The Importance of the Body in Affect-Modulated Action Selection: A Case Study Comparing Proximal Versus Distal Perception in a Prey-Predator Scenario

TitleThe Importance of the Body in Affect-Modulated Action Selection: A Case Study Comparing Proximal Versus Distal Perception in a Prey-Predator Scenario
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2009
AuthorsO'Bryne, C, Cañamero, L, Murray, JC
Name of ProceedingsProc. 3rd Intl. Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction (ACII 2009)
Pagination1–6
Date Published09/2009
PublisherIEEE Press
Conference LocationAmsterdam, The Netherlands
ISSN Number2156-8103
Abstract

In the context of the animat approach, we investigate the effect of an emotion-like hormonal mechanism, as a modulator of perception - and second order controller to an underlying motivation-based action selection architecture - on brain-body-environment interactions within a prey-predator scenario. We are particularly interested in the effects that affective modulation of different perceptual capabilities has on the dynamics of interactions between predator and prey, as part of a broader study of the adaptive value of emotional states such as "fear" and "aggression" in the context of action selection. In this paper we present experiments where we modulated the architecture of a prey robot using two different types of sensory capabilities, proximal and distal, effectively creating combinations of different prey "brains" and "bodies".

DOI10.1109/ACII.2009.5349596