A cybernetical perspective on emotion-cognition interactions as self-directed adaptation in situated decision-makers. (December 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Schneider, M.
• Is Part Of: Cognitive systems research. Volume 52(2018)
• Page Start: 400
• Page End: 428
• Publication Date: 2018-12
• Subjects: Cognition -- Periodicals; Cognitive engineering (System design) -- Periodicals; Artificial intelligence -- Periodicals; 153.05
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cogsys.2018.07.005
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1389-0417

Abstract

Abstract: Emotion-cognition interactions are often (Simon, 1967; Sloman, 2002) understood as adaptational mechanisms that help to cope bounded decision-makers with constraints and dangers forced upon by their environments. In this work, emotions are regarded as emergent properties of interconnected systems of functional routines – decision-making, memory access, etc. – and associated internal monitoring and modulation systems. Couplings between these mechanisms create internal bidirectional feedback loops that can sustain globally synchronized responses, which have been referred to as "appraisal-emotion"-amalgams (Lewis, 2005). Although emotions have been suggested as crucial components for enabling biological agents to cope with difficulties of decision-making in complex, partially unknown environments (Hanoch, 2002; Muramatsu & Hanoch, 2005; Sloman, 2011), research on artificial emotion models lacks common frameworks to explore design spaces for particular classes of emotionally-influenced systems (Hudlicka, 2008; Sloman, 2002), rendering it difficult to identify basic principles or architectural constraints (Hudlicka, 2008; Sloman, 1999, 2002). This article presents a systems-level framework for modeling emotion-cognition interaction in domain-independent decision-making systems based on Optimal Control Theory as a particular form of self-modulation driven by continual evaluation of the relationship between system and environment.