HowMindsWork

MemoriesandLearning
StanFranklin
ComputerScienceDivision&
InstituteforIntelligentSystems
TheUniversityofMemphis

HumanLearning
Moreorless
Continual
Quick
Efficient
Accurate
Robust
Flexible
Effortless
HowMindsWork:Memory&Learning

ProblemswithMachineLearning

Requireslarge,accuratetrainingsets
Littleawarenessofwhatsknownornotknown
Integratesnewknowledgepoorlyintoold
Learnsonetaskatatime
Littletransferoflearnedknowledgetonewtasks
Pooratlearningfromhumanteachers

HowMindsWork:Memory&Learning

Formorehumanlikelearning
inmachines
Designautonomous
softwareagentsand
mobilerobots
usingprinciples
fromhumanlearning

HowMindsWork:Memory&Learning

SomePrinciplesofHumanLearning
Theresnolearningfromscratch
Welearnwhatweattendto
Learningisatrialanderrorprocess
Muchmemoryisassociativeand
contentaddressable

HowMindsWork:Memory&Learning

LessonsforMachineLearning
Buildin
Primitivefeaturedetectors
Preferencesforlearnings
Attentionmechanism
Baselevelactivation
Inversesigmoidaldecay

Makememory
Associative
Contentaddressable

HowMindsWork:Memory&Learning

TypesofHumanLearning
RequiringDistinctMechanisms
Perceptuallearning

Procedurallearning

Identify,classify,
situate

Newskills
Improveskills
Automatize

Episodiclearning
What,where,when

Attentionallearning
Towhattoattend

HowMindsWork:Memory&Learning

ExamplesofLearningMechanisms
Perceptuallearning
viaaSlipnet
Episodiclearningvia
SparseDistributed
Memory
Procedurallearning
viaaSchemaNet

HowMindsWork:Memory&Learning

Amechanismforperceptuallearning
Semanticnetwithactivationpassing
Nodesrepresentfeatures,individuals,
categories,ideas
Linksrepresentrelations,someexcitatory,
someinhibitory
Totalactivation=current+baselevel
Perceptcomposedofnodesoverthreshold
Learningmodifiesbaselevelactivation

HowMindsWork:Memory&Learning

Amechanismforepisodiclearning
Sparsedistributedmemory
Fewhardlocations,HUGEaddressspace
Eachhardlocationcontributes
totheencodingofmanydifferentevents
Eacheventisencoded
tomanydifferenthardlocations
Associativeandcontentaddressable
Psychologicalproperties
Knowswhenitdoesntknow
Tipofthetonguephenomena

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AMechanismforProceduralLearning
Procedurallearningviaaschemanet
Activation=current+baselevel
Procedurallearning
Reinforcesbaselevelactivation
Formsnewschemas
Schemasinstantiate,activate,bind
Incrementallearningproduces
newbehaviorstreams

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CognitiveCycles
Everyautonomousagentsoperatesinthe
worldbyfrequent,probablycascading,
senseprocessactcycles
Learningtakesplaceduringeachcycle
Learningisafunctionofattention
andofarousallevel.
Feelingsandemotionsmodulatelearning

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HumanCognitiveCycleProcessing
HypothesisHumancognitiveprocessingisvia
acontinuingsequenceofCognitiveCycles
Duration

Eachcognitivecycletakesroughly200ms

Cascading Severalcyclesmayhavepartsrunning
simultaneouslyinparallel
Seriality

Consciousnessmaintainsserialorder
andtheillusionofcontinuity

Start
Cyclemaystartwithactionselection
insteadofperception

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PerceptualAssociativeMemory
Abilitytointerpretincomingstimuliby
recognizingindividuals
categorizingthem
notingsituations

Ubiquitousamonganimalspecies
Animalsofallsortscanidentifyfood
sources,potentialmates,potential
predators,etc.
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ExamplesofPAM
Pigeonscancategorizephotosusingsuch
conceptsastree,fish,andhuman
Honeybeescanidentifyletters
independentlyofsize,color,positionorfont
AfricanGreyParrot(Alex)canidentifysuch
featuresassize,number,color,andmaterial
of(setsof)objectsneverbeforeseen

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PerceptualLearningPremises
(Almost?)ubiquitousamonganimals
Evolutionarilyolderthansemanticmemory
Distinctneuralmechanisms
Consciousawarenesssufficient
Facilitatedbyfeelingsandemotions
Decaysbyaninversesigmoidfunction
Firststepinasensecognizeactcycle
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Sensation
Sensoryreceptorsaredirectedbyaction
Saccadesoftheeyes
Sniff
Turingofanear
Sendingofanecholocationsignal

Theenvironmentimpingesonreceptors

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Perception
Filterssensoryinputbasedonexpectation
Simultaneouslyattachesmeaningtoit
Identifiesindividuals,categories,situations
andfeelings
Producesaperceptincludingindividuals,
categories,relations,ideas,andsome
interpretedsensorydata,i.e,qualia

