2. Socio-Cognitive Engineering

We will base our design principles for the robot on Self-Determination Theory [2]. It identifies three basic human needs as key components to be fulfilled when creating sustainable and fulfilling interactions. Those components are: competence, autonomy and relatedness. We will explain each of those terms and outline how our robot can be adapted to adhere to those needs. 

Competence:

Humans want to improve and gain mastery in the activity, to feel that they are becoming efficient in what they are doing. Translated to our robots' interaction with the PwD: the learning curve needs to be gradual. The PwD should experience that they are becoming better at painting and working with the robot. This means looking for an optimal trade-off in difficulty in each stage, so the PwD doesn't get overwhelmed and demotivated by the complexity of the task, but also stays interested and engaged by the challenge. 

Autonomy:

Autonomy means that a human feels like they have choice and are not feeling forced or coerced to act in a certain way. For interacting with the PwD we translate this in developing a clear and simple flow in the interaction, where we will give clear control to the PwD to skip or change the interaction in a way that suits their individual needs. 

Relatedness:

Relatedness refers to experiencing a sense of connection and belonging with one's environment. We will enhance this feeling with our robot by supporting the bond between the relative and the PwD through sharing memories and moments during the painting and talking sessions.  

Meaningful activities

Elderly persons who just start suffering from the symptoms and are moved to care homes often feel a disconnect from their previous daily life activities due to change in environment. Hence, for an individual to engage in an activity, connectedness is important. Three primary themes of connectedness were identified by [1], connected to self, others and the environments. We mainly want to focus on the first two themes.

Connected to self: Engaging in daily activities or hobbies that the individual used to carry out before being diagnosed is important to get a sense of normalcy and maintain their preferred lifestyle. Elderly people gain relaxation satisfaction and distraction from negative experiences from engaging in leisurely activities such as gardening, art, music etc. Engaging in reminiscence activities and reviewing past experiences helped PwD to recover their sense of identity and gain distraction from social isolation. Hence, it is important for the social robot to assist the PwD to carry out their preferred task as they normally would and in addition incorporate past experiences into the activity.

Connected to others: Elderly people who moved to care homed found it important to stay connected to loved ones and to maintain relationships regardless of their situation to combat loneliness. Additionally, PwD found it important to share their experiences and talk about their hobbies with loved ones to be enjoyable and relaxing. The social robot hence should provide means to keep connect with family members/ maintain important relationships and assist the PwD to share their experiences with their loved ones.

1. [INSERT CITATION DEEPALI]
2. Legault, L. (2017). “Self-determination theory,” in Encyclopedia of Personality
   and Individual Differences, eds V. Zeigler-Hill and T. K. Shackelfod, 1–9.