Il y a actuellement des efforts pour faire opérer des robots dans des environnements complexes, non bornés, évoluant en permanence, au milieu ou même en coopération avec des humains. Leurs tâches peuvent être de types variés, hiérarchiques, et peuvent subir des changements radicaux ou même être créées après le déploiement du robot. Ainsi, ces robots doivent être capable d'apprendre en continu de nouvelles compétences, dans un espace non-borné, stochastique et à haute dimensionnalité. Ce type d'environnement ne peut pas être exploré en totalité, le robot va devoir organiser son exploration et décider ce qui est le plus important à apprendre ainsi que la méthode d'apprentissage. Ceci devient encore plus difficile lorsque le robot est face à des tâches à complexités variables, demandant soit une action simple ou une séquence d'actions pour être réalisées. Nous avons développé une infrastructure algorithmique d'apprentissage stratégique intrinsèquement motivé, appelée Socially Guided Intrinsic Motivation for Sequences of Actions through Hierarchical Tasks (SGIM-SAHT), apprenant la relation entre ses actions et leurs conséquences sur l'environnement. Elle organise son apprentissage, en décidant activement sur quelle tâche se concentrer, et quelle stratégie employer entre autonomes et interactives. Afin d'apprendre des tâches hiérarchiques, une architecture algorithmique appelée procédures fut développée pour découvrir et exploiter la hiérarchie des tâches, afin de combiner des compétences en fonction des tâches. L'utilisation de séquences d'actions a permis à cette architecture d'apprentissage d'adapter la complexité de ses actions à celle de la tâche étudiée. / Efforts are made to make robots operate more and more in complex unbounded ever-changing environments, alongside or even in cooperation with humans. Their tasks can be of various kinds, can be hierarchically organized, and can also change dramatically or be created, after the robot deployment. Therefore, those robots must be able to continuously learn new skills, in an unbounded, stochastic and high-dimensional space. Such environment is impossible to be completely explored during the robot's lifetime, therefore it must be able to organize its exploration and decide what is more important to learn and how to learn it, using metrics such as intrinsic motivation guiding it towards the most interesting tasks and strategies. This becomes an even bigger challenge, when the robot is faced with tasks of various complexity, some requiring a simple action to be achieved, other needing a sequence of actions to be performed. We developed a strategic intrinsically motivated learning architecture, called Socially Guided Intrinsic Motivation for Sequences of Actions through Hierarchical Tasks (SGIM-SAHT), able to learn the mapping between its actions and their outcomes on the environment. This architecture, is capable to organize its learning process, by deciding which outcome to focus on, and which strategy to use among autonomous and interactive ones. For learning hierarchical set of tasks, the architecture was provided with a framework, called procedure framework, to discover and exploit the task hierarchy and combine skills together in a task-oriented way. The use of sequences of actions enabled such a learner to adapt the complexity of its actions to that of the task at hand.

Cette thèse s'inscrit dans le cadre du projet IDEAL (Implementing DevelopmentAl Learning) financé par l'Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR). La capacité à percevoir, mémoriser et interpréter l'environnement qui nous entoure est une capacité vitale que l'on retrouve chez de nombreux êtres vivants. Cette capacité leur permet de générer des comportements adaptés à leur contexte, ou d'échapper à un prédateur sorti de leur champ de vision. L'objectif de cette thèse consiste à doter un agent artificiel de cette capacité. Nous proposons un modèle théorique permettant à un agent artificiel de générer des connaissances exploitables des éléments constituant son environnement et une structure reflétant l'espace. Ce modèle est basé sur la théorie de la contingence sensorimotrice, et implémente une forme de motivation intrinsèque. En effet, ce modèle débute avec un ensemble de structure indivisibles, appelées interactions, caractérisant les échanges entre l'agent et son environnement. L'apprentissage des connaissances est développemental et émerge de l'interaction entre l'agent et son environnement, sans qu'aucune intervention extérieure (récompense), ne soit nécessaire. Notre modèle propose des mécanismes permettant d'organiser et d'exploiter ces connaissances émergentes dans le but de générer des comportements. Nous proposons des implémentations de ce modèle pour démontrer l'émergence d'une connaissance à partir de l'interaction entre l'agent et son environnement, et les comportements qui émergent de cette connaissance / This thesis is a part of the IDEAL project (Implementing DEvelopmentAl Learning) funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR). The ability of perceiving, memorizing and interpreting the surrounding environment is a vital ability found in numerous living beings. This ability allows them to generate context adapted behaviors, or escaping from a predator that escape from their sensory system. The objective of this thesis consists in implementing such a capacity in artificial agents. We propose a theoretical model that allows artificial agent to generate a usable knowledge of elements that compose its environment and a structure able to characterize the structure of surrounding space. This model is based on the sensorimotor contingency theory, and implements a form of intrinsic motivation. Indeed, this model begin with a set of indivisible structures, called interactions, that characterize the interaction possibilities between the agent and its environment. The learning is developmental and emerges from the interaction that occurs between the agent and the environment, without the need of any external intervention (like reward). Our model propose a set of mechanisms that allow to organize and exploit emerging knowledge in order to generate behaviors. We propose implementations of our model to demonstrate the emerging knowledge based on agent-environment interaction, and behaviors that can emerge from this knowledge

