Christopher D. Green (1998) Statistical Analyses do not Solve Connectionism's Problem
. Psycoloquy: 9(15) Connectionist Explanation (12)
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Psycoloquy 9(15): Statistical Analyses do not Solve Connectionism's Problem
STATISTICAL ANALYSES DO NOT SOLVE CONNECTIONISM'S PROBLEM
Reply to Medler & Dawson on Connectionist-Explanation
Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
Canada
http://www.yorku.ca/faculty/academic/christo
christo@yorku.ca
Abstract
Medler & Dawson (1998) claim (1) that I am just a closet
implementationalist, (2) that I have ignored a range of statistical
analyses that answer my challenge to connectionism, and (3) that
only connectionist networks can produce explanatory models of
cognition. I reply that I am not an implementationalist, that the
statistical analyses to which they refer do not solve the problem I
have posed, and that the question of whether a theory is
explanatory is independent of the question of how it was generated.
Keywords
artificial intelligence, cognition, computer modelling,
connectionism, epistemology, explanation, methodology, neural nets,
philosophy of science, theory.
References
- Bechtel, W., & Abrahamsen, A. (1991). Connectionism and the MIND: an Introduction to Parallel Processing in Networks. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
- Berkeley, I.S.N., Dawson, M.R.W., Medler, D.A., Schopflocher, D.P., & Hornsby, L. (1995) Density plots of hidden unit activations reveal interpretable bands. Connection Science, 7, 167-186.
- Clark, A. (1993). Associative Engines: Connectionism, Concepts, and Representational Change. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Dawson, M.R.W., Medler, D.A., & Berkeley, I.S.N. (1997). PDP networks can provide symbolic models that are nor mere implementations of classical theories. Philosophical Psychology, 10, 25-40.
- Fodor, J. A. & Pylyshyn, Z. W. (1988) Connectionism and cognitive architecture: A critical analysis. Cognition, 28, 3-71.
- Green, C. D. (1998a) Are connectionist models theories of cognition? PSYCOLOQUY 9(4) ftp://ftp.princeton.edu/pub/harnad/Psycoloquy/1998.volume.9/ psyc.98.9.04.connectionist-explanation.1.green
- Green, C. D. (1998b) Problems with the implementation argument. PSYCOLOQUY 9(8) ftp://ftp.princeton.edu/pub/harnad/Psycoloquy/1998.volume.9/ psyc.98.9.08.connectionist-explanation.5.green
- Medler, D. A. & Dawson, M. R. W. (1998) Connectionism and cognitive theories: Commentary on Green on connectionist- explanation. PSYCOLOQUY 9(11) ftp://ftp.princeton.edu/pub/harnad/Psycoloquy/1998.volume.9/ psyc.98.9.11.connectionist-explanation.8.medler
- Seidenberg, M. (1993). Connectionist models and cognitive science. Psychological Science, 4, 228-235.
- Sejnowksi, T. & Rosenberg, C. (1987) Parallel networks that learn to pronounce English text. Complex Systems, 1, 145-168.
- Wason, P. C. & Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1972). Psychology of Reasoning: Structure and Content. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.