Factors that Influence Emotions
Human emotions are variable from time to time depending on various factors. Gender is one of the distinguishing factors that affect human emotions. Women tend to be more emotional than their male counterparts are. This is mainly due to hormonal imbalances and variations that occur during menses. At such times, they tend to be moody and easily irritable. However, in some instances men can be moody depending on other sociological factors. Culture is a crucial factor in determining one’s mood ((Berry, 2004)). This is especially important since it shapes one’s general mood from an early age to the point that it is almost habit-forming. A culture that trains one to be tolerant of others usually implants good moods or predictable emotions in the individuals that grow in that culture(Sartre, 1957).
Surroundings also have a profound effect on human emotions. This may be through the weather that one finds himself in. Sunny weather, especially in the morning, is pleasant to the human eyes and soul. It spurs an inner peace that just creates a feeling of happiness.This is especially observable during summer and spring or most mornings and evenings in equatorial and tropical areas (Ashford, Lecroy and Lortie, 2010). The inverse is also true since dull weather can spur dull emotions in an individual especially duringwinter or during heavy rains. Images that resemble a beautiful setting sun or a calm spring with beautiful flowers have a soothing effect on the brain. This results in cheerful emotions in an individual. The emotions of people around an individual have a direct effect on his or her emotions. This is because the human body functions to embrace the mood of others. This is why cheerfulness is contagious. It is thus almost impossible to frown when someone smiles at you (Salvendy, 2012).
Safety and Ethics
There are safety and ethical issues that arise from the use of robots for elderly people. According to Rogers, Sharp and Preece (2011), robots are only safe for humans up to a certain extent Old people are quite fragile and may not be able to restrain or control the robot in a timely manner. This may lead to accidents such as bodily harm or fire (Pfeifer, 1998). In addition, old people may lack total control of their motor skills. In the instance whereby they have robot pets, injuries may result especially if the robot loses control or malfunctions. If the robot comes into contact with water and then makes contact with an elderly person, it may cause electrical shock if not well insulated.
Ethical issues pertain to the morality of an autonomous robot relative to societal morals. In addition, there is the question of accountability. In as much as the robot is autonomous, there should be an entity that is held responsible for the actions of the robot pet. For example, the robot is to talk, the manufactures should program it to use a certain range of words and to avoid others completely (Breazeal, 2004). There are ethical issues pertaining to what the robot can or cannot do. For example, the robot should not be used to spy and invade people’s privacy. In this regard, a robot pet may not be completely safe because it may compromise ones safety if controlled remotely (Stefoff, 2008). It is a question of safety as well as ethics that a robot pet may be used to invade privacy by collecting and transmitting unauthorized information.
References
Rogers, Y., Sharp, H., & Preece, J. (2011).Interaction design: beyond human-computer
interaction. Chichester, Wiley.
Stefoff, R. (2008). The Robot. New York, Marshall Cavendish Benchmark.
Pfeifer, R. (1998). From animals to animats 5: proceedings of the Fifth International
Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior. Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.], MIT Press
Breazeal, C. L. (2004). Designing Sociable Robots. Cambridge, Mass, MIT Press.
Salvendy, G. (2012). Handbook of human factors and ergonomics. Handbook of Human
Factors and Ergonomics.Hoboken, NJ, Wiley.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/book/10.1002/9781118131350.
Ashford, J. B., Lecroy, C. W., & Lortie, K. L. (2010).Human behavior in the social
environment: a multidimensional perspective.Australia, Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
Berry, D. (2004). Risk, communication and health psychology. Maidenhead, Open University
Press.http://site.ebrary.com/id/10161336.
Sartre, J.-P.(1957). Existentialism and human emotions. New York, Philosophical Library.
http://books.google.com/books?id=EeYkAQAAMAAJ.
