Covers recent research in connectionism on a range of topics from biology to hardware, and from psychology to philosophy. Topics include: the mind-body problem, neural networks and computing, cognition and non-linear dynamics, language learning and neurobiology.

The rapid growth of neural network research has led to a major reappraisal of many fundamental assumptions in cognitive and perceptual psychology. This text—aimed at the advanced undergraduate and beginning postgraduate student—is an in-depth guide to those aspects of neural network research that are of direct relevance to human information processing. Examples of new connectionist models of learning, vision, language and thought are described in detail. Both neurological and psychological considerations are used in assessing its theoretical contributions. The status of the basic predicates like exclusive-OR is examined, the limitations of perceptrons are explained and properties of multi-layer networks are described in terms of many examples of psychological processes. The history of neural networks is discussed from a psychological perspective which examines why certain issues have become important. The book ends with a general critique of the new connectionist approach. It is clear that new connectionism work provides a distinctive framework for thinking about central questions in cognition and perception. This new textbook provides a clear and useful introduction to its theories and applications.

An evaluation of the merits, potential, and limits of Connectionism, this book also illustrates current research programs and recent trends.Connectionism (also known as Neural Networks) is an exciting new field which has brought together researchers from different areas such as artificial intelligence, computer science, cognitive science, neuroscience, physics, and complex dynamics. These researchers are applying the connectionist paradigm in an interdisciplinary way to the analysis and design of intelligent systems.In this book, researchers from the above-mentioned fields not only report on their most recent research results, but also describe Connectionism from the perspective of their own field, looking at issues such as: - the effects and the utility of Connectionism for their field - the potential and limitations of Connectionism - can it be combined with other approaches?

The latest title in the Cognitive Science and Second Language Acquisition Series presents a comprehensive review of connectionist research in second language acquisition (SLA). Second language researchers and the cognitive science community will find accessible discussions of the relevance of connectionist research to SLA. This important volume is key reading for any student or researcher interested in how second language acquisition can be better understood from a connectionist perspective.

Connectionism and the Mind provides a clear and balanced introduction to connectionist networks and explores theoretical and philosophical implications. Much of this discussion from the first edition has been updated, and three new chapters have been added on the relation of connectionism to recent work on dynamical systems theory, artificial life, and cognitive neuroscience. Read two of the sample chapters on line: Connectionism and the Dynamical Approach to Cognition: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/bechtel.pdf Networks, Robots, and Artificial Life: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/bechtel2.pdf

In order to build "intelligent" machines, many researchers have turned to the only naturally occurring intelligent system: the brain. For quite a while now, both the function and architecture of the brain have served as inspiration to philosophers, psychologists, computer scientists, neurobiologists, physicists and others in their quest for solving problems that seem to require intelligence in their own particular domain. The progress in the field of connectionism -- or artificial neural networks -- has had its ups and downs during its maturing years. Advocates of the field pointed out the virtues of connectionist systems, dealing with low-level cognitive tasks such as visual recognition and pattern completion, and inherent properties such as generalization, fault tolerance and parallel processing. However, research in the field virtually came to a halt at the end of the 1960s when Minsky and Papert published their critical analysis of connectionist systems, Perceptrons. In the beginning of the 1980s, the field was reborn with the appearance of new powerful learning methods which overcame many of the computational problems identified by Minsky and Papert. This volume is characterized by a number of different research directions distinguished by their perspectives on systems comprising interconnected sets of simple processing elements. Scientists who have strong backgrounds in neurobiology concentrate on the issues involved when modelling natural systems. Researchers with philosophical and psychological backgrounds stress other aspects which might not always be intuitively relevant to biology but instead are concerned with the mind and its higher-order cognitive capabilities. On the other hand, many researchers and engineers in industry take advantage of the wide applicability and mathematical properties of connectionist systems in order to solve practical problems, sacrificing even more of the principles underlying the basic idea of mimicking the function and architecture of the brain. None of these directions are right or wrong, but there has perhaps been too little exchange of knowledge and experience between them. The main purpose for organizing this conference was to bring together researchers with different backgrounds to exchange ideas and visions in the broad field of connectionism -- providing means for new insights that may push this area to another major breakthrough.

In order to build "intelligent" machines, many researchers have turned to the only naturally occurring intelligent system: the brain. For quite a while now, both the function and architecture of the brain have served as inspiration to philosophers, psychologists, computer scientists, neurobiologists, physicists and others in their quest for solving problems that seem to require intelligence in their own particular domain. The progress in the field of connectionism -- or artificial neural networks -- has had its ups and downs during its maturing years. Advocates of the field pointed out the virtues of connectionist systems, dealing with low-level cognitive tasks such as visual recognition and pattern completion, and inherent properties such as generalization, fault tolerance and parallel processing. However, research in the field virtually came to a halt at the end of the 1960s when Minsky and Papert published their critical analysis of connectionist systems, Perceptrons. In the beginning of the 1980s, the field was reborn with the appearance of new powerful learning methods which overcame many of the computational problems identified by Minsky and Papert. This volume is characterized by a number of different research directions distinguished by their perspectives on systems comprising interconnected sets of simple processing elements. Scientists who have strong backgrounds in neurobiology concentrate on the issues involved when modelling natural systems. Researchers with philosophical and psychological backgrounds stress other aspects which might not always be intuitively relevant to biology but instead are concerned with the mind and its higher-order cognitive capabilities. On the other hand, many researchers and engineers in industry take advantage of the wide applicability and mathematical properties of connectionist systems in order to solve practical problems, sacrificing even more of the principles underlying the basic idea of mimicking the function and architecture of the brain. None of these directions are right or wrong, but there has perhaps been too little exchange of knowledge and experience between them. The main purpose for organizing this conference was to bring together researchers with different backgrounds to exchange ideas and visions in the broad field of connectionism -- providing means for new insights that may push this area to another major breakthrough.