[Should assistive robots have a "personality"? : Potential of simplified robot personalities]. / Sollten Assistenzroboter eine "Persönlichkeit" haben? : Potenzial simplifizierter Roboterpersönlichkeiten.

BACKGROUND: In the European Union (EU) research project "HOBBIT" prototypes of assistive robots were developed in order to support a more secure and independent life style and trials were run at the homes of elderly users. OBJECTIVE: The project "personAAL" aimed at investigating whether distinct behavioral forms of a robot ("personality"), despite an identical basic function (e.g. bringing a message) are perceived as different personalities by the test persons. MATERIAL AND METHODS: For this study a robot was equipped with two types of behavior, one more introverted (purely function-oriented, impersonal and factual) and the other more extroverted (lively and enriched). The two types of behavior were demonstrated to 13 test persons (mostly older persons and experts from the care domain). RESULTS: Nearly all of the test persons (12 out of 13) perceived a difference with respect to the behavior of the robot. Of the test persons 1 preferred the introverted robot, 9 the extroverted behavior of the robot and 3 had no preferences or stated that the preference depended on the context. The evaluation of answers to the Godspeed questionnaire resulted in significantly different perceptions of "anthropomorphism" and "animated" as well as in the total evaluation. It is also remarkable that no significant differences could be found for "likeability" and "perceived security". There was also no significant correlation between the preferred behavior of the robot and the self-assessment of the test person as being more introverted or extroverted. CONCLUSION: From these results it can be concluded that acceptance of a robot does not solely depend on the mere function, which of course is a precondition but that it is advisable to offer a choice between different types of behavior in order to optimize acceptance.

Verbal expressive personality testing with older adults: 25+ years later.

This review builds on those conducted over 25 years ago by Panek and Hayslip in examining the literature dealing with the use of verbal expressive techniques with older adults. Such findings based on the Rorschach Ink Blot Test, Holtzman Inkblot Technique, Hand Test, Sentence Completion methods, and the Thematic Apperception Test and kindred thematic apperceptive techniques are presented and evaluated regarding the evidence for age differences, differential diagnosis, extraneous individual differences in performance, and adequacy of normative data. Although available evidence appears to warrant the continued use of verbal expressive techniques with older adults, more adequately designed studies are necessary to fully support the potential of these assessment tools for decision making with this population: assisting in diagnosis, recommending the appropriateness of various living arrangements, facilitating supportive care choices, and aiding in treatment planning.

Light as a Possible Guidance in the Toilet Room from the View of Dementia Experts.

Digital assistants and guidance systems may support persons with dementia (PwD) during the independent use of the toilet room. The paper investigates the possible use of different light sources to provide visual stimuli for guidance. Demonstrators were presented to dementia experts to gather their views. While there is no evidence yet, it can be concluded that light stimuli in the toilet environment could be a (maybe only additional) option for guidance to be further investigated. The different methods must be always adapted to the local situation and the individual user characteristics.

Concept and Pictogram-Based User-Interface Design of a Helper Tool for People with Aphasia.

BACKGROUND: Aphasia describes the lack of the already gained ability to use language in a common way. "Language" here covers all variations of forming or understanding messages. OBJECTIVES: The APH-Alarm project aims to develop a service concept that provides alternative communication options for people with Aphasia to trigger timely help when needed. It considers that a typical user may not be familiar with modern technologies and offers several simple and intuitive options. METHODS: The approach is based on event detection of gestures (during daytime or in bed), movement pattern recognition in bed, and an easy-to-use pictogram-based smartphone app. RESULTS: Agile evaluation of the smartphone app showed a promising outcome. CONCLUSION: The idea of a versatile and comprehensive solution for aphasic people to easily contact private or public helpers based on their actions or automatic detection is promising and will be further investigated in an upcoming field trial.

Design Considerations for Novel Self-Adapting Toilets for Semi-Public Spaces.

People with physical limitations face significant challenges when using existing toilets. User requirements work shows the wide range of user needs and confirms the high demand for innovative toilets, enabling people to leave home more often and participate more in societal life. The Toilet For Me too (T4ME2) project aims to implement and test a new ICT-based toilet system capable of physically supporting users, allowing autonomous and safe use outside the home.

