92,819 research outputs found
The implications of embodiment for behavior and cognition: animal and robotic case studies
In this paper, we will argue that if we want to understand the function of
the brain (or the control in the case of robots), we must understand how the
brain is embedded into the physical system, and how the organism interacts with
the real world. While embodiment has often been used in its trivial meaning,
i.e. 'intelligence requires a body', the concept has deeper and more important
implications, concerned with the relation between physical and information
(neural, control) processes. A number of case studies are presented to
illustrate the concept. These involve animals and robots and are concentrated
around locomotion, grasping, and visual perception. A theoretical scheme that
can be used to embed the diverse case studies will be presented. Finally, we
will establish a link between the low-level sensory-motor processes and
cognition. We will present an embodied view on categorization, and propose the
concepts of 'body schema' and 'forward models' as a natural extension of the
embodied approach toward first representations.Comment: Book chapter in W. Tschacher & C. Bergomi, ed., 'The Implications of
Embodiment: Cognition and Communication', Exeter: Imprint Academic, pp. 31-5
How active perception and attractor dynamics shape perceptual categorization: A computational model
We propose a computational model of perceptual categorization that fuses elements of grounded and sensorimotor theories of cognition with dynamic models of decision-making. We assume that category information consists in anticipated patterns of agentâenvironment interactions that can be elicited through overt or covert (simulated) eye movements, object manipulation, etc. This information is firstly encoded when category information is acquired, and then re-enacted during perceptual categorization. The perceptual categorization consists in a dynamic competition between attractors that encode the sensorimotor patterns typical of each category; action prediction success counts as ââevidenceââ for a given category and contributes to falling into the corresponding attractor. The evidence accumulation process is guided by an active perception loop, and the active exploration of objects (e.g., visual exploration) aims at eliciting expected sensorimotor patterns that count as evidence for the object category. We present a computational model incorporating these elements and describing action prediction, active perception, and attractor dynamics as key elements of perceptual categorizations. We test the model in three simulated perceptual categorization tasks, and we discuss its relevance for grounded and sensorimotor theories of cognition.Peer reviewe
Creativity and the Brain
Neurocognitive approach to higher cognitive functions that bridges the gap between psychological and neural level of description is introduced. Relevant facts about the brain, working memory and representation of symbols in the brain are summarized. Putative brain processes responsible for problem solving, intuition, skill learning and automatization are described. The role of non-dominant brain hemisphere in solving problems requiring insight is conjectured. Two factors seem to be essential for creativity: imagination constrained by experience, and filtering that selects most interesting solutions. Experiments with paired words association are analyzed in details and evidence for stochastic resonance effects is found. Brain activity in the process of invention of novel words is proposed as the simplest way to understand creativity using experimental and computational means. Perspectives on computational models of creativity are discussed
Learning to Look Around: Intelligently Exploring Unseen Environments for Unknown Tasks
It is common to implicitly assume access to intelligently captured inputs
(e.g., photos from a human photographer), yet autonomously capturing good
observations is itself a major challenge. We address the problem of learning to
look around: if a visual agent has the ability to voluntarily acquire new views
to observe its environment, how can it learn efficient exploratory behaviors to
acquire informative observations? We propose a reinforcement learning solution,
where the agent is rewarded for actions that reduce its uncertainty about the
unobserved portions of its environment. Based on this principle, we develop a
recurrent neural network-based approach to perform active completion of
panoramic natural scenes and 3D object shapes. Crucially, the learned policies
are not tied to any recognition task nor to the particular semantic content
seen during training. As a result, 1) the learned "look around" behavior is
relevant even for new tasks in unseen environments, and 2) training data
acquisition involves no manual labeling. Through tests in diverse settings, we
demonstrate that our approach learns useful generic policies that transfer to
new unseen tasks and environments. Completion episodes are shown at
https://goo.gl/BgWX3W
Intrinsic Motivation Systems for Autonomous Mental Development
Exploratory activities seem to be intrinsically rewarding
for children and crucial for their cognitive development.
Can a machine be endowed with such an intrinsic motivation
system? This is the question we study in this paper, presenting a number of computational systems that try to capture this drive towards novel or curious situations. After discussing related research coming from developmental psychology, neuroscience, developmental robotics, and active learning, this paper presents the mechanism of Intelligent Adaptive Curiosity, an intrinsic motivation system which pushes a robot towards situations in which it maximizes its learning progress. This drive makes the robot focus on situations which are neither too predictable nor too unpredictable, thus permitting autonomous mental development.The complexity of the robotâs activities autonomously increases and complex developmental sequences self-organize without being constructed in a supervised manner. Two experiments are presented illustrating the stage-like organization emerging with this mechanism. In one of them, a physical robot is placed on a baby play mat with objects that it can learn to manipulate. Experimental results show that the robot first spends time in situations
which are easy to learn, then shifts its attention progressively to situations of increasing difficulty, avoiding situations in which nothing can be learned. Finally, these various results are discussed in relation to more complex forms of behavioral organization and data coming from developmental psychology.
Key words: Active learning, autonomy, behavior, complexity,
curiosity, development, developmental trajectory, epigenetic
robotics, intrinsic motivation, learning, reinforcement learning,
values
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