book announcement

[Jaap Murre]

Book Announcement


      Learning and Categorization in Modular Neural Networks

                 by Jacob M.J. Murre


This book introduces a new neural network model, called CALM, for
categorization and learning in neural networks. CALM is a building block for
modular neural networks. The internal structure of the CALM module is
inspired by the neocortical minicolumn. A pivotal psychological concept in
the CALM learning algorithm is self-induced arousal, which may affect the
local learning rate and noise level. The author demonstrates how this model
can learn the wordsuperiority effect for letter recognition, and he discusses a
series of studies that simulate experiments in implicit and explicit memory,
involving normal and amnesic patients. Pathological, but psychologically
accurate, behavior is produced by 'lesioning' the arousal system of these
models. The author also introduces as an illustrative practical application a
small model that learns to recognize handwritten digits.

The book also contains a concise introduction to genetic algorithms, a new
computing method based on the biological metaphor of evolution, and it is
demonstrated how these genetic algorithms can be used to design network
architectures with superior performance. The role of modularity in parallel
hardware and software implementations is discussed in some depth. Several
hardware implementations are considered, including  transputer networks and
a dedicated 400-processor neurocomputer built by the developers of CALM
in cooperation with Delft Technical University. The book ends with an
evaluation of the psychological and biological plausibility of CALM models
and a general discussion of catastrophic interference, generalization, and
representational capacity of modular neural networks.


Murre, J.M.J. (1992). Learning and categorization in modular neural
networks. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf, and Hillsdale, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum (in Canada and the USA), 244pp. 

Price indication: paperback $25.50 (14.95 Pound Sterling), hardback $76.50
(45.00 Pound Sterling). For additional information, contact: 
Simon & Schuster at Campus 400, Maylands Avenue, Hemel Hempstead,
Herts HP2 7EZ, England, tel. (0442) 881900, fax. (0442) 882099; or
Lawrence Erlbaum at 365 Broadway, Hillsdale, NJ 07642-1487, USA.