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others, of J. Searle on intentionality, or the principle of the interpreter strategy
developed by D. Dennett, and the mind theory that is linked to it [REB 98,
Chapter 9]. In computer science, such cognitive theories have led to the
specification of rational communicating agents defined by a set of formalized
mental states. In the BDI model mentioned in section 1.1.2, three mental states
are modeled:
- beliefs, which correspond to the level of trust in a piece of datum: this
piece of datum becoming knowledge when the belief is true;
- desires, which correspond to a set of possibilities available to the
cognitive system given his beliefs and knowledge;
- intentions, which are a subset of desires: those that have been selected
and lead to an action.
This model inspired many researchers and led to extensions, such as the
BOID model, which also takes into account the speaker's obligations
[BRO 05]. Finally, to finish with this brief and altogether too schematic
overview of cognitive mechanisms, let us emphasize that the derivation of
many inferences can lead to a multiplication of beliefs and knowledge, and
that, with this excessive combination, notions such as relevance allow us to
select and only keep the most important, significant or relevant data
depending on the term kept by relevance theory [SPE 95]. Such criteria
operate within human cognitive systems and also allow us to control
reasoning mechanisms in artificial systems. Some authors add a more general
ability of metacognition, that is a cognitive mechanism focusing on the
cognitive mechanisms presented above and allowing the system, be it human
or artificial [SAB 97], to have an idea of the processes it is implementing, so
as to optimize these processes, for example.
2.1.3. Learning
Human learning can happen explicitly through education, or implicitly
through association, analogy or even action and exploration [GAO 06]. When
it comes to knowledge, the goal is to memorize new pieces of knowledge, in
order to acquire, create or delete links between already acquired knowledge,
to create or modify categories, or to build new scripts or plans. Learning thus
concerns all the fields mentioned above, from the moment when knowledge is
mentally represented. In human dialogue, cognitive sciences have described
various situations that involve learning. Language is a privileged vector for
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