This repository has been migrated to GitLab.

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Cognitive Distinctions in a Model of Referential Communciation

This is a minimal model of referential communication used to explore the concept of cognitive distinctions. This repository contains the code for the evolution and analysis of agents in a referential communication task. The work has been published in Artificial Life. A preprint is freely available on my website.

The environment is a one-dimensional ring with 'post-sets' that agents can interact with. The agents are 5-neuron CTRNNs with a single continuous sensor. The task is organised into three phases:

1. Phase 1. The sender interacts with the target to differentiate whether it has one or two posts.
2. Phase 2. The sender interacts with the receiver to prepare the latter to find the correct post-set.
3. Phase 3. The receiver finds and stays near the target post-set, ignoring the distraction post-set.

For the rest of the data, please contact me at gaul@uchc.edu. Please also reach out for any questions or concerns.

Software Used

Software	Version
gcc	12.2.0
python	3.12.4
Wolfram	14.1.0
OS	Debian 12.2.0-14 (Bookworm)

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If you want to cite the paper, use:

@article{Gaul.Izquierdo2025distinctions,
    author = {Gaul, Thomas M and Izquierdo, Eduardo J},
    title = {Cognitive distinctions as a language for cognitive science},
    subtitle = {comparing methods of description in a model of referential communication},
    year = {2025},
    month = {09},
    journal = {Artificial Life},
    volume = {31},
    number = {3},
    pages = {345--367},
    publisher = {MIT Press},
    doi = {10.1162/artl_a_00475}
}