Tech. report available

[Joerg Kindermann]

     Detection of Minimal Microfeatures by Internal Feedback
                                 
                    J. Kindermann & A. Linden
                  e-mail: joerg at gmdzi, al at gmdzi
      Gesellschaft fuer Mathematik und Datenverarbeitung mbH
                          Postfach 1240
                     D-5205 Sankt Augustin 1
                                 
                             Abstract
                                   
We define the notion of minimal microfeatures and introduce a new
method of internal feedback for multilayer networks. Error signals are
used to modify the input of a net. When combined with input decay,
internal feedback allows the detection of sets of minimal
microfeatures, i.e. those subpatterns which the network actually uses
for discrimination. Additional noise on the training data increases
the number of minimal microfeatures for a given pattern. The detection
of minimal microfeatures is a first step towards a subsymbolic system
with the capability of self-explanation. The paper provides examples
from the domain of letter recognition.

Keywords: minimal microfeatures, neural networks, parallel distributed
processing, backpropagation, self-explanation.

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Dr. Joerg Kindermann
Gesellschaft fuer Mathematik und Datenverarbeitung
Schloss Birlinghoven
Postfach 1240
D-5205 St. Augustin 1
WEST GERMANY

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