Information dynamics of evolved agents

Abstract

Information-theoretic techniques have received much recent attention as tools for the analysis of embodied agents. However, while techniques for quantifying static information structure are well-established, the application of information theory to the analysis of temporal behavior is still in its infancy. Here we formulate a novel information-theoretic approach for analyzing the dynamics of information flow in embodied systems. To demonstrate our approach, we apply it to analyze a previously evolved model of relational categorization. The results of this analysis demonstrate the unique strengths of our approach for exploring the detailed structure of information dynamics, and point towards a natural synergy between temporally-extended information theory and dynamical systems theory. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.