Connectionists: Computational Modeling of Bilingualism Special Issue

Tue Mar 26 12:47:48 EDT 2013

Gary, I have cited some classical references about this FA learning 
issue in my recent book NAI.  I guess that we are again talking about 
different things as I stated in my last email.  My last email might be 
useful.  If you give me a reference of "easily learned by connectionist 
architectures", we can communicate more effectively.

For example, I had big problems in communication with Jeff Hawkins, 
until he came to MSU this year and we had interactive emails after his 
visit.   His HTM belongs to symbolic AI because it consists of 
task-specific (or feature-specific) modules.  Sorry, Jeff, please do not 
take this comment personally.  Many people did this way.

-John

On 3/26/13 1:18 AM, Gary Cottrell wrote:
> wow, I haven't heard this kind of misunderstanding in a long time. 
> FSA's are easily learned by connectionist architectures. It is PDA's 
> that are hard.
> On Mar 23, 2013, at 4:16 PM, Juyang Weng wrote:
>
>> Ping Li:
>>
>> As far as I understand, traditional connectionist architectures 
>> cannot do abstraction well as Marvin Minsky, Michael Jordan
>> and many others correctly stated.  For example, traditional neural 
>> networks cannot learn a finite automaton (FA) until recently (i.e.,
>> the proof of our Developmental Network).  We all know that FA is the 
>> basis for all probabilistic symbolic networks (e.g., Markov models)
>> but they are all not connectionist.
>>
>> After seeing your announcement, I am confused with the book title
>> "Bilingualism Special Issue: Computational Modeling of Bilingualism" 
>> but with your comment "most of the models are based on connectionist 
>> architectures."
>>
>> Without further clarifications from you, I have to predict that these 
>> connectionist architectures in the book are all grossly wrong in terms
>> of brain-capable connectionist natural language processing, since 
>> they cannot learn an FA.   This means that they cannot generalize to 
>> state-equivalent but unobserved word sequences.   Without this basic 
>> capability required for natural language processing, how can they 
>> claim connectionist natural language processing, let alone bilingualism?
>>
>> I am concerned that many papers proceed with specific problems 
>> without understanding the fundamental problems of the traditional 
>> connectionism. The fact that the biological brain is connectionist 
>> does not necessarily mean that all connectionist researchers know 
>> about the brain's connectionism.
>>
>> -John Weng
>>
>> On 3/22/13 6:08 PM, Ping Li wrote:
>>>
>>> Dear Colleagues,
>>>
>>>
>>> A Special Issue on Computational Modeling of Bilingualism has been 
>>> published. Most of the models are based on connectionist architectures.
>>>
>>>
>>> All the papers are available for free viewing until April 30, 2013 
>>> (follow the link below to its end):
>>>
>>>
>>> http://cup.linguistlist.org/2013/03/bilingualism-special-issue-computational-modeling-of-bilingualism/
>>>
>>>
>>> Please let me know if you have difficulty accessing the above link 
>>> or viewing any of the PDF files on Cambridge University Press's website.
>>>
>>>
>>> With kind regards,
>>>
>>>
>>> Ping Li
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> =================================================================
>>>
>>> Ping Li, Ph.D. | Professor of Psychology, Linguistics, Information 
>>> Sciences & Technology  |  Co-Chair, Inter-College Graduate Program 
>>> in Neuroscience | Co-Director, Center for Brain, Behavior, and 
>>> Cognition | Pennsylvania State University  | University Park, PA 
>>> 16802, USA  |
>>>
>>> Editor, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, Cambridge University 
>>> Press | Associate Editor: Journal of Neurolinguistics, Elsevier 
>>> Science Publisher
>>>
>>> Email: pul8 at psu.edu <mailto:pul8 at psu.edu>  | URL: 
>>> http://cogsci.psu.edu <http://cogsci.psu.edu/>
>>>
>>> =================================================================
>>>
>>>
>>
>> -- 
>> --
>> Juyang (John) Weng, Professor
>> Department of Computer Science and Engineering
>> MSU Cognitive Science Program and MSU Neuroscience Program
>> 428 S Shaw Ln Rm 3115
>> Michigan State University
>> East Lansing, MI 48824 USA
>> Tel: 517-353-4388
>> Fax: 517-432-1061
>> Email:weng at cse.msu.edu
>> URL:http://www.cse.msu.edu/~weng/
>> ----------------------------------------------
>>
>
> Gary Cottrell 858-534-6640 FAX: 858-534-7029
>
> My schedule is here: http://tinyurl.com/b7gxpwo
>
> Computer Science and Engineering 0404
> IF USING FED EX INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING LINE:
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>
> "Probably once or twice a week we are sitting at dinner and Richard 
> says, 'The cortex is hopeless,' and I say, 'That's why I work on the 
> worm.'" Dr. Bargmann said.
>
> "A grapefruit is a lemon that saw an opportunity and took advantage of 
> it." - note written on a door in Amsterdam on Lijnbaansgracht.
>
> "Physical reality is great, but it has a lousy search function." -Matt 
> Tong
>
> "Only connect!" -E.M. Forster
>
> "You always have to believe that tomorrow you might write the matlab 
> program that solves everything - otherwise you never will." -Geoff Hinton
>
> "There is nothing objective about objective functions" - Jay McClelland
>
> "I am awaiting the day when people remember the fact that discovery 
> does not work by deciding what you want and then discovering it."
> -David Mermin
>
> Email: gary at ucsd.edu <mailto:gary at ucsd.edu>
> Home page: http://www-cse.ucsd.edu/~gary/ 
> <http://www-cse.ucsd.edu/%7Egary/>
>
>
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-- 
--
Juyang (John) Weng, Professor
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
MSU Cognitive Science Program and MSU Neuroscience Program
428 S Shaw Ln Rm 3115
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824 USA
Tel: 517-353-4388
Fax: 517-432-1061
Email: weng at cse.msu.edu
URL: http://www.cse.msu.edu/~weng/
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