Knowledge-directed Adaptation in Multi-level Agents

Abstract

Most work on adaptive agents have a simple, single layerarchitecture. However, most agent architectures support three levels ofknowledge and control: a reflex level for reactive responses, a deliberatelevel for goal-driven behavior, and a reflective layer for deliberateplanning and problem decomposition. In this paper we explore agentsimplemented in Soar that behave and learn at the deliberate and reflectivelevels. These levels enhance not only behavior, but also adaptation. Theagents use a combination of analytic and empirical learning, drawing from avariety of sources of knowledge to adapt to their environment. We hypothesize that complete, adaptive agents must be able to learn across all three levels.