Emotive and cognitive simulations by agents: Roles of three levels of information processing

The information processing paradigm advocated by Ortony et al. (2005) integrate four functions – affect, motivation, cognition, and behavior – into three levels – reactive, routine, and reflective. However, it does not contain details of implementation. The three levels of information processing paradigm ties well with our view of two sources for inputs (or stimuli), namely external and internal inputs. This article provides an agent-based implementation of the three levels of information processing and clarifies the information flows of affect, motivation, cognition, behavior as well as perception. We simulate the three levels of information processing in a predator–prey environment. This paper shows manners in which affect, motivation, cognition, and behavior can be represented and used by agents at different levels of processing. This study contributes to understanding and processing of emotions, to three levels of information processing, and to predator–prey simulation.