5.3.4 Second review of the requirements for information processing

For learning we go beyond just storing and retrieving information to include some processing

• Simple inferences with feelings
• From the present feeling of hunger we have to infer the opposite feeling of satiation so that we can search for this feeling as a result of some action
• From the present feeling of fear we have to infer the associated feeling of pain so that we can identify the action that resulted in pain
• Simple matching of perceptions
• The present environment (image) must be compared to the image associated with the beginning of the action sequence that should be used (or avoided)
• If the images do not match sufficiently then we are probably not in the same environment so that the action sequence would be unlikely to lead to the same outcome
• Note: This problem of matching images will be addressed in more detail later
• Replaying or copying the action sequence
• Assuming that we can remember this action later, we need to copy it into memory while we are sending it to the muscles
• Searching through memory
• We need to go through memory both to identify (and match) the outcomes of action-sequences as well as to indentify (and match) the beginnings of an action sequence

These information processing functions are compatible with the hypothesis of an inner language, but they could also be accomplished with other information processing functions