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

Bechtel, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0631207139 ISBN 13: 9780631207139

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2002

Synopsis

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

About this title

Review

Neural network theory is shaking up fields as disparate as philosophy and ecology: the paradigm shift is here. The second edition of Connectionism and the Mind: Parallel Processing, Dynamics, and Evolution in Networks has been rewritten and restructured to accommodate the profound changes wrought during the '90s burst of research in the field. Authors William Bechtel and Adele Abrahamsen present their material clearly and accessibly, asking of their readers only a familiarity with algebra and formal logic. Covering the basics of representation, architecture, and rules, they move on to deep and exciting questions about connectionism's implications for artificial intelligence and neuroscience--thought-provoking reading for nearly everyone. The text is stimulating and offers hundreds of routes to further study through its well-integrated bibliography. Connectionism and the Mind is essentially a progress report on a very young discipline; its readers will see the future a little more clearly. --Rob Lightner

From the Back Cover

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.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0631207139
• ISBN 13: 9780631207139
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 432