Two functions of perception

Two functions of perception

Perception in behavior serves two functions. First, as we saw with IRMs,
it serves to release a behavior. RELEASE However, releasing a behavior isn’t necessarily
the same as the second function: perceiving the information needed to
accomplish the behavior. For example, consider an animal in a forest fire.
The fire activates the fleeing. But the fleeing behavior needs to extract inGUIDE
formation about open spaces to run through obstacles in order to guide the
behavior. A frightened deer might bolt right past a hunter without apparently
noticing.
In both roles as a releaser and as a guide for behavior, perception filters
the incoming stimulus for the task at hand. This is often referred to
as action-oriented perception by roboticists, when they wish to distinguish
their perceptual approach from the more hierarchical global models style of
perception. Many animals have evolved specialized detectors which simplify
perception for their behaviors. Some frogs which sit in water all day
with just half their eyes poking up have a split retina: the lower half is good
for seeing in water, the upper half in air.