INFORMATIONAL CONSTRAINTS-DRIVEN ORGANIZATION IN GOAL-DIRECTED BEHAVIOR

Sander G. van Dijk () and Daniel Polani ()
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Sander G. van Dijk: Adaptive Systems Group, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Daniel Polani: Adaptive Systems Group, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom

Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), 2013, vol. 16, issue 02n03, 1-23

Abstract: We study goal-directed behavior in the light of informationally constrained cognition. In a formal information-theoretical model, based on a description of goal-directed behavior as a family of Markov Decision Processes, we study lower bounds of constraints on the information about a goal needed to generate behavior that achieves such a goal at a certain level of optimality. We assume a working memory that operates on this minimally relevant goal information and study the necessary dynamics of in and out flow of information for such a working memory. Finally, we formally analyze explicit constraints on goal information pathways as information bottlenecks. Our results show that intrinsic and behavioral organizations, such as ritualized behavior, salient sub-goals, and natural abstractions, appear as a result of the studied informational constraints. We argue that a closed approach to generate a family of organizational concepts in a coherent way by systematically applying cognitive constraints as taken in this work can constitute an important step toward guiding self-organization.

Keywords: Goal-directed; constrained cognition; informational structure; relevant information; sub-goals; goal abstraction; embrainment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:acsxxx:v:16:y:2013:i:02n03:n:s0219525913500161

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DOI: 10.1142/S0219525913500161

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