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Neuron Digest Volume 06 Number 65
Neuron Digest Tuesday, 6 Nov 1990 Volume 6 : Issue 65
Today's Topics:
NN texts: a summary.
PRE-PRINT AVAILABILITY.
Request for a paper in Cognitive Neuroscience.
NIPS demo machines
Book prices
Haptic displays?
Universities offering programs in Cognitive Science
A question
POSITION IN COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, MCGILL UNIVERSITY
CNS Program at Boston University Hiring 2 Assistant Professors
_homo_trans sapiens, request for comments
Neural Computer Seminar
Cog Sci One-Day Conference (Rutgers)
paper available
Technical Report CSRP162
Send submissions, questions, address maintenance and requests for old issues to
"neuron-request@hplabs.hp.com" or "{any backbone,uunet}!hplabs!neuron-request"
Use "ftp" to get old issues from hplpm.hpl.hp.com (15.255.176.205).
------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: NN texts: a summary.
From: Robert Elliott Smith <rob@galab2.mh.ua.edu>
Date: Thu, 25 Oct 90 16:43:20 -0500
[[ Editor's Note: The subject of "introductory texts" or "survey texts"
comes up very often. Many of you readers have purchased the books listed
below as well as others in the myriad available. I'm sure Rob (as well
as I and othre readers) would like to hear what YOU think of the books
you have read and or used for classes. For example, are the Rumelhart
and McClelland PDP books now too "out of date"? I suspect not, but want
to hear what YOU have to say... -PM ]]
Dear Connectionists,
A week ago I posted a message requesting recomendations for possible
texts for a introductory, graduate level engineering course neural nets.
I received some interesting responses (thanks), so I decided to summarize
to the net. I'll keep my editorializing to a minimum, since I have not
seen any of these texts yet. If you want to comparison shop, you'll have
to do like me and call the publishers.
The following texts were recomended:
Neurocomputing by Robert Hecht-Nielsen
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company 1990
(this received the most recomendations by far)
(a solution manual is rumoured to be available soon.)
Neural Networks in Artificial Intelligence
by Matthew Zeidenberg
Ellis Horwood Ltd., distributed in the US by
Simon and Schuster
(sounded awfully interesting)
Introduction to Neural and Cognitive Modeling
by Daniel S. Levine
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
(not available yet)
Adaptive Pattern Recognition and Neural Networks
by Y. Pao
(no detailed bib entry, sorry)
Neurocomputing (??)
by Wasserman
(no detailed bib entry, sorry)
Artificial Neural Systems
by Patrick Simpson
Pergamon Press
That's it. I hope some of you find this helpful.
Sincerely,
Rob
-------------------------------------------
Robert Elliott Smith
Department of Engineering of Mechanics
The University of Alabama
P. O. Box 870278
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487
<<email>> rob@galab2.mh.ua.edu
<<phone>> (205) 348-4661
-------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Subject: PRE-PRINT AVAILABILITY.
From: P.Refenes@cs.ucl.ac.uk
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 90 17:38:38 +0000
The following pre-print (SPIE-90, Boston, Nov. 5-9 1990) is available.
(write or e-mail to A. N. Refenes at UCL)
AN INTEGRATED NEURAL NETWORK SYSTEM for HISTOLOGICAL IMAGE UNDERSTANDING
A. N. REFENES, N. JAIN & M. M. ALSULAIMAN
Department of Computer Science,
University College London,
Gower Street, WC1, 6BT,
London, UK.
ABSTRACT
This paper describes a neural network system whose
architecture was designed so that it enables the
integration of heterogeneous sub-networks for performing
specialised tasks. Two types of networks are integrated: a)
a low-level feature extraction network for sub-symbolic
computation, and b) a high-level network for decision
support.
The paper describes a non trivial application from
histopathology, and its implementation using the Integrated
Neural Network System. We show that with careful network
design, the backpropagation learning procedure is an
effective way of training neural networks for histological
image understanding. We evaluate the use of symmetric and
asymmetric squashing functions in the learning procedure
and show that symmetric functions yield faster convergence
and 100% generalisation performance.
