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curiosity and intrinsic motivation
| In search of the neural circuits of intrinsic motivation |
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Kaplan, F. and Oudeyer, P-Y (2007) In search of the neural circuits of intrinsic motivation, Frontiers in Neuroscience, 1 (1), 225-236 |
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Children seem to acquire new know-how in a continuous and open-ended
manner. In this paper, we hypothesize that an intrinsic motivation to
progress in learning is at the origins of the remarkable structure of
children’s developmental trajectories. In this view, children engage in
exploratory and playful activities for their own sake, not as steps
toward other extrinsic goals. The central hypothesis of this paper is
that intrinsically motivating activities correspond to expected
decrease in prediction error. This motivation system pushes the infant
to avoid both predictable and unpredictable situations in order to
focus on the ones that are expected to maximize progress in learning.
Based on a computational model and a series of robotic experiments, we
show how this principle can lead to organized sequences of behavior of
increasing complexity characteristic of several behavioral and
developmental patterns observed in humans.We then discuss the putative
circuitry underlying such an intrinsic motivation system in the brain
and formulate two novel hypotheses. The first one is that tonic
dopamine acts as a learning progress signal. The second is that this
progress signal is directly computed through a hierarchy of
microcortical circuits that act both as prediction and metaprediction
systems.
View paper on the Frontiers in Neuroscience website
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