Communications of the ACM
New Research Adds Physiology to Computer Models
Pennsylvania State University researchers are studying how to make computers work more like human brains.
Credit: iStock
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University (PSU) are studying how to make computers work more like human brains, and contend without a physiological complement, a computer program modeling the mind would just be a brain in a vat.
The researchers' reasoning for exploring this new theory is that a body's natural needs, state, and inclinations inherently influence the brain. To study this idea, the researchers have programmed a sense of bodily processes within a computer simulation, and are focusing on how the mind responds to physical fatigue.
The team is studying this topic through the framework of ACT-R/Phi, which combines a theory of how the human brain works (ACT-R) with a theory of how the body works. The combined ACT-R/Phi program enables the researchers to determine how a human would react in certain situations.
Bucknell University professor Christopher Dancy says this strategy offers "a fuller picture of how our normal physiological functions modulate our actions and decisions."
From Penn State News
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