How do "minds" work? In Exploring Robotic Minds: Actions, Symbols, and Consciousness as Self-Organizing Dynamic Phenomena, Jun Tani answers this fundamental question by reviewing his own pioneering neurorobotics research project.

• Foreword by Frank E. Ritter


• Preface


• Part I On the Mind


• 1. Where do we begin with mind?


• 2. Cognitivism


• 2.1 Composition and recursion in symbol systems


• 2.2 Some cognitive models


• 2.3 The symbol grounding problem


• 2.4 Context


• 2.5 Summary


• 3. Phenomenology


• 3.1 Direct experience


• 3.2 The subjective mind and objective world


• 3.3 Time perception: How can the flow of subjective experiences be objectified?


• 3.4 Being-in-the-world


• 3.5 Embodiment for mind


• 3.6 Stream of consciousness and freewill


• 3.7 Summary


• 4. Introducing the brain and brain science


• 4.1 Hierarchical brain mechanisms for visual recognition and action generation


• 4.2 A new understanding of action generation and recognition in the brain


• 4.3 How can intention arise spontaneously and be aware consciously?


• 4.4 Deciding between the conflicting evidence


• 4.5 Summary


• 5. Dynamical systems approach for embodied cognition


• 5.1 Dynamical systems


• 5.2 Gibsonian and Neo-Gibsonian approaches


• 5.3 Behavior-based robotics


• 5.4 Modeling the brain at different levels


• 5.5 Neural network models


• 5.6 Neurorobotics with the dynamical systems perspectives


• 5.7 Summary


• Part II Emergent minds: Findings from robotics experiments


• 6. New proposals


• 6.1 Robots with subjective views


• 6.2 Engineering subjective views into neurodynamic models


• 6.3 The subjective mind and the objective world as an inseparable entity


• 7. Predictive learning about the world from actional consequences


• 7.1 Development of compositionality: The symbol grounding problem


• 7.2 Predictive dynamics and self-consciousness


• 7.3 Summary


• 8. Mirroring action generation and recognition with articulating sensory-motor flow


• 8.1 A mirror neuron model: RNNPB


• 8.2 Embedding multiple behaviors in distributed representation


• 8.3 Imitating others by recognizing their mental states


• 8.4 Binding language and actions


• 8.5 Summary


• 9. Development of functional hierarchy for action


• 9.1 Self-organization of functional hierarchy in multiple timescales


• 9.2 Robotics experiments on developmental training of complex actions


• 9.3 Summary


• 10. Freewill for action


• 10.1 Dynamic account of spontaneous behaviors


• 10.2 Freewill, consciousness, and postdiction


• 10.3 Summary


• 11. Conclusions


• 11.1 Compositionality in cognitive mind


• 11.2 Phenomenology


• 11.3 Objective science and subjective experience


• 11.4 Future directions


• 11.5 Summary of the book


• Glossary for abbreviations


• References


• Index

Jun Tani is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).