TR: 'Connectionism and the study of change'

[Jeff Elman]

The following technical report is available via anonymous ftp
or surface mail.  Instructions on how to obtain it follow.
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                Connectionism and the Study of Change

                          Elizabeth A. Bates
                           Jeffrey L. Elman
                   Center for Research in Language
                 University of California, San Diego

                      CRL Technical Report 9202


     Developmental psychology is not just about the study of children;
it  is also about the study of change.  In this paper, we start with a
brief historical review showing how the study of change has been aban-
doned  within  developmental psychology, in favor of strong "preforma-
tionist" views, of both the nativist variety (i.e.  mental  structures
are  present  at birth, or they mature along a predetermined schedule)
and the empiricist variety (i.e. mental structures are the "internali-
zation"  of  social interactions with a competent adult).  From either
point of view, nothing really new can  emerge  across  the  course  of
development.   These perspectives contrast with the truly interaction-
ist view espoused by Jean Piaget, who argued for an emergence  of  new
mental structures at the interface between organism and environment.

     We argue that these historical  trends  (including  a  widespread
repudiation of Piaget) are rooted in the First Computer Metaphor, i.e.
use of the serial digital computer as a metaphor for mind.  Aspects of
the  First  Computer  Metaphor that have led to this kind of preforma-
tionism include (1) discrete representations, (2) absolute rules,  (3)
learning  as  programming  and/or  selection  from  an  array  of pre-
established hypotheses, and (4) the hardware/software distinction.  We
go  on to argue that connectionism (i.e. the Second Computer Metaphor)
offers a way  out  of  the  Nature-Nurture  impasse  in  developmental
psychology,  providing  useful formalizations that capture the elusive
notion of emergent form.  In fact, connectionist models can be used to
salvage  certain  forms  of  developmental nativism, offering concrete
insights into what an innate idea might really look  like  (or  better
yet, 50% of an innate idea, awaiting completion through learning).

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If you have access to the internet, you may obtain a copy of
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unix% ftp crl.ucsd.edu			/* or: ftp 128.54.16.43 */
Connected to crl.ucsd.edu.
220 crl FTP server (SunOS 4.1) ready.
Name (crl.ucsd.edu:elman): anonymous
331 Guest login ok, send ident as password.
Password:
230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
ftp> binary
200 Type set to I.
ftp> cd pub/neuralnets
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> get tr9202.ps.Z
200 PORT command successful.
150 Binary data connection for tr9202.ps.Z (128.54.16.43,1507) (98903 bytes).
226 Binary Transfer complete.
local: tr9202.ps.Z remote: tr9202.ps.Z
98903 bytes received in 0.57 seconds (1.7e+02 Kbytes/s)
ftp> quit
221 Goodbye.
unix% zcat tr9202.ps.Z | lpr

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