After an animal obtains sensory information about its external world and internal state, it has to process this information to decide what to do next. In particular, the perceived external stimuli must be evaluated with respect to the animal's internal state in order for it to determine the most appropriate course of action. This higher control process is often referred to as ``action selection.'' The brain can carry out the action selection process at the cognitive or sub-cognitive level. The action selection mechanism is the key to adaptiveness and autonomy. It is essential to design effective action selection mechanisms for artificial animals.
| Xiaoyuan Tu | January 1996 |