memo41-draft+overview

This project aims at exploring the capabilities of humans to use anthropomorphic robots with the same abilities of a human actant to understand how these actants that are supposed similar to each other with no differentiation can help individuals with schizophrenia to recover their social and emotional problems. To reach this aim, this project will done 60 in depth interview with social robotic, psychology scholars, robotic engineers and schizophrenics patients. Besides in this project, I am going to do an observational study of interactions of human and robots by observing the interactions of schizophrenic patients with anthropomorphic robots that are designed and programmed by robotic engineers based on the needs of schizophrenic patients. The expected results are that proving that humanoid robots could become an assistants or a even a psychiatrist in treating schizophrenia, to prove that humans can design and invent technologies so similar to themselves that are not different from them and can easily interact with them. This project is a significant research in so robotic field as it is aiming to discover new capabilities that robot can have in everyday life especially in psychology so it could be interesting for social robotic scholars, robotic engineers and hapless patients who are suffering from psychological disorders to understand how new technologies can endow them new remedies .On the other hand, this project will substantiate the actor network theory’s arguments that there is no difference in the ability of technology and humans to act and that the agency of nonhumans, technologies in particular have the significant importance as humans have. This interdisciplinary study aims to accomplish an empirical study of the capabilities of advanced technologies, to prove that designing and programming an anthropomorphic robot as similar as to the characteristic and appearances of humans can make them equivalent to humans. Besides this empirical study, interviewing with scholars and involved actants will also substantiate the psychiatrist functions of anthropomorphic robot. This project will disclose that how advanced technologies can help people in need of social and emotional support, schizophrenics patients in particular. It also will reveal that not only the subjectivity of scientists and technology inventers affect the subject of invention, but also the subjectivity of objects affects technology. In this project, I will review how can robotic engineers can design and program anthropomorphic robots based on the communicative and social needs of schizophrenic people that are objects of the study. In addition to theoretical study of the symptoms of schizophrenia and the negative impacts of this disease on such patients and also the theoretical study of the recent discoveries of robot’s capabilities, I am going to observe in a 6 month period the interactions of schizophrenic people and humanoid robots in two psychiatric clinics in Japan and USA. This empirical approach has a significant importance since the direct interactions of anthropomorphic robots and humans will be observed and the gradual impacts of them on schizophrenic patients will be controlled and monitored. Doing this project at the present time has its own significance, as many scholars are struggling to discover new functions of robots on human lives, and that could be also a good completion of recent investments on the impacts of robots on children with autism.On the other hand, this project will help tp the development of social robotic field. I, Tahereh Saheb am a PhD student in science, technology and study at Rennsselaer Polytechnic Institute. I have studied all literature on schizophrenia and social robotic and have attended relevant conferences on new treatment methods of schizophrenia and human robot interactions and have published some papers in professional journals. So I feel completely ready to do this magnificent research which is new in its own kind that maybe will cause to the emergence of a new filed, robopscyhotherapy. At the present time, struggles are toward revealing and discovering the helps that robots can give to children with autism and also how robots can help elder people. Not specific research has done for severe psychological disorders, schizophrenia in order. Therefore, there is no research background directly related to this project expects those that are done for autistic children and elder people. These social and cultural studies have been initiated in recent years so they are new in their own, in general, working on the psychological functions of robots and their interactions with human is a new concern for study that has grown concurrent to the recent developments in robotic technologies especially humanoid and anthropomorphic robots. Many robotic engineers around the globe especially in Japan are trying to replace humanoid robots with real girl friends or real friends and accompanying for lonely people. They even are talking about sex and marriage with robots in early future. So this project is the rudimentary steps of these complex series. PREPARATION AND WORK THUS FAR p.s I have not done any pilot study METHODOLOGY AND PLAN OF WORK Conceptual framework In this research, I will conceptualize the psychiatric functions of anthropomorphic robots for individuals with psychological disorders. The theoretical framework of the research will be based on social interaction theories, trust in human robot interactions, and actor network theory. 1-What are various treatment methods of schizophrenia? 2- Which method has had effective effect on treating schizophrenia? 