1 Connectionist Modeling Jenny Hayes

2 Overview What are connectionist models? How do they work? How are they used in psychology?

3 What are Connectionist models? Neurally inspired –Many neurons - many units –Densely interconnected in a complex network –Random initial weights between units –Connections between units are strengthened as items are paired together –Or weakened if items are not paired together So learning is driven by associative memory ONLY

4 How do they work? Supervised v unsupervised –Teacher signal (self - supervised) –Group together on basis of similarity Static v sequential Learning based on statistical regularities in the training set. Can make accurate predictions on unseen input.

5 How are they used in Psychology? Any application where learning is thought to proceed by associative memory –Past tense of English –English and German Plurals –Compounding in English –letter production, Balance beam, semantic deficits