Impact Objectives• Explore symbolic cognitive modelling to describe the mechanisms ofhuman cognition• Quantify human behaviours using information technology and model
human minds (cognition and emotion) on computational systems

Developing novel supports
for mental health
Based on his knowledge of cognitive science, which combines artificial intelligence and psychology, Dr Junya
Morita is conducting important investigations that use computational models to improve our understandingof human minds
Can you begin
by talking a little
about your researchbackground?
When I was in myearly teens, I noticed
that human minds are mysterious, yet theirinner workings and what they create appear
to govern the world. I decided to spend myentire life developing technology that could
objectively describe subjective internal statesand processes. During my undergraduate
degree, I spent time completing a course onsociology, which happened to involve readingmaterials relating to my original goal of using
technology to describe the human mind.
From there, I found the field of cognitive
science, which combined artificial intelligenceand psychology. I was excited to learn about
this field and embarked on a postgraduateprogramme of cognitive science in Japan.
This culminated in my founding theDepartment of Cognitive Informatics at
Nagoya University.
In what ways have you been involved in thisfield more recently?
I worked under Professor Kazuhisa Miwa
and enjoyed almost everything about it,
especially the interdisciplinary aspects
covering science and technology thattargeted various computational and mental
processes in individuals and across society.
Of particular interest has been symbolic

cognitive modelling, which clearly describes
the mechanisms of human cognition. It
took me a long time to learn this technologybut I have since mastered the field. Oneof the most important experiences for me
during this process was visiting the Applied
Cognitive Science Laboratory at Pennsylvania
State University led by Professor Frank E
Ritter. I learned the philosophy of cognitive
architecture and the application of cognitivemodelling there.

paper in classic experimental scientific fields.
To overcome this challenge, I changed myresearch strategy to focus on the patternsof interaction. In the future, I will conduct
a large-sized crowdsourcing study forcollecting individual traits and the reactions
for the system of interactive model-based
reminiscence.

What is the ultimate impact of your findings
from your latest research quantifying humanbehaviours using information technology?

I hope to apply the interactive model-based
reminiscence to various individuals, fromtypical adults to Alzheimer’s patients, andthose with depression and autism spectrum
disorders. All of us have some problems
with memory and mental health – I wantto categorise these problems based on thereactions of model-based reminiscence andestablish an interactive design that helps
individuals.

Every individual and society will benefit
from the computational modelling ofhuman minds and I believe it will drasticallychange our lives. Specifically, the modelling
technology will boost our metacognitive
functions and human rationality will exceed
the boundaries innately set by nature.
Humanity will have a perspective capable oflooking long into the future and eventuallyobtain the freedom of thought described in
Herbert Simon’s Sciences of the Artificial andDaniel Dennet’s Freedom Evolves.
What challenges have you faced in thisresearch and how have you overcome these?
While examining the reaction for theinteractive model-based reminiscence, we
found huge individual differences. This isproblematic when trying to write an academic

Are there any future research themes you
hope to be working on?

How do you envisage your findings can beapplied to a real-world setting?
The biggest barrier of applying the finding to
the real-world is the cost (time and financial).
To overcome this, we utilise recent
innovations, including crowdsourcing,visualisation of the model codes andbehaviours, and machine learning to reduce
coding costs. I am always seeking newtechnologies that can be applied to thepursuit of our goals.
www.impact.pub 09

Harnessing the effects ofpositive memories
A team based in the Applied Cognitive Modelling Laboratory at Shizuoka University is using
cognitive science and computational models to develop novel support mechanisms for mental health.
The findings will have significant impacts on humanity’s relationship with technology and could one
day make it more symbioticIn more recent times, the explorationof the mind has led to the developmentof cognitive science, which seeks tounderstand the mind and its thoughtprocesses. It is hardly surprising then thatwith developments in technology happeningat an ever-accelerating rate, researchers
have turned to computers, Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and computational models
as a means of deciphering intelligence,behaviour and cognition.
Dr Junya Morita is based at the Applied
Cognitive Modelling Laboratory (ACML)
in the Department of Behavior Informatics
at Shizuoka University, Japan. His teamis conducting investigations that use
computational models in an effort toimprove our understanding of humanminds and their inner workings.
THEORETIC COGNITIVE MODELLING
AND ITS APPLICATIONSThere are currently two directions of study
underway at ACML. The first is concernedwith theoretical studies of cognitivemodelling, where the team try to constructmodels that explain human minds ascomputational and algorithmic levels.
‘We implement models of various mental
functions as a computer program and run
simulations,’ outlines Morita. ‘Current
topics of modelling include emotion,intrinsic motivation, symbol emergenceand communications. All of these arefundamental topics but are not yet fully
answered in the field of cognitive science.’
The second direction of study is theapplication of computational cognitivemodels. Morita and his team believe that10 www.impact.pub

