What neuro-robotic models can teach us about neural and cognitive development

Abstract

Abstract This chapter highlights the importance of biologically plausible mechanisms in developing robot models. It also argues for the importance of robotic models that are controlled by artificial neural networks. Such models provide a tangible way of investigating how the body, the environment and the neurocontrol system of the brain co-determine a child's unfolding abilities. The chapter illustrates this with a robotic model that learns to navigate and interact with objects in the world. Building such systems underscores the importance of attributing differential ‘value’ to different objects or actions on the world for obtaining a realistic developmental profile. In terms of neural information, processing ‘value’ can be linked to differing levels of dopamine in the brain associated with particular events and tasks. Dopamine is a neuromodulator that effects the level of plasticity in a neural network.