SUBSYMBOLIC NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING:
AN INTEGRATED MODEL OF SCRIPTS, LEXICON, AND MEMORY
[Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1993 15 chapters, 403 Pages]
Precis of Miikkulainen on Language-Network

Abstract

Distributed neural networks have been very successful in modeling isolated cognitive phenomena, but complex high-level behavior has been amenable only to symbolic artificial intelligence techniques. Aiming to bridge this gap, this book describes DISCERN, a complete natural language processing system implemented entirely at the subsymbolic level. In DISCERN, distributed neural network models of parsing, generating, reasoning, lexical processing and episodic memory are integrated into a single system that learns to read, paraphrase, and answer questions about stereotypical narratives. Using DISCERN as an example, a general approach to building high-level cognitive models from distributed neural networks is introduced, and the special properties of such networks are shown to provide insight into human performance. In this approach, connectionist networks are not only plausible models of isolated cognitive phenomena, but also sufficient constituents for generating complex, high-level behavior.

Keywords

References