Bringing together multimodal and multilevel approaches to study the emergence of social bonds between children and improve social AI.

This protocol paper outlines an innovative multimodal and multilevel approach to studying the emergence and evolution of how children build social bonds with their peers, and its potential application to improving social artificial intelligence (AI). We detail a unique hyperscanning experimental framework utilizing functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to observe inter-brain synchrony in child dyads during collaborative tasks and social interactions. Our proposed longitudinal study spans middle childhood, aiming to capture the dynamic development of social connections and cognitive engagement in naturalistic settings.

Beyond Single-Mindedness: A Figure-Ground Reversal for the Cognitive Sciences.

A fundamental fact about human minds is that they are never truly alone: all minds are steeped in situated interaction. That social interaction matters is recognized by any experimentalist who seeks to exclude its influence by studying individuals in isolation. On this view, interaction complicates cognition.

Socio-conversational systems: Three challenges at the crossroads of fields.

Socio-conversational systems are dialogue systems, including what are sometimes referred to as chatbots, vocal assistants, social robots, and embodied conversational agents, that are capable of interacting with humans in a way that treats both the specifically social nature of the interaction and the content of a task. The aim of this paper is twofold: 1) to uncover some places where the compartmentalized nature of research conducted around socio-conversational systems creates problems for the field as a whole, and 2) to propose a way to overcome this compartmentalization and thus strengthen the capabilities of socio-conversational systems by defining common challenges. Specifically, we examine research carried out by the signal processing, natural language processing and dialogue, machine/deep learning, social/affective computing and social sciences communities.

Objective measurement of head movement differences in children with and without autism spectrum disorder.

Background: Deficits in motor movement in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have typically been characterized qualitatively by human observers. Although clinicians have noted the importance of atypical head positioning (e.g.

The language of online leadership: gender and youth engagement on the internet.

This study examines the JUNIOR SUMMIT online community, which consisted of 3,062 adolescents representing 139 countries, varying SES, and a range of experience with computers. The online forum culminated in the election of 100 delegates. By analyzing the messages posted before results of the election were announced, we explore whether language use predicts who was elected as a leader, as well as gender differences in leadership style.