Exploring Robotic Minds: Actions, Symbols, and Consciousness as Self-Organizing Dynamic Phenomena(Oxford Series on Cognitive Models and Architectures)

In Exploring Robotic Minds: Actions, Symbols, and Consciousness as Self-Organizing Dynamic Phenomena, Jun Tani sets out to answer an essential and tantalizing question: How do our minds work? By providing an overview of his "synthetic neurorobotics" project, Tani reveals how symbols and concepts that represent the world can emerge in a neurodynamic structure--iterative interactions between the top-down subjective view, which proactively acts on the world, and the bottom-up recognition of the resultant perceptual reality. He argues that nontrivial problems of consciousness and free will could be addressed through structural understanding of such iterative, conflicting interactions between the top-down and the bottom-up pathways. A wide range of readers will enjoy this wonderful journey of the mind and will follow the author on interdisciplinary discussions that span neuroscience, dynamical systems theories, robotics, and phenomenology. The book also includes many figures, as well as a link to videos of Tani's exciting robotic experiments.

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Frank E. Ritter Preface Part I On the Mind 1. Where do we begin with mind? 2. Cognitivism 2.1 Composition and recursion in symbol systems 2.2 Some cognitive models 2.3 The symbol grounding problem 2.4 Context 2.5 Summary 3. Phenomenology 3.1 Direct experience 3.2 The subjective mind and objective world 3.3 Time perception: How can the flow of subjective experiences be objectified? 3.4 Being-in-the-world 3.5 Embodiment for mind 3.6 Stream of consciousness and freewill 3.7 Summary 4. Introducing the brain and brain science 4.1 Hierarchical brain mechanisms for visual recognition and action generation 4.2 A new understanding of action generation and recognition in the brain 4.3 How can intention arise spontaneously and be aware consciously? 4.4 Deciding between the conflicting evidence 4.5 Summary 5. Dynamical systems approach for embodied cognition 5.1 Dynamical systems 5.2 Gibsonian and Neo-Gibsonian approaches 5.3 Behavior-based robotics 5.4 Modeling the brain at different levels 5.5 Neural network models 5.6 Neurorobotics with the dynamical systems perspectives 5.7 Summary Part II Emergent minds: Findings from robotics experiments 6. New proposals 6.1 Robots with subjective views 6.2 Engineering subjective views into neurodynamic models 6.3 The subjective mind and the objective world as an inseparable entity 7. Predictive learning about the world from actional consequences 7.1 Development of compositionality: The symbol grounding problem 7.2 Predictive dynamics and self-consciousness 7.3 Summary 8. Mirroring action generation and recognition with articulating sensory-motor flow 8.1 A mirror neuron model: RNNPB 8.2 Embedding multiple behaviors in distributed representation 8.3 Imitating others by recognizing their mental states 8.4 Binding language and actions 8.5 Summary 9. Development of functional hierarchy for action 9.1 Self-organization of functional hierarchy in multiple timescales 9.2 Robotics experiments on developmental training of complex actions 9.3 Summary 10. Freewill for action 10.1 Dynamic account of spontaneous behaviors 10.2 Freewill, consciousness, and postdiction 10.3 Summary 11. Conclusions 11.1 Compositionality in cognitive mind 11.2 Phenomenology 11.3 Objective science and subjective experience 11.4 Future directions 11.5 Summary of the book Glossary for abbreviations References Index

About the Author :
Jun Tani is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

Review :
"Jun Tani...has taken neurorobotics (and perhaps neurophilosophy) to the next level; through the creation (or perhaps tutelage) of robots that show true intentionality and can engage with us (through mimicry), much like a small child. This book is a beautifully articulated review of his work and offers some compelling conclusions about the nature of mind. It is both didactic and groundbreaking; covering the fundaments of representation and embodied cognition through to the emergence of mirror neurons and free will in synthetic brains. In brief, Tani creates a 'perfect storm' by combining three key ingredients; namely, embodiment or enactivism, dynamical systems theory and active recognition or inference... In short, this is a carefully crafted survey of deep ideas that are substantiated by ingenious experiments in robotics and machine learning." --Karl J. Friston, Scientific Director: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, UCL "Jun Tani is a computational neuroscientist author of very influential action processing models. In the present book he addresses a fascinating problem: the subjective experience in robots. Specialists and non- specialists alike will enjoy reading this beautiful book." --Giacomo Rizzolatti, MD, Professor of Human Physiology, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università di Parma "This important work is a report from the frontline of 'synthetic neurorobotics'. Tani aims to bridge the gap between simple sensorimotor response and the kinds of structured understanding and skill distinctive of higher forms of intelligence. The book combines ground-breaking experimentation with foundational reflection, all the while keeping sight of the phenomenology of subjective experience itself. An instant classic that deserves the very widest audience." --Andy Clark, Professor of Logic and Metaphysics, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, and author of Surfing Uncertainty: Prediction, Action, and the Embodied Mind "Overall, the author approaches the question of the mind holistically, includes many important concepts and more interestingly applies it in the real robots. Connectivistic models make a step forward compare to previous approaches, but are far from biological elegance. However, these results and ideas give fruitful thoughts and must be interesting for everyone who is on the same quest as the author." --Cognitive Systems Research