3-Do schizophrenic people have any tendency to do psychotherapy treatments? 4- How are schizophrenic patients active in their social communications? 5-What are the main factors in intensifying or diminishing the social interactions of schizophrenic people? 6-What are the reasons of abandoning a schizophrenic patient by families? 7- In the absence of family support, could humanoid robots be a supportive assistant for psychotherapy measures? 8-Can robots reduce the hallucination symptom of schizophrenia? 9-Can robots reduce social isolation of schizophrenic people? 10-How do robots produce social support in the personal network of schizophrenic patients and decrease the severity of psychological symptoms? 11-Do robots can lessen the stress and negative impacts of social relationships of families who have schizophrenic member in their family? 12- Do the psychotherapy functions of robots vary based on the demographic characteristics of schizophrenic people? Such as their age, gender and … 13- Can scientists apply gender and sex to humanoid robots? 14- How much the gender of humanoid robots affects the treatment of schizophrenic patients? 15- How much the subjectivity of scientists and object of study, in this case schizophrenic patients, affect the design of advanced technologies, in this case anthropomorphic robots? 16- In the network of human and robot interactions, is there any difference between anthropomorphic robot actants and psychiatrist actants? This project will be done in USA and Japan as these both countries have developed drastically in robotic technology but with a significant difference. American robotic engineers do not believe in anthropomorphic robots and mostly use robots for military aims whereas in Japan the common idea is about making robots as similar to humans to make their interactions in everyday life and with humans more facilitated. Japanese engineers are mostly enthusiastic to discover the potentialities of robots in everyday life whereas Americans are eager to use robots for military purposes. Therefore doing this project in these two sites will help STS scholars to understand how the subjectivity of scientists and objects of study affect the design of technologies and how designing these technology as close as humans can reduce their differences with human agencies. 1- //**Review of Primary literature and development of interview questions**//: In my research I will review the related literature of treatments of schizophrenic people and the advent and growth of socio robotic field. So the first part of my background research will be related to the scrutinizing the primary and secondary literature on schizophrenia as a psychological disorder and its treatment ways, medical and psychiatric ones in order to have a comprehensive understanding of efficiency of each treatment way in recovering schizophrenic people, to know the causes and symptoms of this psychological disorder and then reviewing the advantages and disadvantages of each treatment ways, to know what are the main factors in recovering schizophrenia, to review the literature on the roles of family, friend and group support , to review the communication and social relations of schizophrenic patients and to know what are the best ways of communication with them. To get these data, interviewing with psychiatrists, family members of schizophrenia, community members of schizophrenia societies and some schizophrenia patients will aid to precede the study. The other study component of this research will be reviewing periodicals, media archives r any documentary related to schizophrenia such as schizophrenia bulletin to become more aware of the latest innovations in recovering this mental disease. The second part will be reviewing the literature of the new field of socio robotic and human robot interactions to know about the functions of robotic technology in medical industry and psychiatry, to review the tendencies toward designing and programming anthropomorphous robots, to know how robots can help people with psychological disorders. The other study component for this part is media archive of the latest advancement in robotic technologies and interviewing with socio robotic and robotic engineers in USA and Japan on the functions of anthropomorphous robots in order to review the literature of socio robotic field and anthropomorphous robots. //**2- Developing question for multi sited ethnographic interviews:**// Since I will do some interviews with socio robotic scholars, robotic technology engineers and psychiatrists, I will prepare the materials for the multi sited ethnography of socio robotic and schizophrenia in USA and Japan by a set of questions and examples which will be produced by the literature review. Approximately 60 interviews will be conducted, 15 interviews with socio robotic and robotic engineers in USA, 15 with Japanese scholars, 10 with psychiatrics in Japan and 10 USA, 5 interviews with families and community members of schizophrenic patients and 5 interviews with 5 schizophrenic patient in USA and Japan. All will be conducted by face to face interviews. //**3- Empirical observations:**// In order to reach the main goal of this research, the psychiatric functions of humanoid robots, I will do a field observation of social and communication interactions of schizophrenic patients with humanoid robots for at least a 6 month period to examine the functions of humanoid robots on treatment of social and emotional conditions of schizophrenic patients. I will choose 2 schizophrenic patients, one male and another one a female patient to review also the role of gender in interactions with robots.
