Phil's Breakfast Example Inspiration

Two Different Kinds of Attribution

A bibliographical remark can do more than identify a source. It can tell you where an example came from, or it can direct you to another chapter for related references. Phil's breakfast example and the tic-tac-toe example illustrate these different uses. Phil's breakfast example was inspired by Agre (1988). The tic-tac-toe example used a temporal-difference method, with references for that kind of method found through the direction to Chapter 6.

From Breakfast to Sub-Goals

Having breakfast appears to be one ordinary activity, but Phil's breakfast preparation is a complex web of connected actions. He must walk to the cupboard, open it, select a cereal box, reach for the box, grasp it, and retrieve it. He also needs a bowl, a spoon, and a milk jug. These actions can be understood as smaller goals that support the larger goal of having breakfast.

The hierarchy is not just a list of objects. Each smaller goal contributes to what the larger goal makes possible. Retrieving cereal, obtaining a bowl, obtaining a spoon, and obtaining a milk jug are separate goals, but together they support breakfast preparation. The example therefore shows goal-directed behavior: the significance of an action depends on the larger outcome and on the goals that remain.

Tracing What Becomes Possible

Eye movements help Phil obtain information and guide reaching and locomotion. Judgments about the objects and the task then help determine what action comes next. For example, walking to the cupboard makes it reachable, and opening it makes the cereal box available for selection. The next action is therefore related to the information available at that moment, not merely to a fixed sequence memorized in advance.

Conditional Carrying and Arranging

Phil's behavior is conditional because the next action depends on available information and task circumstances. The relevant question is not only which object is needed, but also what has already happened: whether an object is available to select, whether it has been reached and grasped, and how objects should be carried or arranged before continuing. Eye movements and judgments help coordinate these decisions.

How the Goals Support One Another

Obtaining a spoon and preparing cereal can be treated as separate goals, but they support the same larger goal of having breakfast. The cereal-related actions make cereal available and obtained. The spoon-related actions make another needed object available. Phil's actions are coordinated with both the objects he still needs and the information gathered from the surroundings, so progress on one sub-goal fits into the wider breakfast task.

This explains why the example should not be reduced to an object list. The important structure is the relationship between goals, actions, and changing possibilities. After one action, a new object may become reachable, selectable, graspable, or retrievable. Judgments about the remaining task help determine how Phil should proceed with the cereal, bowl, spoon, and milk jug.

Reading the Remark Correctly

• Saying that the tic-tac-toe example was inspired by Agre (1988).

  The source identifies Phil's breakfast example as inspired by Agre (1988).

  Fix: Associate Agre (1988) with Phil's breakfast example.

• Treating the Chapter 6 direction as the source of Phil's breakfast example.

  The Chapter 6 direction concerns references for the temporal-difference method used in the tic-tac-toe example.

  Fix: Use the Agre (1988) remark for Phil's breakfast example and the Chapter 6 direction for related temporal-difference references.

• Describing breakfast preparation as one indivisible behavior.

  The example describes connected actions involving the cupboard, cereal box, bowl, spoon, and milk jug.

  Fix: Break the larger goal into smaller goals and trace how each action changes what is possible next.

• Treating Phil's actions as a rigid list without information.

  Eye movements and judgments help guide reaching, locomotion, object handling, and the next decision.

  Fix: For every step, ask what information is available and what new action or object state becomes possible.

Check Your Understanding

Key Takeaways

1. Phil's breakfast example was inspired by Agre (1988).
2. The tic-tac-toe example used a temporal-difference method, and the direction to Chapter 6 leads to references for that method.
3. Breakfast preparation is a complex web of smaller goals and connected actions.
4. Eye movements and judgments provide information that helps guide reaching, locomotion, carrying, arranging, and the next action.
5. Each action changes what is available for later actions, allowing separate goals such as obtaining a spoon and preparing cereal to support having breakfast.