocal activity when separated from their preferred partners, which can increase anxiety levels and injury risk. This study evaluated physiological and behavioral evidence of separation anxiety in separated preferred partners, and the potential stress-reducing effect of Confidence EQÒ (CEVA), a pheromone gel for intranasal application. Four strongly bonded horse pairs of various breeds were familiarized three times with Polar equine belts and the intranasal application of the product or a placebo. A Latin Square research design was used with complete randomization of separation combinations comprising 2 horses  2 locations  2 treatments. Baseline recordings of heart rate (HR) and HR variability were undertaken on pasture for one hour prior to separation. Both horses were given either a placebo or treatment thirty minutes before the one-hour separation (stall, pasture, with conspecifics). All sessions were videographed for behavioral analysis. MANOVA with pairwise comparisons was performed on standardized physiological or behavioral variables to test for location and treatment effects. There were no significant differences between treatments within separation locations (Z < 1.26; P > 0.05), or when comparing the physiological disparity between pasture and barn locations (Z ¼ 1.76, P > 0.05). These results suggest that the pheromone does not profoundly reduce separation anxiety, but could potnetially have potential for mitigation of the extremeness of anxiety, especially when separation involves relocation of horses to a novel environment. Further research with larger sample sizes for its use in increasing the safety of horse and handler during training of horses is needed.

Animals, Jan 7, 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 2016

Horses may display increased locomotory and vocal activity when separated from their preferred pa... more Horses may display increased locomotory and vocal activity when separated from their preferred partners, which can increase anxiety levels and injury risk. This study evaluated physiological and behavioral evidence of separation anxiety in separated preferred partners, and the potential stress-reducing effect of Confidence EQÒ (CEVA), a pheromone gel for intranasal application. Four strongly bonded horse pairs of various breeds were familiarized three times with Polar equine belts and the intranasal application of the product or a placebo. A Latin Square research design was used with complete randomization of separation combinations comprising 2 horses  2 locations  2 treatments. Baseline recordings of heart rate (HR) and HR variability were undertaken on pasture for one hour prior to separation. Both horses were given either a placebo or treatment thirty minutes before the one-hour separation (stall, pasture, with conspecifics). All sessions were videographed for behavioral analysis. MANOVA with pairwise comparisons was performed on standardized physiological or behavioral variables to test for location and treatment effects. There were no significant differences between treatments within separation locations (Z < 1.26; P > 0.05), or when comparing the physiological disparity between pasture and barn locations (Z ¼ 1.76, P > 0.05). These results suggest that the pheromone does not profoundly reduce separation anxiety, but could potnetially have potential for mitigation of the extremeness of anxiety, especially when separation involves relocation of horses to a novel environment. Further research with larger sample sizes for its use in increasing the safety of horse and handler during training of horses is needed.

Animals, 2023

Studies show that horses express favoritism through shared proximity and time and demonstrate uni... more Studies show that horses express favoritism through shared proximity and time and demonstrate
unique affiliative behaviors such as allogrooming (mutual scratching) with favorite conspecifics.
Allogrooming also occurs more frequently during stress and has been observed to occur more frequently
in domestic herds than feral. The role of partner preference, lateralization, and duration of allogrooming
as measures of social bonding has remained unclear. The present study looked at two socially stable
herds of mares (n = 85, n = 115) to determine the frequency, duration, visual field of view and partner
preference during allogrooming in both pasture settings (low stress) and confined settings (higher
stress). One hundred and fifty-three videos for both herds were coded for allogrooming behaviors with
6.86 h recorded in confined conditions and 31.9 h in pasture settings. Six allogrooming sessions were
observed in the pasture setting with an average duration of 163.11 s. In confined settings, a total of
118 allogrooming sessions were observed with an average duration of 40.98 s. Significant (p < 0.01)
differences were found between settings for duration (s), number of allogrooming pairs, and frequency
of allogrooming (per min) for each herd. All observed allogrooming sessions involved pairs of favored
conspecifics (one partner per horse). The current study suggests that horses may have friendships that
can be observed through the demonstration of specific affiliative behaviors during times of stress with
more frequent, but shorter affiliative interactions with preferred partners during times of stress. This
context suggests that horses adhere to the “tend and befriend” principles of friendship in animals.

International Journal of Zoology and Animal Biology, 2022

Horses have played an important role in human history and the techniques and strategies with whic... more Horses have played an important role in human history and the techniques and strategies with which we interact with them is based on concepts of operant conditioning with emphasis on negative and positive reinforcement. The human-horse interactions in training are primarily based on the desires and goals of the human with the recognition that proper response to horse behaviors should be considered in order to effectively achieve the desired training goal and minimize stress. When considering the concepts of language and communication, horse owners need to consider the ethological communication strategies of horses and the role they play in traditional horse-human interactions. By including principles of interspecies communication, mutual development of language, and pro-social behaviors, it may be possible to involve horses in the decision-making processes in which they are so often involved.

arXiv: Robotics, Nov 22, 2016

We explore beyond existing work on learning from demonstration by asking the question: "Can robot... more We explore beyond existing work on learning from demonstration by asking the question: "Can robots learn to teach?", that is, can a robot autonomously learn an instructional policy from expert demonstration and use it to instruct or collaborate with humans in executing complex tasks in uncertain environments? In this paper we pursue a solution to this problem by leveraging the idea that humans often implicitly decompose a higher level task into several subgoals whose execution brings the task closer to completion. We propose Dirichlet process based non-parametric Inverse Reinforcement Learning (DPMIRL) approach for reward based unsupervised clustering of task space into subgoals. This approach is shown to capture the latent subgoals that a human teacher would have utilized to train a novice. The notion of "action primitive" is introduced as the means to communicate instruction policy to humans in the least complicated manner, and as a computationally efficient tool to segment demonstration data. We evaluate our approach through experiments on hydraulic actuated scaled model of an excavator and evaluate and compare different teaching strategies utilized by the robot.

Animals

The nomenclature used to describe animals working in roles supporting people can be confusing. Th... more The nomenclature used to describe animals working in roles supporting people can be confusing. The same term may be used to describe different roles, or two terms may mean the same thing. This confusion is evident among researchers, practitioners, and end users. Because certain animal roles are provided with legal protections and/or government-funding support in some jurisdictions, it is necessary to clearly define the existing terms to avoid confusion. The aim of this paper is to provide operationalized definitions for nine terms, which would be useful in many world regions: “assistance animal”, “companion animal”, “educational/school support animal”, “emotional support animal”, “facility animal”, “service animal”, “skilled companion animal”, “therapy animal”, and “visiting/visitation animal”. At the International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ) conferences in 2018 and 2020, over 100 delegates participated in workshops to define these terms, many of whom co-authored this paper. Th...