The Metaphorical Brain 2: Neural Networks and Beyond - Hardcover

Arbib, Michael A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471098531 ISBN 13: 9780471098539

Publisher: Wiley, 1989

Synopsis

The Metaphorical Brain 2 Neural Networks and Beyond "This book combines two exciting quests, the quest to understand the workings of the human brain and the quest to build intelligent machines. It shows how each quest can provide insights vital to the success of the other. It develops basic ideas about neural networks, both artificial and biological, and introduces the language of schema theory to describe the distributed interactions that underlie intelligence in the brain of human, animal or robot. It reaffirms the paradigm of highly distributed cooperative computation, showing how it not only deepens our understanding of human mind/brain, but also catalyzes the development of a new generation of computing machinery. The book presents many new results, both from my own group and elsewhere, that have enriched that paradigm during the last fifteen years.…The book as a whole, although by no means light reading, should be accessible overall to anyone who reads Scientific American; but it is hoped that much of the material merits the attention not only of ‘the intelligent laymen’ but also of experts and serious students of artificial intelligence, neural networks, robotics, cognitive science, or neuroscience." —From the Author’s Preface

About this title

About the Author

About the author Michael A. Arbib, PhD, is a professor in both the Neural, Informational, and Behavioral Sciences Program and the Computer Science Department, University of Southern California. Born in England, he grew up in Australia, where he received his BSc in pure mathematics from Sydney University. He later received his doctorate from MIT for a thesis on probability theory. Formerly, he was a professor of computer and information science, an adjunct professor of psychology, and Director of both the Center for Systems Neuroscience and the Laboratory for Perceptual Robotics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Among the seventeen books which he has authored or edited are Brains, Machines and Mathematics, Computers and the Cybernetic Society, and The Construction of Reality

From the Inside Flap

The Metaphorical Brain 2 Neural Networks and Beyond In the early 1970s, cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence (AI) were dominated by the idée fixe of "the mind as serial computer," and researchers in both fields directed every effort at fitting the mind into the straightjacket of current computer hardware. Convinced that this approach could lead only to a dead end, Michael Arbib—drawing on his knowledge of cybernetics and the neurosciences—posited a more expansive model of the brain that combined the concepts of cooperative computation among layered neural networks with dynamic working metaphors for perception and action. Those theories, as first published in his groundbreaking The Metaphorical Brain, have since had a profound impact on brain theory and cognitive science. The Metaphorical Brain 2 was begun as a revision of the 1972 classic, but quickly grew into an independent work. This new volume offers readers a timely, indepth exploration of exciting research into the interplay between brain modeling, computer design, and Al in such areas as vision, visuomotor coordination, learning, and linguistics now being conducted by Dr. Arbib, his colleagues, and researchers around the world. Just as importantly, in The Metaphorical Brain 2, Dr. Arbib develops his theory of schemas—the dynamic processes underlying all thought and action—which, when combined with new insights into neural networks, forms the basis for a model that works on the principles of cooperative computation and adaptability. Schema theory is also discussed in terms of its applications in robotics and computers as well as in the study of animal brains and human psychology. Written for specialists and nonspecialists alike, this lavishly illustrated volume offers readers all relevant background information on system theory, artificial intelligence, and neuroscience—with special attention given to neural networks—needed for a firm grasp of the concepts discussed in this book. Pertinent mathematics are reserved for special sections which can be skipped over without loss of textual integrity. Students, teachers, and researchers in technological applications of neural networks, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, computer science, artificial intelligence, and the philosophy of mind will find this a stimulating and invaluable resource.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471098531
• ISBN 13: 9780471098539
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 458