How people understand robots’ mind: folk-psychology vs. folk-cognitivism

We distinguish between two styles people may adopt to model the functioning of robots (and other sorts of artificial intelligent agents) in their interaction with these systems. One modeling style is based on the attribution of rationality and propositional attitudes to the system. The other, called folk-cognitivist, is more akin to the cognitivist account of the human mind, based on the functional decomposition of the system in cognitive modules processing representations. In this contribution we shed light on the characteristics of folk-cognitivism outlining and analyzing in depth some of its sub-categories, and explore the positioning of this modelling strategy with respect to Dennett's intentional and design stances (Dennett 1971, 1987). These claims will be supported with reference to the preliminary results of experimental studies of people’s explanation of robot behavior.