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

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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).