An emotional regulation model with memories for virtual agents

Abstract

Emotional regulation is a mechanism to adjust our behavior to the current environment. We use this mechanism to achieve goals and objectives. This paper proposes a model for emotional regulation in virtual agents based on biological evidence of human brain function. The evidence shows different brain activation during emotional regulation. The model defines the techniques that are implemented, the data flow, and the data processing in each brain area during the emotional regulation. In the case study, a virtual agent shows behavior changes when it takes into account the emotional regulation mechanism and when it does not. The agent has emotional memories; they are from previous experiences and help to provide the desired behavior.