National Institute of Information and Communications Technology , Suita, Osaka 565-0871 , Japan.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2019 Apr 29;374(1771):20180030. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0030.
What is a fundamental ability for cognitive development? Although many researchers have been addressing this question, no shared understanding has been acquired yet. We propose that predictive learning of sensorimotor signals plays a key role in early cognitive development. The human brain is known to represent sensorimotor signals in a predictive manner, i.e. it attempts to minimize prediction error between incoming sensory signals and top-down prediction. We extend this view and suggest that two mechanisms for minimizing prediction error lead to the development of cognitive abilities during early infancy. The first mechanism is to update an immature predictor. The predictor must be trained through sensorimotor experiences because it does not inherently have prediction ability. The second mechanism is to execute an action anticipated by the predictor. Interacting with other individuals often increases prediction error, which can be minimized by executing one's own action corresponding to others' action. Our experiments using robotic systems replicated developmental dynamics observed in infants. The capabilities of self-other cognition and goal-directed action were acquired based on the first mechanism, whereas imitation and prosocial behaviours emerged based on the second mechanism. Our theory further provides a potential mechanism for autism spectrum condition. Atypical tolerance for prediction error is hypothesized to be a cause of perceptual and social difficulties. This article is part of the theme issue 'From social brains to social robots: applying neurocognitive insights to human-robot interaction'.
认知发展的基本能力是什么？尽管许多研究人员一直在研究这个问题，但尚未达成共识。我们提出，对感觉运动信号的预测性学习在早期认知发展中起着关键作用。众所周知，人类大脑以预测的方式表示感觉运动信号，即它试图使传入的感觉信号与自上而下的预测之间的预测误差最小化。我们扩展了这一观点，并认为两种最小化预测误差的机制导致了婴儿早期认知能力的发展。第一种机制是更新不成熟的预测器。由于预测器本身没有预测能力，因此必须通过感觉运动经验进行训练。第二种机制是执行预测器所预期的动作。与他人互动通常会增加预测误差，而通过执行与他人动作相对应的自己的动作可以最小化预测误差。我们使用机器人系统进行的实验复制了在婴儿中观察到的发展动态。基于第一种机制获得了自我他人认知和目标导向动作的能力，而基于第二种机制出现了模仿和亲社会行为。我们的理论进一步为自闭症谱系障碍提供了一种潜在的机制。假设对预测误差的异常容忍是感知和社交困难的原因。本文是主题为“从社会大脑到社交机器人：将神经认知见解应用于人机交互”的一部分。
