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Angelo Cangelosi and Matthew Schlesinger: Developmental robotics

Article in Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines · July 2015

DOI: 10.1007/s10710-015-9246-4

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Genet Program Evolvable Mach (2015) 16:397–398
DOI 10.1007/s10710-015-9246-4

BOOK REVIEW

Angelo Cangelosi and Matthew Schlesinger:

Developmental robotics
MIT Press, 2015

Lisa A. Meeden1

Published online: 2 July 2015

Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Cangelosi and Schlesinger’s new book is the first comprehensive overview of the
relatively young interdisciplinary field of developmental robotics. On page 4 they
define developmental robotics as ‘‘the autonomous design of behavioral and
cognitive capabilities in artificial agents (robots) that takes direct inspiration from
the developmental principles and mechanisms observed in the natural cognitive
systems of children’’. Cangelosi and Schlesinger are well positioned to provide an
insider’s view of this emerging field, having published extensively, chaired
conferences, and edited journals on the topic.
The authors had three goals (which they largely met) in writing their book. First,
it should be easily understood by a wide audience: from philosophers to engineers,
as well as from undergraduates to graduate students. Second, each robotic model
should have a direct counterpart in human baby/infant development. Third, it should
demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of the field.
The first chapter provides a concise review of some of the fundamental ideas
from developmental psychology, and then lays out the core principles of
developmental robotics. The second chapter is much longer (perhaps a bit too
long), and provides a general background to robotics, before giving a review of the
many different robots and simulators that have been used in developmental robotics
research. The middle chapters (3–8) focus on particular developmental topics, such
as intrinsic motivation, making sense of perception, acquiring motor skills, and
learning first words.
Each of these experimental chapters is self-contained and could potentially be
read in any order. The final chapter summarizes the state of the field, pointing out
where gaps remain and where future work should be focused. Each chapter ends

& Lisa A. Meeden

meeden@cs.swarthmore.edu;
http://web.cs.swarthmore.edu/*meeden
1
Computer Science Department, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, USA

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398 Genet Program Evolvable Mach (2015) 16:397–398

with a nicely annotated set of suggestions for additional reading. Readers from a
wide range of disciplines will be able to grasp the key questions and approaches of
developmental robotics.
Cangelosi and Schlesinger assume a basic understanding of common computa-
tional approaches, such as artificial neural networks, self-organizing maps, and
reinforcement learning, when describing developmental robotics. For readers
unfamiliar with these approaches, it may be difficult to appreciate the subtleties of
how the robotic systems operate, however, the big picture is made clear. Having
taught an undergraduate class on developmental robotics since 2003, I am eager to
incorporate this book into my next course. I plan to supplement the text with
additional readings and lab work to provide background on the various computa-
tional models discussed. The book is understandable to advanced undergraduates,
and certainly to graduate students.
In the middle chapters (3–8), the authors achieve their second goal of directly
connecting developmental robotics research to human experimental studies. Each of
the middle chapters begins with a discussion of seminal work in psychology on a
particular developmental topic. This is followed by a review of the experimental
robotics work that addresses the same topic. For example, in chapter 6 on social
robots, Meltzoff and Moore’s well known AIM model of the development of
imitation ability in infants is introduced. This is followed by an explanation of
Demiris and Hayes’ HAMMER model, which is an implementation of AIM
principles in a robot. It is extremely beneficial to see the theory and practice
presented side by side in this way.
Finally, with their combined background in psychology, cognitive science, and
artificial intelligence, Cangelosi and Schlesinger are well equipped to illustrate the
full-breadth of this dynamic field. Developmental robotics primarily draws people
from psychology and artificial intelligence. However it goes far beyond that with
connections to linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and more. The book
provides an extensive set of references (50 pages long) highlighting the true
interdisciplinary nature of the field.
Developmental Robotics: From Babies to Robots comes at an opportune time,
15 years after the inception of the field. It is a good time to take stock of what has
been accomplished and where the field is going. Cangelosi and Schlesinger’s book
provides a clear and accessible introduction to developmental robotics, demon-
strating the exciting kinds of research that result from interdisciplinary
collaborations.

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