Extended active inference: Constructing predictive cognition beyond skulls

Axel Constant; Andy Clark; Michael Kirchhoff; Karl J Friston

doi:10.1111/mila.12330

Extended active inference: Constructing predictive cognition beyond skulls

Mind Lang. 2022 Jun;37(3):373-394. doi: 10.1111/mila.12330. Epub 2020 Dec 2.

Authors

Axel Constant^{1

2

3}, Andy Clark^{4

5

6}, Michael Kirchhoff⁷, Karl J Friston²

Affiliations

¹ Charles Perkins Centre The University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia.
² Culture, Mind, and Brain Program McGill University Montreal Quebec Canada.
³ Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging University College London London UK.
⁴ Department of Philosophy The University of Sussex Brighton UK.
⁵ Department of Informatics The University of Sussex Brighton UK.
⁶ Department of Philosophy Macquarie University Sydney New South Wales Australia.
⁷ Department of Philosophy University of Wollongong Wollongong New South Wales Australia.

Abstract

Cognitive niche construction is the process whereby organisms create and maintain cause-effect models of their niche as guides for fitness influencing behavior. Extended mind theory claims that cognitive processes extend beyond the brain to include predictable states of the world. Active inference and predictive processing in cognitive science assume that organisms embody predictive (i.e., generative) models of the world optimized by standard cognitive functions (e.g., perception, action, learning). This paper presents an active inference formulation that views cognitive niche construction as a cognitive function aimed at optimizing organisms' generative models. We call that process of optimization extended active inference.

Keywords: active inference; affordances; cognitive niche construction; ecological psychology; extended mind; predictive processing.