there are fundamental values within thebasic endeavours of cognitive science andare working to prove these values exist
and are valid. Current topics of application
include education, driving, entertainment,
graphic design, language development, web
navigation and mental illness.
There are other topics of enquiry at ACML
which have come from issues that havebeen personally experienced by Morita andhis lab members. For example, studies
which are related to autism spectrum
disorder have come about from Morita’s
own experience, as he has a son that has
been diagnosed with a moderate disorderwith language impairments. ‘We are allhumans that experience mental activities,’says Morita. ‘The personal experiences ofour team are a strong motivation behind theresearch we are conducting.’
THE INTERDEPENDENCE OF
HUMAN AND MACHINE
The idea of human versus machine has
become a common one in literature, art andfilm (as well as other forms of expression).
There is a sense that developments ininformation technology and AI will inevitably
lead to the downfall of humankind, where
we become subservient to machines. Insharp contrast to this, Morita and histeam’s focus is on adopting an attitude
that recognises the interactive natureof the relationship between humanity
and information technology. ‘The twocomponents are not independent but
completely interdependent,’ explains Morita.
‘The human mind changes technology andthe development of technology significantly
changes the human mind.’

With this embracing of technology, Morita is
working on developing an interactive modelbased reminiscence using a cognitive modeland physiological indices. The ultimate goalof the study is to develop novel support formental health. ‘Our study research assumes
that the well-being of humans is heavily
influenced by memory recall which is closely
linked to emotion,’ he confirms. ‘From
there, it is a short step to the idea that
remembering positive memories can help
sustain healthy minds in humans.’
The study involves the manipulation of anindividual’s memory recall. The team use
a photo slideshow that utilises simulation
technology of human memory. They use
a cognitive architecture called adaptive
control of thought–rational (ACT-R), which
was first posited by the psychologist John
Robert Anderson, as well as physiologicalsensing tools to construct a personalised
memory model. ‘Cognitive architecture
is a platform of cognitive modelling thatfeatures a mechanism of simulating humanmemory traits for various situations andindividuals,’ clarifies Morita. ‘By inputting
individual lifelogs to cognitive architecture,
we can create a personalised memory
model for each individual and modulate
parameters of memory from the resultof physiological sensing, such as a heart
rate monitor, which reflects the stress orpleasure of individuals.’
The system continuously presents
personalised photos as memory contents
of individuals, connecting each photowith several attributes, such as what theimage contains, when and where thephoto was taken, and who is on the photo.

The retrieval of memory is also governedby several numerical parameters likeactivation and noise. These parameters
reproduce several patterns of memory
recall including convergent or divergentpatterns. ‘The model can also represent a

increasingly popular in the field.
The work is ongoing, but the teamreceived an Incentive Award from theJapanese Society for Artificial Intelligencein November 2019. ‘I am pleased withthis achievement, not just because of thefunction properly 100 per cent of the time in that regard, we may all ultimately benefit
from Morita’s research findings and attainpositive mental health and well-being. lProject Insights
Our study assumes that the well-being of humans isheavily influenced by memory recall which is closely
linked to emotion. From there, it is a short step tothe idea that remembering positive memories canhelp sustain healthy minds in humans
ruminative pattern,’ highlights Morita. ‘This
is frequently linked to depression and will
help us identify whether our system is usefulas a means of improving mental health.’
Importantly, the model-based reminiscence
tool can utilise these patterns to simulate
the current state of the user and/or guidethe user to their preferred mental state.

result, but the work is the product of acollaboration with one of my students,
Kazuma Nagashima,’ enthuses Morita.
‘Although the idea for the modelling wasoriginally developed by me, the context wasprovided by him. He also collaborated byproviding additional questions to address inthe course of our research.’

MODELLING INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
Although there is still some way to go in
the team’s investigations, they have alreadyenjoyed some notable successes. They havedeveloped a novel model that represents
intrinsic motivation - an important
emotional function of the human mind.
While classical cognitive science has tended
to focus on human intellectual functions,models of intrinsic motivation have become

Clearly, there is much to be positive about
regarding Morita and his team’s research,especially given the initial success andthe fact that there is still more work to bedone. Morita is embracing early career
researchers, helping them improve theirskills and encouraging their input, whichis testament to the collaborative natureof his laboratory. Ultimately, we all have amind and it is rare indeed for the brain toFUNDING
This work is supported by KAKENHI grant
number 20H05560
COLLABORATORS• Kazuhisa Miwa, Kenji Mase, Takatsugu
Hirayama and Yu Enokibori, Nagoya
University• Frank E Ritter, Penn State University• Kazunori Yamada, PanasonicCorporation• Yugo Takecuchi and Yoshimasa Ohmoto,Shizuoka University• Takashi Hashimoto, Japan Advanced
Institute of Science and Technology• Takeshi Konno, Kanazawa Institute ofTechnologyTEAM MEMBERS
This research is the product of a teamworking alongside the lab members,
including Kazuma Nagashima and Kazuki
Itabashi
CONTACTDr Junya Morita
T: +81 53 478 1452
E: j-morita@inf.shizuoka.ac.jp
W: http://acml-shizuppi.net/en/
BIO
Dr Junya Morita is a cognitive modeleraiming to extend the method to complex
realistic human life. He received a PhD
from Nagoya University, and worked
as an Assistant Professor at the Japan
Advanced Institute of Science andTechnology. He is now leading the ACML
in the Faculty of Informatics, ShizuokaUniversity.

Members of ACML at the entrance of the laboratorywww.impact.pub 11