Collaborative Research on the Role of PDP Systems in the Study of Cognition

亚利桑那大学的罗伯特·卡明斯博士和加州大学圣地亚哥分校的大卫·柯什博士正在分析和比较认知和智力研究的两种截然不同的方法，一种是正统的“计算”方法，另一种是“新连接论”或并行分布式处理方法。传统的计算方法要求心理过程类似于编程的数字计算机中的过程。Cummins博士和Kirsh博士正在以科学和哲学的知情方式对这些范式进行系统的分析和比较。该项目的目标是1)比较认知科学的连接主义和计算方法的研究方法和解释目标；2)阐明推动每种方法的倡导者的认知、智力和心理的基本概念；3)评估目前正在发生的资源向连接主义研究的重大转变对认知科学的可能影响。调查人员将对连接论和正统计算研究的主要中心进行实地考察。他们针对两个特定的研究领域对这些访问进行了调查：言语感知(连接主义的优势)和问题解决(正统方法的优势)。

Dr. Robert Cummins of the University of Arizona and Dr. David Kirsh of the University of California, San Diego, are analyzing and comparing two radically different approaches to the study of cognition and intelligence, the orthodox "computational" approach, on the one hand, and the "new connectionist" or parallel distributed processing approach on the other. The orthodox computational approach takes mental processes to be analogous to the processes in a programmed digital computer. Drs. Cummins and Kirsh are undertaking a systematic analysis and comparison of these paradigms in a scientifically and philosophically informed way. The goals of this project are 1) to compare the research methods and explanatory goals of the connectionist and computational approach to cognitive science; 2) to articulate the underlying conception of cognition, intelligence and mentality that drives exponents of each approach; and 3) to assess the possible impact on cognitive science of the major shift of resources into connectionist research that is currently taking place. The investigators will carry out site visits to major centers of connectionist and orthodox computational research. They are targeting two specific research areas for investigation on these visits: speech perception ( a strength of connectionism) and problem solving (a strength of the orthodox approach).