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Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal

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Conniving With Continuations: Representing Goals in a Domain-Specific Language of Thought.

Kartik Chandra¹, Rebecca R Saxe², Jonathan Ragan-Kelley¹

¹Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Topics in Cognitive Science

|May 21, 2026

Summary

This study introduces a new "wants" construct for the memo programming language, enhancing theory-of-mind reasoning. This goal representation integrates desires with cognitive concepts, advancing artificial intelligence research.

Keywords:

Bayesian modeling Computational modeling Language of thought hypothesis Programming languages Theory of mind

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Area of Science:

Artificial Intelligence
Cognitive Science
Computer Science

Background:

Integrating goals with theory-of-mind (ToM) reasoning is complex.
Existing computational models may not fully capture the nuances of desire and intention.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a novel goal representation for flexible integration with ToM concepts.
To extend the memo programming language with a "wants" construct for goal representation.

Main Methods:

Extended the memo programming language with a new "wants" syntactic construct.
Utilized the concept of "continuations" from programming language theory to implement "wants".

Main Results:

The "wants" construct successfully integrates with other memo primitives.
Demonstrated the representation of diverse and complex goals using the new construct.

Conclusions:

The "wants" construct provides a powerful tool for computational ToM.
The design offers insights into the broader concept of desire in artificial agents.