Integration of cognitive and physical training in a smart home environment for the elderly people.

Our research work is towards a service that can support senior citizens towards their independent living and active ageing. As it is suggested, physical and cognitive exercise training can contribute to a significant prolongation of personal autonomy and participation in society across prevailing age-related impairments such as cognitive decline. In the current paper, the approach of combination of both physical and cognitive training--adopted by LLM project--is discussed related to other similar projects that have taken place in the area of elderly home care and training. The aim of this work is to describe the technical design details of the integration process of the LLM service, which is based on a Web service architecture and to discuss alternative interface elements to be included in the LLM platform in terms of enabling user accessibility and acceptance.

Towards Smart Adaptive Care Toilets.

Standard toilets in Western countries often do not meet the needs of elderly and disabled people with physical limitations. While the existing concept of barrier-free toilets and the emerging "changing places" concept offer more space and support, the fixed height of the toilet seat still imposes a major problem during all phases of toilet use and can limit the users' autonomy by requiring personal assistance. Thus, in the EU project iToilet an innovative ICT-based modular height adjustable toilet system was designed to support the autonomy, dignity and safety of older people living at home by digital technology enhancements adapting the toilet to their needs and preferences. The main requirements were: double foldable handrails, height and tilt adjustment, emergency detection and call, and ease of use. The ICT component in this approach serves a double purpose of enhancing usability of the base assistive technology while at the same time providing safety for independent use. A field test of a prototype system in real environments of a day care center and a rehabilitation clinic has been successfully finished. The application of the iToilet concept also in semi-public settings is currently studied in the Toilet4me project.

Effects of age, gender, and causality on perceptions of persons with mental retardation.

The present study examined the effects of age, gender, and causality on the perceptions of persons with mental retardation. Participants rated individuals with mental retardation using a semantic differential scale with three factors: activity, evaluation, and potency. Target individuals in each scenario varied on the variables of age (8, 20, 45), gender (male, female), and causality of mental retardation (genetic, self-inflicted, inflicted by others). Perceptions differed significantly according to causality, with those with mental retardation due to inheritance/genetics (Down Syndrome) evaluated most positively and those whose mental retardation was self-inflicted viewed most negatively (brain damage due to drinking cleaning fluid). Female participants gave higher ratings than male participants for target subjects on evaluation and potency factors. Implications of findings for persons with mental retardation are discussed.

College students' perceptions of persons with intellectual disability at three different ages.

Studies of the perception of persons with intellectual disabilities have primarily focused on the evaluator's peers without specific reference to age or gender of the target person with intellectual disability. Using the semantic differential technique (assessments based on three independent factors: evaluation, activity and potency), 320 college students evaluated 1 person with intellectual disability, where gender (male, female) and age (3, 12, 20 years) were specified. Results indicated statistically different perceptions in the activity factor by age. The older the person with intellectually disability was, the more negative the perceptions on the activity factor. Implications of the results are discussed.

On the Prototyping of an ICT-Enhanced Toilet System for Assisting Older Persons Living Independently and Safely at Home.

Standard toilets often do not meet the needs of a significant number of older persons and persons with disabilities. The EU funded iToilet project aims at design and development of a new type of ICT enhanced modular toilet system which shall be able to support autonomy, dignity and safety of older persons living at home. Methodologically the project started with gathering user requirements by means of questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussion involving a total of 74 persons, thereof 41 subjects with movement disorders (primary users), 21 caregivers (secondary users) and 12 healthcare managers (tertiary users). Most important wishes were bilateral removable handrails, height and tilt adjustment, emergency detection, simplicity. In parallel to the ongoing technical development participatory design activities have been carried out at user test sites in order to continuously involve users into the design process and to allow quick feedback with regards to early prototype parts. The project currently is working on the finalization of the first prototype ready to enter the lab trial stage in spring 2017. The experiences will be used for redesigning a prototype 2 which is planned to be tested in real life settings early 2018.

Predicting travel attitudes among university faculty after 9/11.