------------------------------
Subject: Request for a paper in Cognitive Neuroscience.
From: anand@elsa.top.cis.syr.edu (Rangachari Anand)
Organization: CIS Dept., Syracuse University
Date: 30 Oct 90 16:42:30 +0000
I am searching for a paper by J. G. Rueckl, K. R. Caove and S. M.
Kosslyn called 'Why are "what" and "where" processed by separate cortical
visual systems? A computational investigation'. This paper was published
in the Journal of Cognitve Neuroscience in 1989. If anyone has a copy of
this paper could you please contact me by e-mail? Our library here
unfortunately has not yet started subscribing to this journal.
R. Anand Internet: anand@top.cis.syr.edu Bitnet: ranand@sunrise
------------------------------
Subject: NIPS demo machines
From: Jim Bower <jbower@smaug.cns.caltech.edu>
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 90 08:13:52 -0800
Announcement
NIPS Demo Machines
Two machines will likely be available for demos at this year's NIPS meeting:
1 DECstation 5000/200PX with TK50 tape drive running Ultrix 4.0
1 Sparcstation 1+ or better RISC box from Sun with a 1/4" tape drive.
running Sun OS 4.1c
Both machines will be 8 bit depth color, have between 8 and 16Mb
of memory.
Participants should feel free to bring software demos. The machines are
not, however, intended to be used to sell software. Machines will be
schedualed on a first come first serve basis. Anyone with questions can
contact John Uhley at uhley.smaug.cns.caltech.edu. John will also be
available at the meeting.
Jim Bower
------------------------------
Subject: Book prices
From: Oscar Firschein <FIRSCHEIN@IU.AI.SRI.COM>
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 90 14:57:19 -0800
I find neuron digest very useful. A suggestion: Include price as
part of the new books announcements.
[[Editor's Note: Book publishers and authors, take note! -PM ]]
------------------------------
Subject: Haptic displays?
From: "Rustom Kersasp Vachha" <vachha@cis.uab.edu>
Date: Thu, 01 Nov 90 10:21:32 -0800
I would like to send the following question on the network. Q. Has
anybody tried to use HAPTIC displays (displays that affect the haptic
senses- like feeling(touch)) inorder to train the neural network ? I am
interested in pursuing it further. Can Neural networks be trained
MANUALLY if the user experiences a force proportional to the error in the
output and the exmplar assuming a suitable interface? This could help us
understand the network better.
An application of haptic displays for molecular docking is used by
researchers at the UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, using the Argonne Remote
Manipulator interface.
Thankyou .
Rustom
------------------------------
Subject: Universities offering programs in Cognitive Science
From: mpaolini%sdcc13@ucsd.edu (Monica Paolini)
Date: Sat, 03 Nov 90 18:20:06 -0800
I have just been offered a Fulbright scholarship for starting a PhD in
Cognitive Science in the US and I am looking for a list of Universities
where I could apply (I am interested in connectionist models for
knowledge representation). Could you please provide me with some
information about Universities offering programs in Cognitive Science?
Personal comments/suggestions are warmly welcomed.
Monica Paolini
mpaolini%sdcc13@ucsd.edu
[[ Editor's Note: Congrats to Monica. I've been doing a bit of searching
for myself; I hope to matriculate in some program for fall 1991. I've
discovered the range of "Cognitive Science" programs depends greatly on
what your specific interests are (as one might expect). Cog Sci programs
with a strong linguistic component seem to be dominant, while those which
attempt to be more closely tied to biology or neurobiology are rarer.
I'll try to dig up a summary from last year which was compiled by someone
else. Being a bit more specific about what you want to do or study will
help narrow the choices, especially if your interests lie in a dpeartment
which may not be called "Cognitive Science". -PM ]]
------------------------------
Subject: A question
From: qian@icopen.ICO.OLIVETTI.COM (DA QUN QIAN)
Date: Mon, 05 Nov 90 10:47:59 +0100
Who could tell me the difference between neural nets and connectionist models?
is there any definition of the connectionist model?
Thanks in advance.