Le rayonnement des experts scientifiques et techniques porte en lui deux dimensions ; une organisationnelle, favorisant l’émergence et le développement de compétences clés et une individuelle contribuant à la motivation intrinsèque de l’expert. Pendant entrepreneurial du rayonnement des enseignants-chercheurs, le rayonnement des experts est « un élément personnel et organisationnel d’appréciation de la réputation de l’expert, évoluant avec le développement de sa carrière, permettant de décrire ses activités en relation directe avec son domaine d’expertise, à l’intérieur ou à l’extérieur de l’entreprise et de prendre en compte son impact personnel dans sa communauté de pratique de référence ». Sa prise en compte dans les pratiques de gestion des experts permet d’apporter un nouvel éclairage sur des pratiques en quête de renouveau. Sans résoudre l’ensemble des problèmes de la gestion des experts, la recherche prend en compte le rayonnement des experts comme levier d’amélioration de leurs pratiques de gestion. L’objectif est d’analyser le rayonnement des experts dans sa double dimensionnalité. L’étude de cas multiple menée sur quatre grandes entreprises industrielles propose une réflexion sur la contribution du rayonnement des experts à la performance de l’entreprise. Ce lien est conditionné par l’intégration du rayonnement à tous les niveaux hiérarchiques de l’entreprise – au niveau de la stratégie générale, du management stratégique des ressources humaines et de l'opérationnel. Le rayonnement comme levier d’amélioration des pratiques de gestion des experts s’inscrit sur le long terme, permettant à l’entreprise d’identifier et d’anticiper ses besoins en compétences d’experts / Experts’ “outreach” is a two-dimension element. First dimension is organizational dimension, which contributes to core competencies development. Second one is individual dimension, which leads to experts’ intrinsic motivation.Experts’ outreach is the parallel of scientific reputation used for researchers. It can be defined as “a personal and organizational element to appreciate experts’ reputation, which changes with expert’s career development. Outreach can take place inside or outside the organization and also allows to measure expert’s impact on his / her scientific community”. The integration of outreach in experts’ management practices can contribute to improve practices, which need some renewal. The ambition is not to resolve all the already identified problems, but to bear a new perspective on the experts’ management practices. The research aims to study both dimensions of experts’ outreach, linked with the firm performance. A multiple case study is realized to analyze four big industrial firms. The link between outreach and firm performance depends on outreach integration within all the strategic levels of the organization, it means general strategy, strategic human resources management and operational management. To conclude, experts’ outreach contributes to improve experts’ management practices, on a long-term perspective. It allows firms to identify and anticipate their needs of experts’ competences

Mit dem in §18 des Tarifvertrags für den öffentlichen Dienst (TVöD) festgeschriebenen Leistungsentgelt soll u.a. die Motivation der Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter im öffentlichen Dienst gesteigert werden. Eine motivationssteigernde Wirkung wird jedoch von Seiten der Motivationsforschung bestritten. Sie geht im Gegenteil davon aus, dass eine leistungsorientierte Bezahlung (LOB) zu einer Verdrängung der intrinsischen Motivation (Crowding-Out Effekt) führen kann. Mithilfe eines empirischen Tests der Motivation Crowding Theorie gelangt diese Arbeit zu einem differenzierteren Urteil. Es wird gezeigt, dass im Beispiel der Kreisverwaltung Potsdam Mittelmark die subjektive Wahrnehmung der LOB durch den einzelnen Beschäftigten darüber entscheidet, ob dessen Motivation verstärkt oder verdrängt wird. Jene Beschäftigten, die sich durch die LOB kontrolliert fühlen, weisen eine signifikant geringere PSM und intrinsische Motivation als diejenigen auf, die die LOB als fördernd wahrnehmen. Als zentraler Faktor für das Urteil der Beschäftigten wird die wahrgenommene Fairness des Systems identifiziert. / By means of performance-related pay (PRP), which is laid down in §18 of the “Public Sector Collective Agreement” (TVöD), the motivation of public employees should be increased. However, motivational research contests the motivation-increasing effect. In contrast, it is assumed that performance-related pay may crowd-out the intrinsic motivation (Crowding-Out Effect). While conducting an empirical test of the Motivation Crowding Theory, this paper offers a more differentiated view. It is shown that, in the case of the local administration of Potsdam-Mittelmark, the subjective perception by the individual worker will decide on whether his or her motivation is crowded-in or crowded-out. Those who feel controlled by the PRP-system show a significant lower PSM and intrinsic motivation than those who perceive it as supportive. The fairness of the system is discovered as being the central factor affecting the judgement by the workers.