The authors interviewed a random sample of 306 university faculty as part of an annual university poll. Items focused on air travel concerns following 9/11, positive aspects of travel, and future travel intentions. Demographic factors were not significant predictors for men or women faculty. Faculty expressed positive attitudes toward travel, for example agreeing that travel allows them to demonstrate competency. Concerns about missing connections and delays elicited a larger percent of negative reactions than concerns about hijackings or security. Gender differences were not observed on individual items, but in regression analyses a composite of self-reported travel risk factors was more predictive of future travel plans for women than for men, although women expected to travel as much in the future as men. The results are consistent with positive psychology and speak to applied aspects of travel and tourism.

Assessment of terms to describe mental retardation.

There is currently debate among professionals in the area of mental retardation/developmental disabilities regarding the use of, and a possible replacement for, the term mental retardation. Using the semantic differential technique, 284 participants drawn from various Midwestern populations completed assessments of several terms used to describe the condition known as mental retardation (e.g., intellectual disability) as well as the person with the condition (e.g., mentally challenged) and other disabilities (e.g., physically disabled). Assessments were made on three factors: evaluation, activity, and potency. Results indicated that although all of the terms were generally assessed neutrally, the term Mentally Challenged emerged as the most positive particularly compared to evaluations of the other investigated terms. Moreover, mentally challenged was evaluated as significantly more positive compared to the term physically disabled but was similarly evaluated as the term visually disabled. Implications of the results are discussed.

College students' perceptions of job demands, recommended retirement ages, and age of optimal performance in selected occupations.

Two studies were conducted. In study one 100 participants rated 60 occupations on the amount of cognitive/intellectual, physical, sensory-perceptual, and perceptual-motor demands they perceived as required for successful performance in that particular occupation. Results of a cluster analysis determined four clusters of occupations on the basis of the four demands. These clusters were described as High Risk, Professions, Skilled Trades, and White Collar. Further, for each of the four demands/dimensions, the cognitive/intellectual, physical, sensory-perceptual, and perceptual motor demands were significantly different both between and within clusters. In study two, 100 participants rated the perceived retirement age, and 99 different participants rated the perceived optimal performance age for the 60 occupations employed in study one. Results indicated that age norms for perceived recommended retirement and perceived optimal performance age were differentially correlated across the four clusters of occupations. Perceived retirement age and optimal performance age varied discriminably between occupational clusters.

Differences on the projective hand test among chronic pain patients reporting three different pain experiences.

This study examined personality differences among individuals experiencing 3 different types of pain. The projective Hand Test was administered to 90 individuals who were seeking treatment at a pain clinic in an urban area of the southeast United States. These people were seeking treatment for either arthritis (n = 31), fibromyalgia (n = 29), or migraine headaches (n = 30). A 2 (gender) x 3 (pain group) x Age Group multivariate analysis of variance was conducted using the quantitative Hand Test scoring variables as dependent measures. Results indicated that individuals who were seeking treatment for migraine headaches had a higher production rate of responses involving exhibitionistic displays (EXH) than individuals in the other 2 groups. Individuals who were seeking treatment for fibromyalgia had a higher production rate of responses indicating fear and phobic concerns (FEAR) than individuals in the other 2 groups. Individuals who were seeking treatment for arthritis had a higher production rate of Active (ACT) responses than individuals in the other 2 groups. Possible causes and consequences of these effects are discussed.

The development of a scoring system for the Gerontological Apperception Test.

To explore the viability of a revised and more differentiated scoring system for use with the Gerontological Apperception Test (GAT; Wolk & Wolk, 1971), 102 older adults (mean age = 68.3 years) were administered the GAT. Scoring criteria were developed to reflect a variety of constructs speaking to the interpersonal, health-related, and intrapsychic dimensions of the experience of later life. For each of these 20 GAT variables, indices of interscorer agreement exceeded 80%. Bivariate correlations suggested that 12 of 20 GAT dimension scores were related to chronological age as well as to scores derived from measures of crystallized and fluid ability. This also was true for 2 of 5 GAT factor scores. Not only do these data suggest that newly developed GAT variables can be reliably scored, but they also indicate that these more carefully differentiated variables relate to measures of intellectual functioning in theoretically meaningful ways. These findings therefore speak to the utility of the GAT using more carefully defined scoring criteria.