Qian Daqun
qian@icopen.ioc.olivetti.com
[[ Editor's Note; Good question. To my mind, there is no diference
really. One might argue that connectionist models are theoretic models
of cognitive processes (to be contratsed with information processing
boxology) which are implemented in the engineering neural net models, but
I think this is drawing a silly line in shifting sands. -PM ]]
------------------------------
Subject: POSITION IN COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, MCGILL UNIVERSITY
From: Tony Marley <INAM%MUSICB.MCGILL.CA@bitnet.CC.CMU.EDU>
Date: Fri, 26 Oct 90 14:31:16 -0500
Although Prof. Bregman is in charge of the search for someone to
fill a position in COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY in the Department of Psychology
at McGill University, I encourage mathematically and/or computationally
oriented researchers to keep me informed of their interest.
Although it is unlikelty that we will
hire a "straight" mathematical or computational person for this
position, I will certainly push for someone with mathematical and
computational skills. In particular, I would very much like to see
applicants in the general area of neural modeling.
Please let me know if you apply, and feel free to contact me for
further information.
Tony Marley
Professor, Department of Psychology
Director, McGill Cognitive Science Centre
email: INAM@MUSICB.MCGILL.CA
Tel: 514-398-6128 (office)
514-488-2067 (home)
------------------------------------------------------------------
October 4, 1990
The Department of Psychology at McGill University plans to make a
tenure-track appointment of an assistant or associate professor in
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY. The appointment will begin in September 1991,
subject to the availability of funding.
The department has a strong tradition in cognitive psychology and is
affiliated with the Cognitive Science Centre at the university. It is
strongly supportive of younger staff and tends to promote from within the
department. We are looking for an outstanding researcher. Nevertheless,
we place a great stress on our teaching program and are looking for a
candidate that could make a special contribution to it.
The applicant's research could be concerned with any aspect of cognitive
psychology, broadly interpreted. The major criterion will be the
excellence of the applicant.
Please bring this letter to the attention of any individuals you think
might be qualified to apply or to persons who might know of such
individuals. Selection will begin in mid-January, 1991.
Applicants should arrange for at least three confidential letters of
support to be sent to the address below. They should also send a
curriculum vitae, copies of research publications and a brief statement
describing their teaching and research to:
A.S. Bregman, Telephone: (514) 398-6103
Cognitive Search Committee FAX: (514) 398-4896
Department of Psychology,
McGill University, E-mail: in09@musicb.mcgill.ca
1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, or: in09@mcgillb.bitnet
Montreal, Quebec,
CANADA H3A lBl
------------------------------
Subject: CNS Program at Boston University Hiring 2 Assistant Professors
From: mike@park.bu.edu
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 90 14:43:52 -0500
Boston University seeks two tenure track assistant or associate
professors starting in Fall, 1991 for its M.A. and Ph.D. Program in
Cognitive and Neural Systems. This program offers an intergrated
curriculum offering the full range of psychological, neurobiological, and
computational concepts, models, and methods in the broad field variously
called neural networks, connectionism, parallel distributed processing,
and biological information processing, in which Boston University is a
leader. Candidates should have extensive analytic or computational
research experience in modelling a broad range of nonlinear neural
networks, especially in one or more of the areas: vision and image
processing, speech and language processing, adaptive pattern recognition,
cognitive information processing, and adaptive sensory-motor control
Candidates for associate professor should have an international
reputation in neural network modelling. Send a complete curriculum vitae
and three letters of recommendation to Search Committee, Cognitive and
Neural Systems Program, Room 240, 111 Cummington Street, Boston
University, Boston, MA 02215, preferably by November 15, 1990 but no
later than January 1, 1991. Boston University is an Equal
Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.
Boston University (617-353-7857) Email: mike@bucasb.bu.edu
Smail: Michael Cohen 111 Cummington Street, RM 242
Center for Adaptive Systems Boston, Mass 02215
Boston University
------------------------------
Subject: _homo_trans sapiens, request for comments
From: Elan Moritz <well!moritz@apple.com>
Date: Sat, 03 Nov 90 18:46:55 -0800
[[ Editor's Note: This is a bit off the general subjec of this Digest,
but could be an interesting diversion for readers who are a bit
adventerous. -PM ]]
TRANS_SAPIENS and TRANS_CULTURE
***
REQUEST FOR COMMENTS
-------------------------------------
In an earlier paper [Memetic Science: I - General
Introduction; Journal of Ideas, Vol. 1, #1, 3-22, 1990] I
postulated the emergence of a descendent of homo sapiens.
