Extending Sensorimotor Contingencies to Cognition

Abstract

Abstract An emerging view in cognitive science considers cognition as “enactive” (i.e., skillful activity involving ongoing interactions with the external world). A key premise of this view is that cognition is grounded in the mastery of sensorimotor contingencies (i.e., the ability to predict sensory changes which ensue from one’s own action). It is proposed that the learning of sensorimotor contingencies serves basic sensorimotor processing and that it can also be used to establish more complex cognitive capacities, such as object recognition, action planning, or tool use. Recent evidence from robotics and neuroscience supports this claim and suggests that “extended” sensorimotor contingencies might be a viable concept for pragmatic cognitive science.