title: Bootstrapping cognition from behavior-a computerized thought experiment.
abstract: We show that simple perceptual competences can emerge from an internal simulation of action effects and are thus grounded in behavior. A simulated agent learns to distinguish between dead ends and corridors without the necessity to represent these concepts in the sensory domain. Initially, the agent is only endowed with a simple value system and the means to extract low-level features from an image. In the interaction with the environment, it acquires a visuo-tactile forward model that allows the agent to predict how the visual input is changing under its movements, and whether movements will lead to a collision. From short-term predictions based on the forward model, the agent learns an inverse model. The inverse model in turn produces suggestions about which actions should be simulated in long-term predictions, and long-term predictions eventually give rise to the perceptual ability.
authors.affiliation: Computer Engineering Group, Faculty of Technology, Bielefeld University.
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Möller
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schenck