This descendent will be primarily differentiated from h.
sapiens by having * substantially greater cognitive
abilities *.
[the relevant section of the paper is included below].
>>>>> I plan to write a more substantive paper on the topic
and would appreciate comments, speculation, arguments for &
against this hypothesis. Relevant comments / arguments will
be addressed in the paper and be properly
acknowledged/referenced <<<<<.
Elan Moritz <<<<
-- text of h. trans sapiens section follows --
We also introduce here the concepts of trans-culture
and Homo trans-sapiens (or simply trans-sapiens). While
being topics of a future paper, trans-culture can be
described as the next step of culture dominated by deep
connections, interactions, and relationships between
objects created by large human/machine teams. A manifest
property of trans-culture is the extreme and transcendent
complexity of interactions and relations between humans and
the cultural objects involved, with the additional property
of being non-accessible to Homo sapiens. Examples of
trans-cultural objects already exist; for example, there is
no individual who (at any given temporal instance) is an
expert in all aspects of medicine, or who is familiar with
all biological species and their relationships, or is an
expert in all aspects of physics, or who is totally
familiar with all aspects of even a single cultural
artifact (e.g. Hubble space telescope, Space Shuttle
design, or the total design of a nuclear power plant). In
fact, we are approaching the point that certain proofs of
mathematical theorems are becoming too long and difficult
for any one individual to keep in conscious awareness. In
a way, these transcendent and extended complexity
relationships are examples of more complicated
'meta-memes', which is one of the reasons it is interesting
to study the evolution of ideas.
Homo trans-sapiens is the [postulated] next step in
evolution of homo sapiens. There is no reason to expect or
require that Homo sapiens will not undergo further
evolution. The bio-historical trend indicates that the
major evolutionary development in Homo is in the
cortico-neural arena (i.e. increasingly more complex
organization of the nervous system and the brain).
Specifically it is the higher level cognitive - Knowledge
Information Processing functions that set H. Sapiens apart.
It is asserted here (and to be discussed in a future paper)
that H. trans-sapiens is a logical consequence of
evolution, and that the milieu and adaptive epigenetic
landscape for H. trans-sapiens is already present in the
form of trans-culture. It is indeed possible that the basic
mutations are in place and trans-sapiens already exists or
will appear in the biologically-near time frame.
[ Please pass to other relevant news groups/ e-lists]
Elan Moritz,
snail mail:
Elan Moritz
The Institute for Memetic Research
PO Box 16327, Panama City, Florida 32406
e mail:
moritz@well.sf.ca.us [internet]
------------------------------
Subject: Neural Computer Seminar
From: "Nick_Sheridon.PARC"@Xerox.COM
Date: Thu, 25 Oct 90 10:01:57 -0700
[[ Editor's Note: Yes, this was last week, but I'm sending it off so you
can read about what is happening. Unfortunately, I generally cannot get
submissions out in one day's turnaround. As usual, if you have a
submission which is time urgent, mark it as such and I'll do my best.
Meanwhile, I hope the talk went well... -PM ]] Importance: high
My first message was apparently restricted to Viewpoint users. Sorry.
SPECIAL SEMINAR
BITMAP GRAPHICS AND NEURAL NETWORKS
CARY CORNFELD
NEC RESEARCH INSTITUTE
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26
2:00 P.M.
AUDITORIUM
ABSTRACT
It has only been within the last few years that Bitmap Graphics has
emerged from the realm of research oriented workstations to become the
dominant paradigm used in commercial computer systems. As many of us
know, beneath the simplicity of this display organization lies
considerable complexity and sophisticated engineering. PARC's pioneering
work in this area has enabled us to apply our basic understanding of
these systems to other areas of computer design.
