Glossary of Specialized Terms 329
the weight of evidence and k is a parameter. In the case of an Indefinite Truth Value, the confidence is associated with the width of the probability interval.
Confidence Decay: The process by which the confidence of an Atom decreases over time, as the observations on which the Atom’s truth value is based become increasingly obsolete. This may be carried out by a special MindAgent. The rate of confidence decay is subtle and contextually determined, and must be estimated via inference rather than simply assumed a priori.
Consciousness: CogPrime is not predicated on any particular conceptual theory of con- sciousness. Informally, the AttentionalFocus is sometimes referred to as the “conscious” mind of a CogPrime system, with the rest of the Atomspace as “unconscious” but this is just an informal usage, not intended to tie the CogPrime design to any particular theory of consciousness. The primary originator of the CogPrime
design (Ben Goertzel) tends toward panpsychism, as it happens.
Context: In addition to its general common-sensical meaning, in CogPrime the term Con- text also refers to an Atom that is used as the first argument of a ContextLink. The second argument of the ContextLink then contains Links or Nodes, with TruthValues calculated restricted to the context defined by the first argument. For instance, (ContextLink USA (InheritanceLink person obese )).
Core: The MindOS portion of OpenCog, comprising the Atomspace, the CogServer, and other associated “infrastructural” code.
Corrective Learning: When an agent learns how to do something, by having another agent explicitly guide it in doing the thing. For instance, teaching a dog to sit by pushing its butt to the ground.
CSDLN: (Compositional Spatiotemporal Deep Learning Network): A hierarchical pattern recognition network, in which each layer corresponds to a certain spatiotemporal granularity, the nodes on a given layer correspond to spatiotemporal regions of a given size, and the children of a node correspond to sub-regions of the region the parent corresponds to. Jeff Hawkins’s HTM is one example CSDLN, and Itamar Arel’s DeSTIN (currently used in OpenCog) is another.
Declarative Knowledge: Semantic knowledge as would be expressed in propositional or predicate logic facts or beliefs.
Deduction: In general, this refers to the derivation of conclusions from premises using logical rules. In PLN in particular, this often refers to the exercise of a specific inference rule, the PLN Deduction rule (A + B, B > C, therefore A> C)
Deep Learning: Learning in a network of elements with multiple layers, involving feedfor- ward and feedback dynamics, and adaptation of the links between the elements. An example deep learning algorithm is DeSTIN, which is being integrated with OpenCog for perception processing.
Defrosting: Restoring, into the RAM portion of an Atomspace, an Atom (or set thereof) previously saved to disk.
Demand: In CogPrime’s OpenPsi subsystem, this term is used in a manner inherited from the Psi model of motivated action. A Demand in this context is a quantity whose value the system is motivated to adjust. Typically the system wants to keep the Demand between certain minimum and maximum values. An Urge develops when a Demand deviates from its target range.
Deme: In MOSES, an “island” of candidate programs, closely clustered together in program space, being evolved in an attempt to optimize a certain fitness function. The idea is that
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