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Details for article 60 of 67 found articles
| Title: |
Symbol Grounding or the Emergence of Symbols? Vocabulary Growth in Children and a Connectionist Net |
| Author: |
Plunkett, Kim Sinha, Chris Møller, Martin F. Strandsby, Ole |
| Appeared in: |
Connection science |
| Paging: | Volume 4 (1992) nr. 3-4 pages 293-312 |
| Year: |
1992 |
| Contents: |
The Symbolic Grounding Problem is viewed as a by-product of the classical cognitivist approach to studying the mind. In contrast, an epigenetic interpretation of connectionist approaches to studying the mind is shown to offer an account of symbolic skills as an emergent, developmental phenomenon. We describe a connectionist model of concept formation and vocabulary growth that auto-associates image representations and their associated labels. The image representations consist of clusters of random dot figures, generated by distorting prototypes. Any given label is associated with a cluster of random dot figures. The network model is tested on its ability to reproduce image representations given input labels alone (comprehension) and to identify labels given input images alone (production). The model implements several well-documented findings in the literature on early semantic development; the occurrence of over- and under-extension errors; a vocabulary spurt; a comprehension/production asymmetry; and a prototype effect. It is shown how these apparently disparate findings can be attributed to the operation of a single underlying mechanism rather than by invoking separate explanations for each phenomenon. The model represents a first step in the direction of providing a formal explanation of the emergence of symbolic behaviour in young children. |
| Publisher: |
Taylor & Francis |
| Source file: |
Elektronische Wetenschappelijke Tijdschriften |
Details for article 60 of 67 found articles
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