Unraveling the Complexity of Memory in RL Agents: an Approach for
  Classification and Evaluation
Authors: name: Egor Cherepanov; name: Nikita Kachaev; name: Artem Zholus; name: Alexey K. Kovalev; name: Aleksandr I. Panov
Published: 2024-12-09 14:34:31

Abstract: The incorporation of memory into agents is essential for numerous tasks
within the domain of Reinforcement Learning (RL). In particular, memory is
paramount for tasks that require the utilization of past information,
adaptation to novel environments, and improved sample efficiency. However, the
term ``memory'' encompasses a wide range of concepts, which, coupled with the
lack of a unified methodology for validating an agent's memory, leads to
erroneous judgments about agents' memory capabilities and prevents objective
comparison with other memory-enhanced agents. This paper aims to streamline the
concept of memory in RL by providing practical precise definitions of agent
memory types, such as long-term versus short-term memory and declarative versus
procedural memory, inspired by cognitive science. Using these definitions, we
categorize different classes of agent memory, propose a robust experimental
methodology for evaluating the memory capabilities of RL agents, and
standardize evaluations. Furthermore, we empirically demonstrate the importance
of adhering to the proposed methodology when evaluating different types of
agent memory by conducting experiments with different RL agents and what its
violation leads to.