emergent properties

[LUBTODI%YALEVM.BITNET@vma.CC.CMU.EDU]

  Emergent properties are one of the potential benefits of using a
connectionist model to perform a task.  For example, if the task is to
classify objects, a connectionist algorithm can give gracefully degraded
performance when the input is poor or the network is damaged.   Graceful
degradation and content addressability are two properties that often seem to
be called emergent properties--they come for free with a connectionist model.
  My questions are: 1. What other beneficial properties emerge from
connectionist models?  2. Do different network architectures lead to different
emergent properties?  3. There may also be emergent constraints on the task to
be performed.  Using the categorization example, perhaps only a certain number
of categories can be formed given a certain number of hidden units.  What
constraints do emerge for the task-level description?
  From my point of view, the relevance of connectionist models is increased
when the emergent benefits of a model are those that humans have and the
emergent constraints on task performance are also seen in humans.  I am
interested in hearing about (1) examples of emergent benefits and constraints
in both low level and high level tasks, and (2) whether these emergent network
properties are seen in people (or whatever species is being modelled).

Todd Lubart   LUBTODI at YALEVM