nXimena will be the first of a family of imagined personas programmed to take on the survivor’s perspective when rehearsing a set of inter-culturally complicated dialogs.
We will:
(1) Use a model of “cycle of IP violence” and cognitive distortions and cultural dimensions to create dialogs for the survivor and responses to a decision tree of interactions.
(2) Interpret available data on IPV attitudes and beliefs among the Latinx community to influence the affect that nXimena
portrays, the decisions she makes, the forms of response that her decisions take, and the consequent approach
that an IPV prevention worker would adopt.
(3) Integrate challenges for the prevention worker to learn and
receive feedback in the form of earning or losing points during repeated simulations when nXimena’s behavior,
mood, and “state of well-being” improve.
Our approach will highlight empathy as a skill needed during the
interactions with nXimena; with empathy not used effectively, nXimena will show greater resistance. Each user
response will result in a consequence leading to a different scenario.. An ‘after-action’ activity will engage the
worker in reporting observations related to cognitive distortions and cultural dimensions that impacted the
intervention.
The technology behind the nXimena persona derives from the nXhuman platform developed at UNC Chapel Hill to help students to learn to engage in difficult social situations.