
Cognitive system
Object model
Object
Figure 4: System perception implies the continuous update of the models that the
system is employing in the generation of behavior.
mation coming from the inside of the system. Here authors will typically talk about
two clasess of preception, propioception —the sensing of the body— and metapercep-
tion —the sensing of the mind— but both are, senso stricto, the same class of per-
ceptual processes. This unified perspective implies that for explicit perception to
happen in the inner environment, there must be a model where percepts are to be
integrated. These models obviously constitute the very core of self.
6 The Emergence of Self
As was mentioned before, maintaining system cohesion becomes a critical chal-
lenge in the evolutionary trajectory of a cognitive system. From this perspective,
the analysis proceeds in a similar way: if model-based behaviour gives adaptive
value to a system interacting with an object, it will give also value when the ob-
ject modelled is the system itself. This gives rise to metacognitition in the form of
metacontrol loops that will improve operation of the system overall.
Apart of the many efforts in the analysis of reflective mental processes in bio-
logical systems that we are not going to analise in detail here9, there are also many
research threads that are leading to systematically addressing the question of em-
bedding self-models in technical systems. Some of them are:
9See for example Gallagher and Shear (2000) for philosophical, cognitive science perpesctives and
Kircher and David (2003) for neuroscience and psychology ones.
ASLab.org / Principles for Consciousness / A-2007-011 v 1.0 Final
12
More intriguing information
1. Optimal Taxation of Capital Income in Models with Endogenous Fertility2. Meat Slaughter and Processing Plants’ Traceability Levels Evidence From Iowa
3. The name is absent
4. The name is absent
5. Innovation in commercialization of pelagic fish: the example of "Srdela Snack" Franchise
6. Implementation of the Ordinal Shapley Value for a three-agent economy
7. Estimated Open Economy New Keynesian Phillips Curves for the G7
8. The name is absent
9. Inflation Targeting and Nonlinear Policy Rules: The Case of Asymmetric Preferences (new title: The Fed's monetary policy rule and U.S. inflation: The case of asymmetric preferences)
10. Linking Indigenous Social Capital to a Global Economy