new papers on cognitive models available

Non-member submission from ["Dr. Ron Sun"] ----- Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2001 18:09:36 -0600 From: "Dr. Ron Sun" <rsun(a)pc113.cecs.missouri.edu> To: rsun(a)cecs.missouri.edu Subject: new papers on cognitive models available Announcing several papers on cognitive modeling and cognitive architectures based on hybrid reinforcement learning --- the CLARION model: A paper on cognitive modeling using CLARION: -------------------------------------------------- Ron Sun Edward Merrill Todd Peterson To appear in: Cognitive Science, Vol.25, No.2. March 2001. http://www.cecs.missouri.edu/~rsun/sun.CS99.ps http://www.cecs.missouri.edu/~rsun/sun.CS99.pdf ABSTRACT This paper presents a skill learning model CLARION. Different from existing models of mostly high-level skill learning that use a top-down approach (that is, turning declarative knowledge into procedural knowledge through practice), we adopt a bottom-up approach toward low-level skill learning, where procedural knowledge develops first and declarative knowledge develops later. Our model is formed by integrating connectionist, reinforcement, and symbolic learning methods to perform on-line reactive learning. It adopts a two-level dual-representation framework (Sun 1995), with a combination of localist and distributed representation. We compare the model with human data in a minefield navigation task, demonstrating some match between the model and human data in several respects. A new paper on consciousness: -------------------------------------------------- Computation, Reduction, and Teleology of Consciousness Ron Sun To appear in: {\it Cognitive Systems Research}, Vol.1, No.4, 2001. http://www.cecs.missouri.edu/~rsun/sun.jcsr-cons10.ps http://www.cecs.missouri.edu/~rsun/sun.jcsr-cons10.pdf ABSTRACT This paper aims to explore mechanistic and teleological explanations of consciousness. In terms of mechanistic explanations, it critiques various existing views, especially those embodied by existing computational cognitive models. In this regard, the paper argues in favor of the explanation based on the distinction between localist (symbolic) representation and distributed representation (as formulated in the connectionist literature), which reduces the phenomenological difference to a mechanistic difference. Furthermore, to establish a teleological explanation of consciousness, the paper discusses the issue of the functional role of consciousness on the basis of the afore-mentioned mechanistic explanation. A proposal based on synergistic interaction between the conscious and the unconscious is advanced that encompasses various existing views concerning the functional roles of consciousness. This two-step deepening explanation has some empirical support, in the form of a cognitive model and various cognitive data that it captures. Also, a previous paper on accounting for consciousness computationally: -------------------------------------------------- Accounting for the Computational Basis of Consciousness: A Connectionist Approach Ron Sun Appeared in: Consciousness and Cognition, 1999. http://www.cecs.missouri.edu/~rsun/sun.CC99.ps http://www.cecs.missouri.edu/~rsun/sun.CC99.pdf ABSTRACT This paper argues for an explanation of the mechanistic (computational) basis of consciousness that is based on the distinction between localist (symbolic) representation and distributed representation, the ideas of which have been put forth in the connectionist literature. A model is developed to substantiate and test this approach. The paper also explores the issue of the functional roles of consciousness, in relation to the proposed mechanistic explanation of consciousness. The model, embodying the representational difference, is able to account for the functional role of consciousness, in the form of the synergy between the conscious and the unconscious. The fit between the model and various cognitive phenomena and data (documented in the psychological literatures) is discussed to accentuate the plausibility of the model and its explanation of consciousness. Comparisons with existing models of consciousness are made in the end. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Symbol Grounding: A New Look At An Old Idea by Ron Sun Appeared in: Philosophical Psychology, Vol.13, No.2, pp.149-172. 2000. http://www.cecs.missouri.edu/~rsun/sun.PP00.ps http://www.cecs.missouri.edu/~rsun/sun.PP00.pdf ABSTRACT Symbols should be grounded, as has been argued before. But we insist that they should be grounded not only in subsymbolic activities, but also in the interaction between the agent and the world. The point is that concepts are not formed in isolation (from the world), in abstraction, or ``objectively". They are formed in relation to the experience of agents, through their perceptual/motor apparatuses, in their world and linked to their goals and actions. In this paper, we will take a detailed look at this relatively old issue, using a new perspective, aided by our work of computational cognitive model development. Finally, a previous paper on computational aspects of the model: --------------------------------- Autonomous Learning of Sequential Tasks: Experiments and Analyses by Ron Sun, Todd Peterson Appeared in: IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks, Vol.9, No.6, pp.1217-1234. November, 1998. http://www.cecs.missouri.edu/~rsun/sun.tnn98.ps ABSTRACT: This paper presents a novel learning model CLARION, which is a hybrid model based on the two-level approach proposed in Sun (1995). The model integrates neural, reinforcement, and symbolic learning methods to perform on-line, bottom-up learning (i.e., learning that goes from neural to symbolic representations). The model utilizes both procedural and declarative knowledge (in neural and symbolic representations respectively), tapping into the synergy of the two types of processes. It was applied to deal with sequential decision tasks. Experiments and analyses in various ways are reported that shed light on the advantages of the model. =========================================================================== Prof. Ron Sun http://www.cecs.missouri.edu/~rsun CECS Department phone: (573) 884-7662 University of Missouri-Columbia fax: (573) 882 8318 201 Engineering Building West Columbia, MO 65211-2060 email: rsun(a)cecs.missouri.edu http://www.cecs.missouri.edu/~rsun http://www.cecs.missouri.edu/~rsun/journal.html http://www.cecs.missouri.edu/~rsun/clarion.html ===========================================================================