Page 158 - Socially Intelligent Agents Creating Relationships with Computers and Robots

Chapter 17

PEDAGOGICAL SOAP

Socially Intelligent Agents for Interactive Drama

Stacy C. Marsella
USC Information Sciences Institute

Abstract Interactive Pedagogical Dramas (IPD) are compelling stories that have didactic
purpose. Autonomous agents realize the characters in these dramas, with roles
that require them to interact with a depth and subtlety consistent with human
behavior in difficult, stressful situations. To address this challenge, the agent
design is based on psychological research on human emotion and behavior. We
discuss our first IPD, Carmen’s Bright IDEAS, an interactive drama designed to
improve the social problem solving skills of mothers of pediatric cancer patients.

1. Introduction
Carmen is the mother of a seriously ill nine-year-old boy, Jimmy. Jimmy’s
illness is a significant physical and emotional drain on Carmen and her family.
Carmen is often at the hospital with Jimmy. As a result, Carmen’s six-year-old
daughter, Diana, is having temper tantrums because she feels scared and ne-
glected. Carmen’s boss is also upset about her absences from work. Unable
to effectively deal with these problems, Carmen is experiencing high levels
of psychological distress, including anxiety and depression. To help her ad-
dress these problems, a clinical counselor, Gina, is going to train Carmen in a
problem-solving technique called Bright IDEAS.
The above is the background story of Carmen’s Bright IDEAS,an interac-
tive pedagogical drama (IPD) realized by socially intelligent agents. Carmen’s
Bright IDEAS is designed to improve the problem solving skills of mothers of
pediatric patients, mothers that face difficulties similar to Carmen’s. The ped-
agogical goal of the drama is to teach a specific approach to social decision-
making and problem solving called Bright IDEAS. Each letter of IDEAS refers
to a separate step in the problem solving method (Identify a solvable problem,