Co-learning and the Development of Communication

Abstract

We investigate the properties of coupled co-learning systems during the emergence of communication. Co-learning systems are more complex than individual learning systems because of being dependent on the learning process of each other, thus risking divergence. We developed a neural network approach and implemented a concept that we call reconstruction principle, which we found adequate for overcoming the instability problem. Experimental simulations were performed to test the emergence of both compositional and holistic communication. The results show that compositional communication is favorable when learning performance is considered, however it is more error-prone to differences in the conceptual representations of the individual systems. We show that our architecture enables the adjustment of the differences in the individual representations in case of compositional communication.

Research has been supported by the New Ties project (EC FET grant No. 003752). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the EC.