Category formation in self-organizing embodied agents

In this paper, I describe the implications for a general theory of category formation of a set of experiments in which embodied artificial agents are evolved for the ability to accomplish simple tasks. In particular, I will focus on how categories might emerge from the dynamic interaction between an agent and its environment, and on the relation between categories and behavior. Finally, I will introduce and discuss the notion of action-mediated categories, i.e., internal states that provide indirect and implicit information about the external environment and/or the agent/ environment relationship generated through the execution of a behavior.