Hierarchies of Control Processes and the Evolution of Consciousness

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to sketch an application of some ideas in themathematical theory of control processes to biological phenomena such as instinct, learning, curiosity, adaptation, and, finally, consciousness. We shall employ the language and methodology of the theory of dynamic programming. Detailed accounts of the mathematical ideas will be found in [1], [2], [3]. For a quite different approach to consciousness, see [6].

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1972
Accession Number
AD1025564

Entities

People

  • Richard E. Bellman

Organizations

  • University of Southern California

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Biological Phenomena
  • Calculus Of Variations
  • Complex Systems
  • Computer Programming
  • Computers
  • Consciousness
  • Control Systems
  • Dynamic Programming
  • Hierarchies
  • Instructions
  • Language
  • Mathematical Models
  • Pattern Recognition
  • Probability
  • Probability Distributions
  • Random Variables
  • Sequences

Fields of Study

  • Mathematics

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Systems Analysis and Design