Call for Papers

[Paulina Baligod]

SCHEMAS AND NEURAL NETWORKS:  
INTEGRATING SYMBOLIC AND SUBSYMBOLIC APPROACHES TO 
COOPERATIVE COMPUTATION

A Workshop sponsored by the 

Center for Neural Engineering
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2520

April 13th and 14th, 1993

Program Committee: Michael Arbib (Organizer), John 
Barnden, George Bekey, Francisco Cervantes-Perez, 
Damian Lyons, Paul  Rosenbloom, Ron Sun, Akinori 
Yonezawa

To design complex technological systems and to 
analyze complex biological and cognitive systems, 
we need a multilevel methodology which combines a 
coarse-grain analysis of  cooperative or 
distributed computation (we shall refer to the  
computing agents at this level as "schemas") with a 
fine-grain model of flexible, adaptive computation 
(for which neural networks provide a powerful 
general paradigm).  Schemas provide  a language for 
distributed artificial intelligence, perceptual  
robotics, cognitive modeling, and brain theory 
which is "in the style of the brain", but at a 
relatively high level of abstraction relative to 
neural networks.   

The proposed workshop will provide a 2-hour 
introductory tutorial and problem statement by 
Michael Arbib, and sessions in which an invited 
paper will be followed by several contributed 
papers,  selected from those submitted in response 
to this call for papers.  Preference will be given 
to papers which present practical examples of, 
theory of, and/or methodology for the design and 
analysis of complex systems in which the overall 
specification or analysis is conducted in terms of 
schemas, and where some but not necessarily all of 
the schemas are implemented in neural networks.  

A list of sample topics for contributions is as 
follows, where a hybrid approach means one in which 
the abstract schema level is integrated with neural 
or other lower level models:

	Schema Theory as a description language for 	
	neural networks
	Modular neural networks
	Linking DAI to Neural Networks to Hybrid 
	Architecture
	Formal Theories of Schemas
	Hybrid approaches to integrating planning & 
	reaction
	Hybrid approaches to learning 
	Hybrid approaches to commonsense reasoning by 
	integrating neural networks and rule-	
	based reasoning (using schema for the 
	integration)
	Programming Languages for Schemas and Neural 
	Networks
	Concurrent Object-Oriented Programming for 
	Distributed AI and Neural Networks
	Schema Theory Applied in Cognitive Psychology, 
	Linguistics, Robotics, AI and Neuroscience


Prospective contributors should send a hard copy of 
a five-page extended abstract,  including figures 
with informative captions and full references 
(either by regular mail or fax) by February 15, 
1993  to Michael Arbib, Center for Neural 
Engineering, University of Southern California, Los 
Angeles, CA 90089-2520, USA [Tel: (213) 740-9220, 
Fax: (213) 746-2863, arbib at pollux.usc.edu].   
Please include your full address, including fax and 
email, on the paper.  

Notification of acceptance or rejection will be 
sent by email no later than March 1, 1993.  There 
are currently no plans to issue a formal 
proceedings of full papers, but revised versions of 
accepted abstracts received prior to April 1, 1993 
will be collected with the full text of the 
Tutorial in a CNE Technical Report which will be 
made available to registrants at the start of the 
meeting.   [A useful way to structure such an 
abstract is in short numbered sections, where each 
section presents (in a small type face!) the 
material corresponding to one transparency/slide in 
a verbal presentation.  This will make it  easy for 
an audience to take notes if they have a copy of 
the abstract at your presentation.]

Hotel Information:  Attendees may register at the 
hotel of their choice, but the closest hotel to USC 
is the University Hilton, 3540 South Figueroa 
Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007, Phone:  (213) 748-
4141, Reservation: (800) 872-1104, Fax:  (213) 748-
0043.   A single room costs $70/night while a 
double room costs $75/night.  Workshop participants 
must specify that they are "Schemas and Neural 
Networks Workshop" attendees to avail of the above 
rates.

The registration fee of $150 includes a copy of the 
abstracts, coffee breaks, and a dinner to be held 
on the evening of April 13th.  

Those wishing to register should send a check 
payable to Center for Neural Engineering, USC for 
$150 together with the following information to 
Paulina Tagle, Center for Neural Engineering, 
University of Southern California, University Park, 
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2520, USA.


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SCHEMAS AND NEURAL NETWORKS
Center for Neural Engineering, USC
April 13 - 14, 1992


NAME:  ___________________________________________		
ADDRESS: _________________________________________	
PHONE NO.: _______________ FAX:___________________
EMAIL: ___________________________________________
						

I intend to submit a paper: YES  [   ]      NO   [   ]