The evolution of cognition—a hypothesis

Behavior may be controlled by reactive systems. In a reactive system the motor output is exclusively driven by actual sensory input. An alternative solution to control behavior is given by “cognitive” systems capable of planning ahead. To this end the system has to be equipped with some kind of inte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cognitive science 2003, Vol.27 (1), p.135-155
Main Author: Cruse, Holk
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition & reasoning
Cognition. Intelligence
Cognitive system
Consciousness
Deliberation
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Internal perspective
Internal world model
Miscellaneous
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Reactive system
Recurrent networks
Subjective experience
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Summary:Behavior may be controlled by reactive systems. In a reactive system the motor output is exclusively driven by actual sensory input. An alternative solution to control behavior is given by “cognitive” systems capable of planning ahead. To this end the system has to be equipped with some kind of internal world model. A sensible basis of an internal world model might be a model of the system’s own body. I show that a reactive system with the ability to control a body of complex geometry requires only a slight reorganization to form a cognitive system. This implies that the assumption that the evolution of cognitive properties requires the introduction of new, additional modules, namely internal world models, is not justified. Rather, these modules may already have existed before the system obtained cognitive properties. Furthermore, I discuss whether the occurrence of such world models may lead to systems having internal perspective.
ISSN:0364-0213
1551-6709
DOI:10.1016/S0364-0213(02)00110-6