Hierarchical interaction between sensory processing and world modeling in intelligent systems

The sensory processing system and its relationship to the world model are described. Both the sensory-processing and world-modeling systems are hypothesized to be hierarchical, with a tight coupling between sensory-processing and world-modeling modules at each level of the hierarchy. At every level, world model predictions are compared with sensory observations. Correlations and differences are used to improve estimated values stored in the world model. The world model consists of both symbolic and iconic representations and of mechanisms for transforming from one to the other. The sensory-processing system consists of iconic images, coordinate transformers, and mechanisms for comparison, correlation, recognition, and detection. The close coupling between sensory processing and world modeling produces the phenomenal capacity of an intelligent system to recognize objects, detect events, and perceive what is important for successful behavior in the natural world