This paper presents a developing concept of mind defined in terms of extern
al and internal niches. This perspective on mind is described primarily in
terms of the niche space of control states and the design space of processe
s that may support such phenomena. A developing agent architecture, that ca
n support motivation and other control states associated with mind, is pres
ented. Different aspects of agent research are discussed in terms of three
categories of agents. Each agent category is characterized primarily in ter
ms of their task-related competencies and internal behaviors and discussed
in terms of our taxonomy of control states. The concept of complete agents
is then introduced. Goals are described in terms of their generation across
a number of computational layers. Experimental analysis is provided on how
these differing forms of behaviors can be cleanly integrated. This leads i
nto a discussion on the nature of motivational states and the mechanisms us
ed for making decisions and managing the sometimes-competitive nature of pr
ocesses internal to a complex agent. The difficulty of evaluating complete
agents is discussed from a number of perspectives, The paper concludes by c
onsidering future directions related to the computational modeling of emoti
ons and the concept of synthetic mind.