Ernest 10.3's traces

This video shows the trace generated by Ernest 10.3 during the experiment reported in the previous post. Playing the two videos synchronously helps understand Ernest's activity.

As in Ernest 10.1's traces, the tape at the bottom represents the visual field. The twelve visual pixels are represented vertically as little rectangles when Ernest is moving forward, and as little trapezoids when Ernest is turning.

The second tape above the visual field represents the peripersonal map (known as the local map in Ernest 10.1). The grid cell in front of Ernest is represented in the center of the tape (in red when Ernest is bumping). The three cells on the left side of Ernest are represented in the upper part of the tape. The three cells on the right side of Ernest are represented in the lower part of the tape. The cell where Ernest is standing and the cell in the back of Ernest are not represented. The peripersonal map integrates stimulations from different sensory modalities: tactile (light gray, intermediary gray, and black), visual (colored), and kinematic (red). These different stimulations may be bundled together (See the discussion on bundles in Ernest 10.1).

The central part of the video represents Ernest's primitive interaction patterns (primitive enacted acts) that relate to Ernest's decisions (i.e., enacted acts both result from Ernest's previous decision and impact Ernest's next decision). The central line takes the color of the sensory salience that attracts Ernest's current attention (gray in the case of a tactile salience). Triangles that point outwards from the central line indicate that the salience is moving outwards—to the left when the triangle is above the line, and to the right when the triangle is below. Triangles that point inwards to the line indicate that the salience is moving inwards—from the left when the triangle is above the line, and from the right when the triangle is below. Little squares on the central line indicate that the salience of current attention is enlarging in the central area of the visual field. Large squares on the central line represent eating a fish (from gustatory stimulation).

Above the decisional tape is the motivational tape. The motivational tape represents Ernest's current satisfaction value as a little histogram. Positive satisfactions are displayed in green and negative satisfactions in red. See how Ernest enjoys eating fish :-).

Above the motivational tape, orange stripes and circles represent composite schemas that Ernest tries to enact as a whole sequence (from step 128 on). These sequences correspond to regularities of interaction that Ernest has discovered and learned; and Ernest is beginning to exploit these sequences. We can see that these sequences may contain steps with negative satisfaction values (steps 185, 195, 218...). This demonstrates that Ernest learns to knowingly decide to enact unsatisfying interaction in order to gain subsequent satisfying interaction.