Steve Allen: Papers, PhD Thesis and Software

Papers and posters

PhD Thesis (2001):
School of Computer Science The University of Birmingham
TITLE: Concern Processing in Autonomous Agents


** Last Updated 5 May 2001 (final version - as accepted)

Thesis Contents

Abstract
PART I
1 Introduction
1.1 Research Contributions
1.2 Research Methodology
1.2.1 Intentionality
1.2.2 The Design-based Approach
1.3 Requirements of Autonomous Agents
1.4 Thesis Structure and Guide
1.5 Summary
2 Motivated Agent Framework
2.1 The Mind as a Control System
2.2 Three Layered Model
2.3 Summary
PART II
3 Concern Processing
3.1 Deliberative Concern Processing
3.1.1 The Procedural Reasoning System
3.1.2 Conclusions
3.2 Behaviour-Based Concern Processing
3.2.1 Subsumption
3.2.2 Fine-Grained Subsumption
3.2.3 Agent Network Architecture
3.2.4 Free-Flow Hierarchy
3.2.5 Inhibition and Fatigue
3.2.6 Conclusions
3.3 Summary
4 Motivational Control States
4.1 Functional Attributes of Motivators
4.2 Case Study: A Motivated Agent
4.3 Perturbance and Affective States
4.4 Case Study: A Proto-Emotional Agent
4.5 Summary
PART III
5 Emotional Control States
5.1 Classification of Emotions
5.2 Cognitive Theories of Emotion
5.2.1 Affect Theory
5.2.2 Motivational and Emotional Control of Cognition
5.2.3 Emotion Process
5.2.4 The Emotional Brain
5.2.5 Somatic Marker Hypothesis
5.2.6 Conclusions
5.3 Summary
6 "Emotional" Agents
6.1 Related Work
6.1.1 Will
6.1.2 Cathexis
6.1.3 CMattie
6.1.4 Motivated Society of Mind
6.1.5 Conclusions
6.2 Case Study: Extended Motivated Society of Mind
6.2.1 Implementation Details
6.2.2 Experiment1: Motivational Control of Behaviour (source code)
6.2.3 Experiment2: Affective Control of Motivation (source code)
6.2.4 Conclusions
6.3 Summary
7 Towards an Infant-Like "Emotional" Agent
7.1 Concern-Centric Design
7.1.1 Co-evolution within Abbott
7.1.2 Emergent Emotional States
7.1.3 Conclusions
7.2 Summary
8 Implementation and Critique
8.1 Putting Theory into Practice
8.1.1 Requirements Specification
8.1.2 Implementation Details (source code)
8.1.3 Experimental Results
8.1.4 Strengths and Weaknesses
8.1.5 Conclusions
8.2 Requirements for Human-Like Emotions
8.3 Summary
PART IV

9 Conclusions
9.1 Main Contributions of Thesis
9.2 Future Work
9.2.1 Autonomous Agency and Human Emotions
9.2.2 Nursemaid Scenario
9.3 Summary
10 List of References
APPENDICES

A Extended SIM_AGENT Toolkit
A.1 Virtual Machines
A.2 The SIM_AGENT Toolkit
A.3 The Gridland Extension
A.4 The Gridland Scheduler and Environment
A.5 Supporting Different Agent Architectures
B Abbott Experiments
C A Quick Tour of Brain Anatomy
D Definition of Hormones
E Survival Machines
E.1 The Selfish Gene
E.2 The Selfish Meme
E.3 Evolution of Mind
E.4 Conclusion

Last updated by Steve Allen on 5 May '01
Edited for Cogaff Directory byAaron Sloman on 22 Jun 2003