EMPATHICA: A Computer Support System with Visual Representations for Cognitive-Affective Mapping

EMPATHICA is a computer program under development to facilitate cognitive-affective mapping using visual representations. A cognitive-affective map is a concept graph that includes information about the positive and negative emotional values of what is represented. Potential applications include conflict resolution, literary analysis, cross-cultural understanding, ethical assessment, authoring systems, and cognitive modeling. Cognitive-Affective Mapping Researchers in psychology, computer science, and political science have used the technique of cognitive maps (also known as conceptual graphs, concept maps, and mind maps) to represent the conceptual structures that people use to represent important aspects of the world (e.g. Axelrod 1976, Novak 1998, Sowa 1999). But such maps fail to indicate the values attached to concepts and other representations such as goals, and therefore are inadequate to capture the underlying psychology of conflicts and other important domains. They lack an appreciation of affect, which is the complex of emotions, moods, and motivations that are crucial in human thinking. (Note: there is also a quite different use of the term “cognitive map” referring to mental representations of spatial knowledge.) A cognitive-affective map is a visual representation of the emotional values of a group of interconnected concepts. Such maps can be produced using any drawing program, but my colleagues and I are developing a computer program written in Java to further their production and application. It is called EMPATHICA, reflecting the hope that the program can be used to increase mutual understanding between people in conflict situations. Copyright © 2010, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved. Graph Semantics 1. A cognitive-affective map is a labeled graph in which the vertices (nodes) represent concepts along with their affective (emotional) values. The edges in the graph represent the links between the concepts. 2. A concept is a representation of an important cognitive element, such as a goal, action, event, person, organization, or general idea. Each concept has an associated emotional value, which can be favorable, unfavorable, or neutral. Values can vary in intensity, i. e. be more or less favorable or unfavorable. 3. The links between concepts represent whether the concepts are supportive or conflictive. The kind of support or conflict depends on the nature of the two concepts involved. Examples: An action and goal are supportive if performing the action helps to accomplish the goal. Two goals are supportive if accomplishing one helps to accomplish the other, i.e. one is a subgoal of the other. Two actions are conflictive if it is difficult or impossible to perform both. Two goals are conflictive if it is difficult or impossible to satisfy both. Two concepts are supportive if feeling good about one makes you feel good about the other. Two concepts are conflictive if feeling good about one makes you feel bad about the other. Visual Representation The graph semantics are conveyed visually in accord with the following conventions: 1. Each concept is represented by a node (vertex). Favorable nodes are represented by green circles. Unfavorable nodes are represented by red hexagons.