E-Book Content
THE ADAPTIVE BRAIN I1 Vision, Speech, Language, and Motor Control
ADVANCES IN PSYCHOLOGY 43 Editors G . E. STELMACH
P. A. VROON
NORTH-HOLLAND AMSTERDAM .NEW YORK * OXFORD .TOKYO
THEADAPTIVEBRAINII Vision, Speech, Language, and Motor Control
Edited by
Stephen GROSSBERG Centerfor Adaptive Systems Boston University Boston, Massachusetts U.S. A .
1987
NORTH-HOLLAND AMSTERDAM .NEW YORK . OXFORD .TOKYO
0 ELSEVIER
SCIENCE PUBLISHERS B.V., 1987
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, or any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN : 0 444 70118 4 ISBNSet: 0 444 70119 2
The other volume in this set is: The Adaptive Brain I: Cognition, Learning, Reinforcement, and Rhythm, S.Grossberg, Ed., (1987). This is volume 42 in the North-Holland series Advances in Psychology, ISBN: 0 444 70117 6.
Publishers:
ELSEVIER SCIENCE PUBLISHERS B.V. P.O. Box 1991 1000 BZ Amsterdam The Netherlands
Sole distributors for the U.S. A. and Canada: ELSEVIER SCIENCE PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. 52Vanderbilt Avenue NewYork,N.Y. 10017 U.S.A.
PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
Dedicated to
Jacob Beck and George Sperling
With Admiration
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VU
EDITORIAL PREFACE
The mind and brain sciences are experiencing a period of explosive development. In addition to experimental contributions which probe the widest possible range of phenomena with stunning virtuosity, a true theoretical synthesis is taking place. The remarkabk multiplicity of behaviors, of levels of behavioral and neural organization, and of experimental paradigms and methods for probing this complexity present a formidable challenge to all serious theorists of mind. The challenge is, quite simply, to discover unity behind this diversity by characterizing a small set of theoretical principles and mechanisms capable of unifiing and predicting large and diverse data bases as manifestations of fundamental processes. Another part of the challenge is to explain how mind differs from better understood physical systems, and to identify what is new in the theoretical methods that are best suited for a scientific analysis of mind. These volumes collect together recent articles which provide a unified theoretical analysis and predictions of a wide range of important psychological and neurological data. These articles illustrate the development of a true theory of mind and brain, rather than just a set of disconnected models with no predictive generality. In this theory, a small number of fundamental dynamical laws, organizational principles, and network modules help to compress a large data base. The theory accomplishes this synthesis by showing how these fundamental building blocks can be used to design specialized circuits in different neural systems and across species. Such a specialization is analogous to using a single Schrijdinger equation in quantum mechanics to analyse a large number of different atoms and molecules. The articles collected herein represent a unification in yet another sense. They were all written by scientists within a single research institute, the Center for Adaptive Systems at Boston University. The fact that a single small group of scientists can theoretically analyse such a broad range of data illustrates both the power of the theoretical methods that they employ and the crucial role of interdisciplinary thinking in achieving such a synthesis, It also argues for the benefits that can be derived from supporting more theoretical training and research programs within the traditional departments charged with an understand