Over the last two decades, research has identified factors that foster versus undermine human motivation and well being with important implications for learning and performance. Much of the research is concerned with intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation and autonomous versus non-autonomous learning environments. The data suggests that learning and performance are often significantly enhanced in autonomy-supportive environments that foster intrinsic motivational perspectives. This study examines the lived experience of Abraham Lincoln in the context of his adult learning motivation, forming a qualitative narrative around his adult educational experiences. It was hypothesized that Abraham Lincoln benefited from learning experiences with high levels of both intrinsic motivation and autonomy-supportive contexts. Results indicate that Abraham Lincoln experienced near total autonomy in his learning activities and that most of his adult learning activities were intrinsically-motivated. A discussion section explores the relevance of the findings to select topics in adult education.

User contributions are vital to online communities; therefore it is important to know how to motivate user participation to ensure flow and quality of content, and to generate more traffic and revenue to community owners. In contrast to previous research which has explored the motivations of participants in already existing online communities, I investigate whether a new niche online community with a particular focus(women in Science and Engineering sharing their personal experiences through stories) can be started through a design that follows best practices for community design and principles derived from theories of motivation. The design of the WISETales community is based upon insights from literature in three main areas: social psychology, computer science, and gender studies. A social visualization which serves informational, navigational and motivational tool was also developed. One pilot study and two exploratory studies were carried out to evaluate the need for such a community, its design and interface usability. The design of the community and visualization, along with the results from the studies, their analysis and discussion are presented in the thesis.

User contributions are vital to online communities; therefore it is important to know how to motivate user participation to ensure flow and quality of content, and to generate more traffic and revenue to community owners. In contrast to previous research which has explored the motivations of participants in already existing online communities, I investigate whether a new niche online community with a particular focus(women in Science and Engineering sharing their personal experiences through stories) can be started through a design that follows best practices for community design and principles derived from theories of motivation. The design of the WISETales community is based upon insights from literature in three main areas: social psychology, computer science, and gender studies. A social visualization which serves informational, navigational and motivational tool was also developed. One pilot study and two exploratory studies were carried out to evaluate the need for such a community, its design and interface usability. The design of the community and visualization, along with the results from the studies, their analysis and discussion are presented in the thesis.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka SPIRA-projektets deltagares uppfattningar om motivation och uppfattningar om projektets eventuella påverkan på motivationen. Samt uppfattningar hos några tidigare deltagare i projektet. SPIRA-projektets syfte är att stärka kompetensen hos sina deltagare och målgruppen är individer som varit arbetslösa i ett år eller mer, alternativt sjukskrivna i minst sex månader. Tidigare forskning inom arbetslöshet och motivation tyder på att de individer som drivs av en motivation med en hög grad autonomi har en större chans att vara lyckosamma. De anses även vara mer ihärdiga i sitt arbetssökande och har ett högre välmående än de som drivs av motivation med en låg grad autonomi. Däremot har ingen liknande undersökning gjorts inom denna grupp. Metoden i studien var semi-strukturerad enkät med öppna frågor och enkäten delades ut till 20 nuvarande deltagare och 15 tidigare deltagare, varav 20 nuvarande och 5 tidigare svarade. Bearbetningen av empirin genomfördes med inspiration av Self-Determination Theory och dess underteori, Organismic Integration Theory (OIT), där det finns olika grader av motivation. Slutsatserna i studien är att respondenterna uppfattar motivation som någonting med en hög grad autonomi. De drivs även överlag av en motivation med en hög grad av autonomi, men det är ofta ett förväntat yttre värde som ligger bakom motivationen. Vidare är även respondenterna generellt nöjda med projektets utformning och de främjande faktorerna inom projektet kännetecknas av en hög grad autonomi. Samtidigt som de hämmande faktorerna präglas av en låg grad av autonomi.

This study explores the application of principles from game design, and the motivational psychology it is founded upon, to the domain of second language acquisition. A gameful design process based on playtesting andanalysis with design lenses is adapted and used to iteratively design and develop a system for conversation practice with the goal of creating a motivating and engaging experience.The results indicate effectiveness of the process, but generalizing the results would require further research with bigger sample sizes and studies with varied core activities.

No description available.