Epigenetic robotics - modelling cognitive development in robotic systems

According to Zlatev and Balkenius (2001), the goal of Epigenetic robotics is to understand, and model, the role of development in the emergence of increasingly complex cognitive structures from physical and social interaction. As such, Epigenetic Robotics is an interdisciplinary effort, combining developmental psychology, neuroscience, and robotics. This still recent field is being driven by two main, somewhat parallel, motivations: (a) to understand the brain by constructing embodied systems – the so-called synthetic approach, and (b) to build better systems by learning from human studies. While this two-pronged approach has led to promising results (see (Lungarella, Metta, Pfeifer, & Sandini, 2003) for a comprehensive review), these editors believe that the field will benefit from amore rigorous coupling between both components. Pro-