Emotion-based intrinsic motivation for reinforcement learning agents

Abstract

In this paper, we propose an adaptation of four common appraisal dimensions that evaluate the relation of an agent with its environment into reward features within an intrinsically motivated reinforcement learning framework. We show that, by optimizing the relative weights of such features for a given environment, the agents attain a greater degree of fitness while overcoming some of their perceptual limitations. This optimization process resembles the evolutionary adaptive process that living organisms are subject to. We illustrate the application of our method in several simulated foraging scenarios. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.