The Optically Programmed Neural Computer described in this talk derives
much of its heritage from bitmap graphics. The innovative element within
this computer is an array of 14,400 amorphous silicon, photoconductive
synapses. This array is remarkably similar to an active matrix flat
display. The resulting neuro-computer is perhaps the largest ever built
and is the first to offer dynamically programmable synapses with full
analog depth. The machine has a rich, graphical user interface for
monitoring and controlling its operation. A short video tape of its
operation will be shown.
Host: Nick Sheridon
------------------------------
Subject: Cog Sci One-Day Conference (Rutgers)
From: leyton@cogsci-1.rutgers.edu (Michael Leyton)
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 90 06:40:25 -0500
----------------------------------------------------
COLUMBIA/PRINCETON/RUTGERS
Cognitive Science
Third One-Day Conference
Nov 9th, 1990
----------------------------------------------------
Robert Remez: A Botany of Perceptual Approaches
(11-12) to Speech.
Georges Rey: Content and Percepts.
(12:30-1:30)
Lynn Cooper: Probing the Nature of the
(3-4) Mental Representation of
Visual objects.
Zenon Pylyshyn: Individuating and Indexing
(4.30-5.30) Primitive Visual Features:
Or; The Deixes we see with.
Gil Harman and Steve Stich will chair the sessions.
-----------------------------------------------------
Place-Time: Schermerhorn 614, Columbia, 11am-6pm
Following the conference, there will be a
reception with light refreshments
at Lynn Cooper's apartment.
------------------------------------------------------
Conference organizers:
Lynn Cooper, Gilbert Harman, Barbara Landau,
Michael Leyton, Nancy Nersessian, Steve Stich.
If you have suggestions concerning subsequent
conferences, contact Michael Leyton at
leyton@cogsci-1.rutgers.edu
------------------------------
Subject: paper available
From: stefano nolfi <IP%IRMKANT.BITNET@vma.CC.CMU.EDU>
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 90 12:19:36 -0400
The following technical report is now available. You can get it from:
STIVA AT IRMKANT.BITNET. Send your real adress.
RECALL OF SEQUENCES OF ITEMS
BY A NEURAL NETWORK
Stefano Nolfi*
Domenico Parisi*
Giuseppe Vallar**
Cristina Burani*
*Inst. of Psychology - C.N.R. - Rome
**University of Milan - Italy
ABSTRACT
A network architecture of the forward type but with additional 'memory'
units that store the hidden units activation at time 1 and re-input this
activation to the hidden units at time 2 (Jordan, 1986; Elman, 1990) is
used to train a network to free recall sequences of items. The network's
performance exhibits some features that are also observed in humans,
such as decreasing recall with increasing sequence length and better
recall of the first and the last items compared with middle items. An
analysis of the network's behavior during sequence presentation can ex-
plain these results.
INTRODUCTION
Human beings possess the ability to recall a set of items that are
presented to them in a sequence. The overall capacity of the memory
systems used in this task is limited and the probability of recall
decreases with increasing sequence length. A second relevant feature of
human performance in this task is that the last (recency effect) and the
initial (primacy effect) items of the sequence tend to be recalled better
than the middle items. These serial position effects have been observed
both in a free recall condition, in which subjects may recall the stimuli
in any order they wish, and in a serial recall condition, in which
subjects must preserve the presentation order. (See reviews concerning
free and serial recall of sequences and the recency ef- fect in: Glanzer,
1972; Crowder, 1976; Baddeley and Hitch, 1977; Shallice and Vallar,
1990).
In this paper we report the results of a simulation experiment in which
we trained neural networks to recall sequences of items. Our purpose was
to explore if a particular network architecture could function as a
memory store for generating free recall of sequences of items.
Furthermore, we wanted to determine if the recall performances of our
networks exhibited the two features of human free recall that we have
mentioned, that is, decreasing probability of recall with increasing
sequence length and an U-shaped recall curve (for related works see:
Schneider and Detweiler, 1987; Schreter and Pfeifer, 1989; Schweickert,
Guentert and Hersberger, 1989).
