The Spectral Model

...and now for another Human Factors Minute! The Spectral Model is a model of one type of circuit within an animal or robot’s larger temporal organization. It describes a mechanism for inhibiting the urge to move on too soon from an expected outcome by learning to wait for something that is expected by discounting expected nonoccurrences until the expected arrival of the goal object. If the goal object does not appear after a certain amount of time, then the unexpected nonoccurrence of the goal can be processed and responded to appropriately. This timing mechanism is important for the survival of animals and humans, especially those who seek out novel experiences, and for robots who will need to move and operate in environments that may have unexpected events. We can think about when we are waiting for a friend to show up to lunch: after a certain amount of waiting past the designated meeting time, we might text or call our friend to get a status update. The Spectral Model helps us to know when to continue waiting and when to take action. This has been another Human Factors Minute! Be sure to check out our main show at our official website: https://www.humanfactorscast.media Support us on these platforms to get access to the entire Human Factors Minute library: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/humanfactorscast Buy us a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/hfactorspodcast Join us on Discord:https://go.humanfactorscast.media/Discord Follow us: Human Factors Cast Merchandise Store: https://www.humanfactorscast.media/p/Store/ Follow us on Twitch: https://twitch.tv/HumanFactorsCast Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/HumanFactorsCast Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/humanfactorscast Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/HFactorsPodcast Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HumanFactorsCast Resources: Music by Kevin McLeod: https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/

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