Simulating autonomous coupling in discrimination of light frequencies

To study the interfacial complexity between an agent and its environment such as the adaptive selection aspects of sensory inputs, we propose a new coupling mechanism, called autonomous coupling, where an agent can spontaneously switch on or off its interaction with the environment. An oscillatory neural system with autonomous coupling sums the sensory inputs and initiates action selection via a sensorimotor coupling. An example task we designed to show dynamical categorization is the classification of light frequencies. An evolved agent selects specified light frequencies by approaching them and avoiding light of other frequencies. Dynamical categorization and active coupling are the key concepts for the understanding of situated and embodied cognitive functions.