270109 Psychology from the viewpoint of Artificial Intelligence: 'The emotional machine' (S) (SoSe 2010)

The seminar will be based on a recent book by Marvin Minsky (2006) ‚The Emotion Machine’. The book covers almost the complete catalog of psychological topics/disciplines (e.g., cognition, emotion, development, personality, disorders) from the perspective of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. More precisely, Minsky, a founding member of AI, offers an integrated theoretical framework to these various highly specialized topics/disciplines of psychological research. A major goal of the seminar is to evaluate Minsky’s theoretical claims (e.g., about how emotions, development, personality „works“) from what is currently known by psychology - at the level of textbooks and, selectively, at the level of selected recent research papers.

Teilnahmevoraussetzungen, notwendige Vorkenntnisse

The seminar language will be English – basic (not advanced) skills in reading, writing, presentation and discussing are presupposed. Moreover, in order to connect and evaluate the ideas of artificial intelligence (AI) - no preknowledge necessary - about the human mind from a psychological viewpoint, knowledge of introductory Psychology textbooks (e.g., Peter Gray or David G. Meyers) or of the lecture “Introducton to Psychology“ (WS, 4 SWS) is required.

Literaturangaben

Marvin Minsky (2006). The Emotion Machine: Common Sense Thinking, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of the Human Mind. NY: Simon & Schuster.