Ronan Reilly (1994) Discern as a Cognitive Model and Cognitive
. Psycoloquy: 5(78) Language Network (5)
Versions: ASCII formatted
Psycoloquy 5(78): Discern as a Cognitive Model and Cognitive
DISCERN AS A COGNITIVE MODEL AND COGNITIVE
MODELLING FRAMEWORK
Book Review of Miikkulainen on Language-Network
Ronan Reilly
Dept. of Computer Science
University College Dublin
rreilly@nova.ucd.ie
Abstract
In this review, I evaluate the degree to which I feel
Miikkulainen has achieved the goals he set himself in developing
DISCERN. On the positive side, I argue that DISCERN is a
significant achievement in that it demonstrates the feasibility of
building large-scale connectionist systems that exploit the
capabilities of distributed representations. The techniques
embodied in the FGREP component are important and should prove
useful in other applications. On the negative side, however, I
consider that DISCERN represents a missed opportunity. I do not
believe that scripts tell us much that is useful about real natural
language processing, nor do I believe that a system designed to
process scripts can be an informative basis for cognitive
modelling.
Keywords
computational modeling, connectionism, distributed neural
networks, episodic memory, lexicon, natural language processing,
scripts.
References
- Cullingford, R.E. (1978). Script application: Computer understanding of newspaper stories. PhD Thesis, Dept. of Computer Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Technical Report 116.
- de Jong, G.F. (1979). Prediction and substantiation: A new approach to natural language processing. Cognitive Science, 3, 251-273.
- Erman, L.D., Hayes-Roth, F. , Lesser, V., & Reddy, D. (1980). The HEARSAY-II speech-understanding system: Integrating knowledge to resolve uncertainty. Computing Surveys, 12, 213-253.
- Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, fire, and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
- Miikkulainen, R. (1993) Subsymbolic Natural Language Processing: An Integrated Model of Scripts, Lexicon and Memory. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Miikkulainen, R. (1994) Precis of: Subsymbolic Natural Language Processing: An Integrated Model of Scripts, Lexicon and Memory. PSYCOLOQUY 5(46) language-network.1.miikkulainen.
- Shanon, B. (1993). The representational and presentational: An essay on cognition and the study of mind. Hemel Hempstead, UK: Harvester Wheatsheaf.