Same World, Differently Given: History-Dependent Perceptual Reorganization in Artificial Agents

[Submitted on 6 Apr 2026 (v1), last revised 24 Jul 2026 (this version, v2)]

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Abstract:What kind of internal organization would allow an artificial agent not only to adapt its behavior, but to sustain a history-sensitive perspective on its world? I present a minimal architecture in which a slow perspective latent $g$ feeds back into perception and is itself updated through perceptual processing. This allows identical observations to be encoded differently depending on the agent’s accumulated stance. The model is evaluated in a minimal gridworld with a fixed spatial scaffold and sensory perturbations. Across analyses, three results emerge. First, the perspective latent reorganizes perceptual encoding: identical observations are represented differently depending on prior experience, and this reorganization of salience gating replicates across runs, with five of 16 gating dimensions changing direction consistently across 30 independent runs after correction for multiple comparisons. Second, only adaptive self-modulation yields the characteristic growth-then-stabilization dynamic of the perspective latent, unlike rigid or always-open update regimes. Third, perturbation history is followed by reduced adaptive plasticity after nominal conditions are restored, showing a directionally consistent trend across seeds. Gross behavior remains stable throughout the analysis, suggesting that the dominant reorganization is perceptual rather than behavioral. Together, these findings identify a minimal mechanism for history-dependent perspectival organization in artificial agents.

Submission history

From: Pae Hongju [view email]
[v1] Mon, 6 Apr 2026 12:39:22 UTC (1,189 KB)
[v2] Fri, 24 Jul 2026 08:46:06 UTC (1,199 KB)