Interdipendenza nei gruppi: esperimenti con robot sociali

The mutual influence among individuals is a fundamental property of human beings as a social species and, under specific conditions, determines the formation of groups. Several theories have been proposed in order to explain the mechanisms underlying the dynamics between people and the crucial factors for developing relationships, whether they are economic, moral or behavioral. The concept of interdependence refers to the presence of such influence within a group of people or dyad based on the existence of common goals (positive interdependence) or conflicting objectives (negative interdependence). In this article, we aim to analyze the emergence of both these forms of interdependence in the context of a group of two autonomous robots that have to perform a foraging task. We defined two experimental scenarios in which there is an alternation of two phases, one involving agent cooperation (positive interdependence) and another characterized by robot competition (negative interdependence). The experimental results reveal the emergence of interdependence in both cases. Moreover, the behavioral analysis shows how interdependence manifests itself in multiple ways.