To appear in: In D.S.Touretzky, J.L. Elman, T.J. Sejnowski and G.E.
Hinton (eds.), Proceedings of the 1990 Connectionist Models Summer
School. San Matteo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann.
REFERENCES
Baddeley A.D., Hitch G.J. (1974). Recency re-examined. In S. Dornic
(Ed.). Attention and performance (Vol. 6). Hillsdale, NJ:Erlbaum, pp.
647-667.
Crowder R.G. (1976). Principles of learning and memory. Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum.
Glanzer M. (1972). Storage mechanisms in recall. In G.H. Bower (Ed.).
The Psychology of learning and motivation. Advances in research and
theory. (Vol. 5). New York: Academic Press, pp. 129-193.
Elman, J.L. Finding structure in time. (1990). Cognitive Science, 14,
179-211.
Jordan, M.I. (1986). Serial order: A parallel distributed processing
approach. Institute for Cognitive Science. Report 8604. University of
California, San Diego.
Shallice T., Vallar G. (1990). The impairment of auditory-verbal
short-term storage. In: G. Vallar and T. Shallice (Eds.).
Neuropsychological impairments of short-term memory. New York: Cambridge
University Press, pp.11-53.
Schneider, W., & Detweiler, M. (1987). A connectionist control
architecture for working memory. In G.H. Bower (Ed.) The Psychology of
learning and motivation vol 21. New York: Academic Press.
Schreter, Z., & Pfeirer, R. (1989). Short term memory and long term
memory interactions in connectionist simulations of psychological
experiments on list learning. In L. Personnaz and G. Dreyfus (Eds.),
Neural Network: From models to applications. Paris: I.D.S.E.T.
Schweickert, R., Guentert, L., & Hersberger, L. (1989). Neural Network
Models of Memory Span. Preceedings of the Eleventh Annual Conference of
the Cognitive Science Society. Ann Arbor, Michigan.
------------------------------
Subject: Technical Report CSRP162
From: David Cliff <davec@cogs.sussex.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 02 Nov 90 15:01:55 +0000
The following report is now available:
"Computational Neuroethology: A Provisional Manifesto"
Dave Cliff,
University of Sussex School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences
CSRP162, May 1990.
\begin{abstract}
This paper questions approaches to computational modelling of neural
mechanisms underlying behaviour. It examines ``simplifying''
(connectionist) models used in computational neuroscience and concludes
that, unless embedded within a sensorimotor system, they are meaningless.
The implication is that future models should be situated within
closed-environment simulation systems: output of the simulated nervous
system is then expressed as observable behaviour. This approach is
referred to as ``computational neuroethology''. Computational
neuroethology offers a firmer grounding for the semantics of the model,
eliminating subjectivity from the result-interpretation process. A number
of more fundamental implications of the approach are also discussed,
chief of which is that insect cognition should be studied in preference
to mammalian cognition.
\end{abstract}
An abridged version of this paper is to appear in: "From Animals to
Animats: Proceedings of the First International Conference on the
Simulation of Adaptive Behaviour" J.-A. Meyer and S.W. Wilson, editors.
MIT Press/Bradford Books, 1990.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copies of the postscript file cliff.manifesto.Z may be obtained from the
pub/neuroprose directory in cheops.cis.ohio-state.edu. Either use the Getps
script or do this:
unix-1> ftp cheops.cis.ohio-state.edu # (or ftp 128.146.8.62)
Connected to cheops.cis.ohio-state.edu.
Name (cheops.cis.ohio-state.edu:): anonymous
331 Guest login ok, sent ident as password.
Password: neuron
230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
ftp> cd pub/neuroprose
ftp> binary
ftp> get cliff.manifesto.ps.Z
ftp> quit
unix-2> uncompress cliff.manifesto.ps.Z
unix-3> lpr -P(your_local_postscript_printer) cliff.manifesto.ps
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Or, order a hardcopy by sending your physical mail address to
davec@cogs.sussex.ac.uk, mentioning CSRP162. Please do this only if you
cannot use the ftp method described above.
------------------------------
End of Neuron Digest [Volume 6 Issue 64]
****************************************