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PerceptioninIDAsCycle
Inputarrivesthroughsenses
Perceptioncodeletsfindfeaturesand
activateappropriatenodesintheslipnet
Activationpassesfromnodetonode
untiltheslipnetstabilizes
Streamsfromdifferentsensesconverge&
bitsofmeaningcombineintolargerchunks
Nodesoverthresholdformthepercept
Sensorystimulireceived&interpreted,
producinginitialmeaning
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EachNodeaFeatureDetector
Primitivefeaturedetectordirect
connectiontoreceptivefield
Higherlevelfeaturedetectorscombine
lowerlevelfeaturedetectors
Objectnodesdetectfeaturesofobject
Categorynodesdetectmembersas
features,aswellasotherfeatures
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PerceptualLearning
Usingthebroadcastcontents
ofconsciousness
Strengthen(orweaken)existing
objects,categories,ideas,relations,
feelings,etc.
Createnewobjects,categories,
situations

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ContentsofConsciousness
Slipnetnodesareperceptualsymbols
Uniformrepresentationthroughout
theIDAmodel
Slipnetnodescompriseconscious
contents

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ModifyingExistingNodes
Currentactivation
fromothernodes
startingwithprimitivefeaturedetectors
rapiddecay

Baselevelactivation
Inversesigmoidaldecay

Totalnodeactivationafunctionofcurrent
andbaselevelactivations
Perceptuallearningmodifiesbaselevel
activationofeachnodeinconsciouscontents
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InverseSigmoidalDecay
Decay
rate
Baselevelactivation

Lowbaselevelactivation=rapiddecay
Saturatedbaselevelactibation=
almostnodecay
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LearningNewNodes
Objectnodesfromnotingcontiguity
ofmotionoffeatures
Categorynodesfromnoting
similarityofobjects
Requiresspecificattentioncodelets
Agenerate&testproceduredueto
inversesigmoidaldecay
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TransientEpisodicMemory
Recordswhat,when,how,feelings,actions
Contentaddressablefrompartialcues
Consciouslynotedeventsareencoded
Modulatedbyfeelingsandemotions
Moreaffect,strongerencoding
Moreaffect,moreofteninconsciousness

Decaysinhoursoraday
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WritingtoTEM
Usessparsedistributedmemory
Perceptualsymbols=universal
representation
Primitivefeaturedetectors=subsetsof
dimensions
Translatehigherlevelfeaturedetectors
toprimitivefeaturedetectorsforwriting

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ReadingfromTEM
Contentsofworkingmemory
formthecue
Mustbetranslatedto
primitivefeaturedetectors
ReturnfromSDMrouted
throughperceptionto
produceperceptualsymbols
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DeclarativeMemory
Autobiographical+semantic
ReadfromjustasTEM
WriteisconsolidationfromTEM
Inversesigmoidaldecay
Candecayveryquickly
Canlastfordecades

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ProceduralLearning
Learningnewtasksinstructionist
Reinforcingoldtasksselectionist
Learningviaconsciousness
Primitiveeffectors(motorneurons&
muscles)notlearned
Veryshorttermtoverylongterm

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Implementation
Procedurallearningviaaschemanet
Schema(context,action,result)
=behaviorcodeletinprimingmode
Primitiveeffector=emptyschema
(onlyaction)
Linksfromschematoderivedschema

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ActivationofaSchema
Modifyasaresultofconsciouscontent
Baselevelactivationreinforceifaction
succeeded
Currentactivationdependson
Relevanceofcontexttocurrentsituation
Relevanceofresulttocurrentgoalsor
feelings

Totalactivation=baselevel+current
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DecayofSchemaActivation
Baselevelactivationinversesigmoidal
Lowlevelschemasdecayveryrapidly
Saturatedschemasdecayhardlyatall
Learningcanbeshortorlongterm

Currentactivationdecaysrapidly

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SelectionistLearning
Selectionist=reinforcement
Consciousbroadcastsaysexpectationmet
Affectvalencepositive
Increasebaselevelactivationinproportion
toaffectlevel
Valencenegativeorexpectationnotmet
Decreasebaselevelactivationin
proportiontoaffectlevel
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InstructionistLearning
Behavior=goalcontext=schemawith
parallelcompoundaction
Mergetwoschemaintoathird
Behaviorstream=goalcontexthierarchy=
schemawithsequentialcompoundaction
Mergetwoschemaintoathird

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AttentionalLearning
Builtinattentioncodeletsfor
Temporalsequence(=causality)
Similarity(=categorization)
Contiguityofmotion(=objectformation)

Expectationcodeletspawnedwith
eachexecutedbehavior(codelet)
Intentioncodeletproducedwitheach
volitionaldecision
Otherslearned?
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EmailandWebAddresses
StanFranklin
franklin@memphis.edu
www.cs.memphis.edu/~franklin
ConsciousSoftwareResearchGroup
www.csrg.memphis.edu/

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