Modelo de prueba de acreditacin de nivel de Idioma Moderno (Ingls)

APELLIDOS Y NOMBRE: MSTER: SEDE:

Empathy with robots depends on exposure Exposure to robots in the movies and television could affect our ability to empathise with synthetic beings, suggests a study of the brain regions thought to be responsible for our ability to relate to each other. In humans and monkeys, the mirror neuron system (MNS) a collection of neurons in various parts of the brain, including the premotor cortex and the primary motor cortex fires both when you perform an action and when you watch someone else perform a similar action. By allowing us to transform the actions that we see others performing into internal representations, some suggest the MNS plays a key role in creating empathy. Many recent studies have tried to see if the MNS is activated when humans observe robots. But these results have been inconclusive, with some experiments suggesting that the MNS reacts to robots and others concluding the opposite. Jerky movements "This difference may be due to [differences in] the robot stimuli used in the experiments," says Sotaro Shimada of Meiji University in Tokyo, Japan. Shimada and his colleagues decided to test separately the effects on the MNS of the appearance of robots and the way they moved (their kinematics). Twelve adults, all about 23 years old, were asked to view computer-generated videos of either a humanoid robot or a person reaching out with their right hand to grasp an object. The hand movements in each case were either smooth (human-like) or jerky and mechanical (robot-like). As the volunteers viewed the videos, the researchers used near-infrared spectroscopy to measure the levels of oxygenation in the primary motor and sensorimotor areas of the brain both aspects of the MNS. The higher the oxygenation in a given area, the more its level of activity. The team found that the MNS was activated when the robot performed actions but only when the actions were robotic, not when the robot's motion was smooth and human-like. Robotic exposure When they watched the virtual human, exactly the opposite was true the MNS was activated when the movements were human-like, but not when they were robotic and the contrast was even greater between these two scenarios. In essence, the MNS seems to respond only when robots move like robots and humans move like humans, not otherwise. "The human brain detects the inconsistency between the kinematics and the appearance," concludes Shimada. Shimada suggests that whether the MNS responds to a robot may depend on the level of exposure a human has had to robots. All the volunteers in this experiment were from Japan, a country where robots are common and are even ascribed personalities, says Shimada. "I think experience of the observer may be crucial for the activation of mirror neurons," he says. "That kind of experience modulates mirror-neuron activities." Anil Ananthaswamy, New Scientist, 22 January 2010 Journal reference: Brain and Cognition, DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2009.11.00.

1. Read the text and complete the sentences given by choosing A, B or C: Here there will be between 4 and 6 sentences to complete. 2. Write a letter applying for a job (as a doctor, teacher, civil engineer, architect, nurse, etc.) including personal details, academic qualifications, and any other information you deem important. Write no more than 300 words. 3. Complete the following dialogue: You are in a classroom in a British university. Its your first day and you are waiting for the lecturer to come in and start the lecture. Next to you is the person who starts the following dialogue: Stranger: Hi there, Im Marcos. Are you new here? You:................................................................................................... Marcos: Really? Whereabouts in Spain? Ive been to Barcelona. Is it near there? You: ............................................................................................................. Marcos: So you all speak Portuguese in your region, right? You: ........................./ ...................................? Marcos: Im from Naples, but Ive been here for six months now. What about you? You: .................................................................................................. Marcos: So youre new here. Do you know what lectures are like here? How everything works here? You: ...................................................................................................? Marcos: No, not usually. If youve got questions, you have to ask them in tutorials. You: ..........................................................? Marcos: No, you cant interrupt the lecture to ask the lecturer to repeat something. If you really dont understand a word or something important, you can ask me. You: ............................................................................................................... Marcos: Thats OK. I didnt understand very much at the beginning

Modelo de prueba de acreditacin de nivel de Idioma Moderno (Ingls)APELLIDOS Y NOMBRE:Empathy with robots depends on exposure