PREDICTIVE PROCESSING AND EMERGENCE OF THE HUMAN MIND

Abstract

According to the theory of predictive processing, the brain is not a passive organ that solely responds to input signals from sensory organs. Rather, it actively constructs perception based on internal models that predict future input signals and compute differences between predictions and input signals (prediction error). Organisms, including humans, construct and maintain integrated and consistent images of the self and the world by minimizing the sum of prediction errors. They either update their internal models or actively modulate sensory inputs by changing behaviors. This article introduces basic predictive processing concepts and examines how predictive processing conceptualizes mental functions such as perception, motor movement, decision-making, and affect as integrated systems. Recent empirical findings supporting this theoretical framework are presented. This article also discusses how the predictive processing framework uses computation to explain how subjective mental experiences are generated.