Optimal and Non-Optimal Compromise Strategies in Action Selection

Devising a solution to the action selection problem rests on a definition of which actions are preferable over others. Among many properties suggested for action selection mechanisms, one prominent one is the ability to select compromise actions, i.e. actions that are not the best to satisfy any active goal in isolation, but rather compromise between the multiple goals. This paper performs a mathematical and experimental analysis of compromise behavior in an attempt to determine exactly how much compromise behavior aids an animat. It concludes that optimal compromise behavior is a small improvement over non-compromise behavior, but commonly proposed easy to compute compromise mechanisms are worse than non-compromise behavior. It further analyzes the properties of situations when compromise behavior is distinctly better than non-compromise behavior.