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A Mentalistic Interface for Probing Folk-Psychological Attribution to Non-Humanoid Robots

Giulio Pisaneschi, Pierpaolo Serio, Estelle Gerbier, Andrea Dan Ryals, Lorenzo Pollini, Mario G. C. A. Cimino

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental platform for studying intentional-state attribution toward a non-humanoid robot. The system combines a simulated robot, realistic task environments, and large language model-based explanatory layers that can express the same behavior in mentalistic, teleological, or mechanistic terms. By holding behavior constant while varying the explanatory frame, the platform provides a controlled way to investigate how language and framing shape the adoption of the intentional stance in robotics.

A Mentalistic Interface for Probing Folk-Psychological Attribution to Non-Humanoid Robots

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental platform for studying intentional-state attribution toward a non-humanoid robot. The system combines a simulated robot, realistic task environments, and large language model-based explanatory layers that can express the same behavior in mentalistic, teleological, or mechanistic terms. By holding behavior constant while varying the explanatory frame, the platform provides a controlled way to investigate how language and framing shape the adoption of the intentional stance in robotics.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 22 sections, 14 equations, 3 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related works
  3. Intentional Stance, Theory of Mind and folk psychology
  4. Designing an LLM-based Non-Humanoid intentional platform
  5. Implementation
  6. System State and Mental Representation
  7. Belief, Desire, and Intention Representation
  8. Events, Actions, and Decision Policy
  9. Explanation Frames
  10. System Infrastructure
  11. Logging and Traceability
  12. Results
  13. An experiment in the bookstore
  14. Intentional agent
  15. Teleological agent
  16. ...and 7 more sections

Figures (3)

  • Figure 1: Architecture of the proposed platform.
  • Figure 2: Plan view (top row) and camera view (bottom row) corresponding to the story settled in the bookstore environment.
  • Figure 3: Plain view (top row) and camera view (bottom row) corresponding to the story settled in the small house environment.