Jan Biel, "Core Knowledge for a Humanoid Robot Based on Findings in Human Infant Research", 2008.

Converging evidence from the field of cognitive science promotes the assumption that certain core abilities might be available to the human infant from birth. One of these is the ability to discriminate between inanimate objects and agents. Furthermore, studies with infants show that the ability to infer the goal of an agent is available to the human child within its first year of life. These findings provide an interesting interface with the field of robotics. Endowing a robot with basic core abilities can help to form the basis of a higher cognitive apparatus able to infer an agent’s more complex goals. Such a mechanism can help the robot to better navigate the complex world of humans. With only little research in that area, this thesis attempts to take a first step to pave the way toward further investigations.