Hiraki, Kazuo

Phillips, Steven

Sashima, Akio

English

eScholarship - University of California

UC MercedProceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science SocietyTitleTowards a Computational Theory of Cognitive DevelopmentPermalinkhttps://escholarship.org/uc/item/5vx5n0ndJournalProceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 18(0)AuthorsHiraki, KazuoPhillips, StevenSashima, AkioPublication Date1996 Peer reviewedeScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital LibraryUniversity of CaliforniaT o w a r d s a  Compu ta t i ona l  T h e o r y o f Cognitiv e D e v e l o p m e n t Kazuo Hiraki, Steven Phillips and Akio Sashima Prest o /  Electrotechnica l  Laborator y 1-1- 4 Umezon o Tsukuba-sh i Ibaraki ,  30 5 Japa n {khiraki,stevep,sashima}Cetl•go.j p In t roduc t io n Thi s researc h challenge s th e traditiona l  approac h o f  the -or y constructio n i n cognitiv e developmen t  b y usin g th e framewor k o f  robo t  learning .  Traditionally ,  researche r  i n cognitiv e developmen t  (e.g. ,  developmenta l  psychologist ) has focuse d o n genera l  an d abstrac t  descriptio n o f  exper -imenta l  dat a a s a n explanatio n fo r  th e observations .  I n contras t  t o thi s approach ,  w e propos e usin g autonomou s robot s a s th e subjec t  o f  cognitiv e development ,  an d con -structin g compute r  program s b y whic h robot s ca n be -hav e ansdogousl y t o infants . Th e advantag e o f  usin g robot s i s twofold .  First ,  w e ca n utiliz e a  robot' s variou s sensor s an d actuator s a s th e input s an d output s o f  a  model .  I n compariso n t o stan -dar d compute r  simulatio n framewor k thi s aspec t  allow s us t o construc t  a  mor e realisti c model .  Second ,  w e ca n construc t  a  theor y absorbin g activenes s i n cognitiv e de -velopment .  Recently ,  researcher s hav e emphasize d th e importanc e o f  activenes s (i.e. ,  mobility )  o f  infant s dur -in g developmen t  (Thele n an d Smith ,  1994) .  However , th e theor y derive d fro m thi s strea m need s t o b e teste d an d refine d i n mor e detail .  W e believ e tha t  usin g robo t lead s u s t o a  mor e concret e theory . Modeling the Process of Spatial Learning As a  first  ste p t o constructin g a n complet e computa -tiona l  theor y o f  cognitiv e development ,  w e ar e tryin g t o explai n th e empirica l  result s o f  Acredelo ,  Asam s & G o o d w yn (1984) .  The y conducte d experiment s t o tes t th e rol e o f  self-locomotio n a s oppose d t o passiv e trans -por t  concernin g infant' s spatia l  cognition .  Thei r  result s sugges t  th e importanc e o f  activ e movemen t  wit h visua l tracking .  Howeve r  i t  i s  no t  clea r  wha t  informatio n i s cen -tra l  i n promotin g th e chang e fro m egocentri c representa -tion s t o landmark-base d o r  allocentri c representations . I n orde r  t o focu s o n th e change ,  w e adop t  th e ide a of  representationa l  redescriptio n (Karmiloff-Smith ,  1992 ) as a  ke y concep t  fo r  constructin g learnin g robots .  I n accordanc e wit h thi s ide a w e hav e develope d a  metho d called/ea<ur c a6s<racho n (Hiraki,1994) .  Featur e abstrac -tio n dynamicall y define s abstrac t  sensor s fro m primitiv e sensor y informatio n an d make s i t  possibl e t o lear n ap -propriat e sensory-moto r  constraints .  Thi s metho d ha s bee n implemente d o n a  rea l  mobil e robo t  a s a  learnin g syste m calle d AcoRN-II . Even thoug h featur e abstractio n i s a  metho d fo r changin g representation ,  i t  ha s limitation s a s a  genera l We ar e addressin g th e model  o f  developmenta l  change . followin g issues . 1. Efficient methods for exploring the feature spac e (Attentio n m e c h a n i s m ) .  ACORN-I I  ha s a smal l  numbe r  o f  sensors/actuator s tha t  enabl e explo -ratio n o f  representationa l  space .  O n th e othe r  han d infant s hav e enormou s sensor y organs .  W e nee d mor e sophisticate d criterio n suc h a s attentio n mechanism . 2.  M e c h a n i s m fo r  simulatin g drasti c change(SeIf -organization) .  Th e chang e fro m egocentri c behav -io r  t o non-egocentri c seem s t o nee d a  drasti c chang e of  spatia l  representation .  Thoug h featur e abstractio n dynamicall y redefine s representation ,  it s  basi c mech -anis m i s base d o n th e supervise d learnin g framework . I n orde r  t o simulat e infant' s representatio n change , we nee d a  systemati c wa y base d o n th e unsupervise d framework . Ther e ar e som e studie s tha t  shar e som e part s o f  ou r goal .  Fo r  instance .  Brook s &  Lyn n (1993 )  ar e construct -in g a  humanoi d typ e robo t  tha t  ca n simulat e par t  o f infant' s behavior .  The y focu s o n th e hardwar e leve l  in -stea d o f  developmenta l  change s o f  representation .  How -ever ,  w e believ e tha t  th e necessit y o f  implementatio n on rea l  robot s provide s valuabl e insight s int o cognitiv e mechanisms .  A s fo r  Acredelo' s experiments ,  w e ca n con -tro l  th e informatio n whic h i s suppose d t o b e perceive d by infant s durin g locomotion ,  an d w e ca n verif y th e hy -pothesi s o n self-movement . References Thelen ,  E .  k  Smith ,  L .  B .  (1994) .  A  Dynami c System s Approac h t o th e Developmen t  o f  Cognitio n an d Action . M I T Press . Acredelo ,  L.P. ,  Asams ,  A. ,  k  Goodwyn ,  S.W .  (1984) . The rol e o f  self-produce d movemen t  an d visua l  track -in g i n infan t  spatia l  orientation ,  Journa l  o f  Expert -menia l  Chil d Psychology ,  38 ,  312-327 . Karmiloff-Smith,A .  (1992) .  Beyon d Modularity ,  M I T Press . Hiraki,K .  (1994) .  Abstractio n o f  Sensory-Moto r  Fea -tures .  I n Proceeding s o f  Th e Sixteent h Annua l  Confer -enc e o f  th e Cognitiv e Scienc e Society ,  (pp .  415-420) . Brooks ,  R .  A. ,  &  Lynn ,  A .  S.(1993) .  Buildin g Brain s fo r Bodies .  M I T A I  La b M e mo No .  1439 ,  August . 774 

Towards a Computational Theory of Cognitive Development

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Towards a Computational Theory of Cognitive Development

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