Representation as Internal Simulation: A Minimalistic Robotic Model

Abstract

Embodied cognition theorists have in recent years proposed that a cognitive agent's "representations" or "inner world" can at least partly be constituted by internal emulations or simulations of its sensorimotor interaction with the world, i.e. covert perception and action.This paper recapitulates some of the empirical evidence, distinguishes between implicit, internal and external anticipation, and discusses possible neural correlates.Furthermore a robotic neurocomputational model of external anticipation is presented and analyzed.