Modeling appraisal in theory of mind reasoning

Cognitive appraisal theories, which link human emotional experience to their interpretations of events happening in the environment, are leading approaches to model emotions. In this paper, we investigate the computational modeling of appraisal in a multi-agent decisiontheoretic framework using POMDP based agents. We illustrate how five key appraisal dimensions (motivational relevance, motivation congruence, accountability, control and novelty) can be derived from the processes and information required for the agent's decision-making and belief maintenance. Through this illustration, we not only provide a solution for computationally modeling emotion in POMDP based agents, but also demonstrate the tight relationship between emotion and cognition. Our model of appraisal is applied to three different scenarios to illustrate its usage. We also discuss how the modeling of theory of mind (recursive beliefs about self and others) is critical for simulating social emotions.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: AAMAS
• Authors: Mei Si, Stacy C. Marsella, David V. Pynadath
• Keywords: AAMAS 2010, Cognitive Appraisal Theories, Intelligent Agents, Key Appraisal Dimensions, POMDP Based Agents