 * TITLE**
 * Human and anthropomorphic actants collaboration for treating schizophrenic patients **
 * ABSTRACT**
 * OVERVIEW **
 * BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE **
 * Research questions **
 * Site justification **
 * Study Components: **

//**4- Data Analysis:**// A series of questions which will link the primary aims of the study to the empirical data of the field observation, information gathered by the interviews and particular themes of the STS literatures will help me to analyze data. So at the first stage, interviews will be analyzed and then based on data of the interviews, I will start conducting the field observation. By the data analysis of this observation and interviews, I will examine my hypotheses based on STS theories. The proposed study will last tow year. It will start in August 2011 and will end in August 2013. Ø August 2011- I will initiate collecting and analyzing primary and secondary literature on schizophrenia, socio robotic and anthropomorphous robots. I will also start writing interview questions and contacting with interviewees. Ø October 2011- I will send the question to interviewees for their approval and editing and will code them for analysis. I will start the initial interviews with socio robotic scholars in Carnegie Mellon University, Socio Robotic Institute, Stanford University, MIT and RPI in USA and Waseda University, Humanoid Robot Institute, The university of Tokyo, The Robotic Society of Japan and Osaka University in Japan. Also I will start interviews with psychiatrics in New York State Psychiatric Institute and Ichinodai Mental Clinic, Tokyo, Japan. Ø Novermber 2011- I will analyze the first interviews and return them to interviewees for editing and approval. Concurrently, I will start refining coding structure. Ø December 2011-I will start the first round of interviews with psychiatrics, socio robotic, robotic engineers, family and community members of patients with schizophrenia and schizophrenic patients in USA. The interviews will be returned to the interviewees for editing. Ø March2012-I will complete analysis of existing data and information and will draw out themes as laid out in the research questions. Ø April 2012-I will travel to Japan, Tokyo to initiate my interviews with psychiatrics, socio robotic, robotic engineers, family and community members of patients with schizophrenia and schizophrenic patients. Ø May2012- I will start analyzing existing data and interviews with Japanese. I will also start negotiation with Japanese robotic engineers to program an anthropomorphous robot based on data collected of interviews, a humanoid robot more close to the social and communication desires of schizophrenic patients. Ø July 2012- I will start the 6 month field observation in Waseda University, Humanoid Robot Institute to observe the social and communication relations of anthropomorphous robots and schizophrenic patients. Ø January 2013- I will send the results of field observation to the psychiatrists and socio robotic scholars of Japan for the second interview.
 * Schedule of activities **
 * 1-** **August 2011- March 2012**
 * 2-** **March 2012-February 2013**

//**3-**// //**February2013-August 2013**// Ø February 2013- I will return to USA and will send the results of field observation to psychiatrists and socio robotic scholars to continue the second round of interviews with them. Simultaneously, I will start publishing the results in the relative conferences. Ø August 2013- I will finish writing and defending the thesis. Evaluation and Validity Research Ethics Some believes that using robots for people with psychological disorders are against ethical rules that will even worsen the symptoms of their disease. Psychiatrists should follow specific ethical codes, such as not telling every truth about their illnesses and even the dangerous effects of their disease. So when a schizophrenic patient was requested to communicate with a robot, which some call them as talking dolls, maybe his/her symptoms will be worsen , for example the anger symptom. One of the problems that schizophrenic patients have is the lack of emotional support. Most of them are disable to have a family and get married so they lack emotional support. By interfering gender and sexuality in designing robots, as using female robots for treating male schizophrenic patient or vice versa, some may object that this is not ethical. They may argue that making a short period emotional communications between robots and schizophrenic patients cannot help to treat even will worsen the symptoms. The specific robot that is used for the clinical observation cannot be always around schizophrenic patient ; the patient is just going to make communication with these patients for 6 month, so what if the schizophrenic patient emotionally become connected to the robots , so we have just worsened their emotional condition. The other ethical problem is that these robots are expensive to buy by these patients and just can be used in clinics. So if the patient become connected emotionally with the specific robot that was used for the observational field, it would be impossible for him/her to buy it. On the other hand, designing and making robots are too expensive and time consuming, what if the schizophrenic patient react aggressively to these robots and started attacking the robots? As any, even minor flaws in robots would make robots disable to use. DISSEMENATION I will present this project in human robot interaction conference, 4s conference and conferences related to schizophrenias. I will publish the primary finding and final results to journals on social robotic, STS and schizophrenia bulletin. Cross-expertise dialogue This project is an interdisciplinary project between social robotic scholars, psychologist, psychiatrists and robotic engineers to expand their professional communications and to expand their dialogue on discovering new functions of robots. Policy work I am expecting this project led to some educational policies that u niversities introduce a new interdisciplinary courses related to psychology, humanoid robots and socio robotic. I am also expect this project change policies regarding increasing the funding of socio robotic projects, allocating more money on buying humanoid robots by psychiatric clinics as these new technologies are expensive to use.
 * Conference presentations **
 * Publications **