Connectionism and the Mind: Parallel Processing, Dynamics and Evolution in Networks

William Bechtel,Adele A. Abrahamsen

Connectionism and the Mind: Parallel Processing, Dynamics and Evolution in Networks
Format
Paperback
Publisher
John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Country
United Kingdom
Published
8 November 2001
Pages
424
ISBN
9780631207139

Connectionism and the Mind: Parallel Processing, Dynamics and Evolution in Networks

William Bechtel,Adele A. Abrahamsen

Connectionism and the Mind provides a clear and balanced introduction to connectionist networks and explores their theoretical and philosophical implications. As in the first edition, the first few chapters focus on network architecture and offer an accessible treatment of the equations that govern learning and the propagation of activation, including a glossary for reference. The reader is walked step-by-step through such tasks as memory retrieval and prototype formation. The middle chapters pursue the implications of connectionism’s focus on pattern recognition and completion as fundamental to cognition. Some proponents of connectionism have emphasized these functions to the point of rejecting any role for linguistically structured representations and rules, resulting in heated debates with advocates of symbol processing accounts of cognition. The coverage of this controversy has been updated and augmented by a new chapter on modular networks. Finally, three new chapters discuss the relation of connectionism to three emerging research programs: dynamical systems theory, artificial life, and cognitive neuroscience.

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