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--- learning_theories:connectionism [2011/02/11 12:54]
jpetrovic [What is the practical meaning of connectivism?]
+++ learning_theories:connectionism [2011/02/11 14:33]
jpetrovic [What is connectionism?]
@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 ===== What is connectionism? =====
-Connectionism was later introduced by [[http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/pqrst/spencer_herbert.html|Herbert Spencer]], [[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/james/|William James]] and his student [[http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/thorndike.htm|Edward Thorndike]] in the very beginning of the 20th century. Connectionism was then **based on principles of associationism** which claimed that((W. Bechtel and Abrahamsen, A. Connectionism and the Mind: An Introduction to Parallel Processing in Networks. Blackwell, Cambridge, MA, 1991.)):
+Connectionism represents psychology's first comprehensive theory of learning((Zimmerman, Barry J., and Dale H. Schunk. Educational psychology: a century of contributions. Routledge, 2003.)). It was later introduced by [[http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/pqrst/spencer_herbert.html|Herbert Spencer]], [[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/james/|William James]] and his student [[http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/thorndike.htm|Edward Thorndike]] in the very beginning of the 20th century. Connectionism was then **based on principles of associationism** which claimed that((W. Bechtel and Abrahamsen, A. Connectionism and the Mind: An Introduction to Parallel Processing in Networks. Blackwell, Cambridge, MA, 1991.)):
   * Mental elements or ideas become associated with one another through experience
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 But connectionism **expands** this **ideas of associationism** by introducing distributed representations or supervised learning(([[http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.86.7504&rep=rep1&type=pdf|Medler, David A. A Brief History of Connectionism. Neural Computing Surveys, 1(2), p18-72. 1998.]])) and should not be confused with associationism. Although he is considered one of the first true connectionist, William James' student Edward Thorndike also made the move towards behaviorist ideas.
-In order to explain some questions concerning learning, Thorndike introduced two laws of learning(([[http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.86.7504&rep=rep1&type=pdf|Medler, David A. A Brief History of Connectionism. Neural Computing Surveys, 1(2), p18-72. 1998.]])). The first law is the **//law of exercise or use or frequency//**, which states that **stimulus-response** (S-R) **associations** are **strengthened through repetition** or weakened through lack of repetition. His second law, **//law of effect//**, states that the consequence or **outcome** of a situation-response event **can strengthen or weaken** the **connection** between situation and response. If an event is followed by a reinforcing stimulus, the connection will be strengthened and vice versa. This laws have set the **basic principles** of **behaviorist stimulus-response** views on **learning**.
+In order to explain some questions concerning learning, Thorndike introduced two laws of learning(([[http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.86.7504&rep=rep1&type=pdf|Medler, David A. A Brief History of Connectionism. Neural Computing Surveys, 1(2), p18-72. 1998.]])). The first law is the **//law of exercise or use or frequency//**, which states that **stimulus-response** (S-R) **associations** are **strengthened through repetition** or weakened through lack of repetition. His second law, **//law of effect//**, states that the consequence or **outcome** of a situation-response event **can strengthen or weaken** the **connection** between situation and response. If an event is followed by a reinforcing stimulus, the connection will be strengthened and vice versa. Thorndike later changed some of his views admitting that he was wrong and that negative reinforcement (punishment) does not really lead to any kind of learning. This had great influence on educational process helping to end the practice of punishing the students for incorrect answers. This laws have set the **basic principles** of **behaviorist stimulus-response** views on **learning**.
-Based on this laws Thorndike considered that all **learning is incremental** and **not insightful**, which he tried to prove at the very end of 19th century through experiments first with chickens and later with cats and dogs. In one experiment he placed a hungry cat inside a //puzzle box//, which had a mechanism that would open the doors of the box every time a string would be pulled or a button pushed. Behavior which was "rewarded" by opening the doors was slowly increased and learning occurred. Thorndike also believed that transfer of learning (application to new situations) occurs only because of previously encountered situations and that intelligence is just a consequence of learned connections.
+Thorndike considered that all **learning is incremental** and **not insightful**, which he tried to prove at the very end of 19th century through experiments first with chickens and later with cats and dogs. In one experiment he placed a hungry cat inside a //puzzle box//, which had a mechanism that would open the doors of the box every time a string would be pulled or a button pushed. Behavior which was "rewarded" by opening the doors was slowly increased and learning occurred. Different performance on cognitive tasks in humans (intelligence), he assumed, is just a consequence of different knowledge.
+Another point of his interest was the knowledge transfer in terms of generalizing the knowledge or skills and applying them for another problem. Thorndike performed experimental studies by which he showed knowledge transfer is specific rather then general and will not occur unless learned problem and given problem share many characteristics. This was the opposite of what school systems mostly suggested at the time, that some school subjects improve student's mind in general (//doctorine of formal discipline//).
+Thorndike also believed that transfer of learning (application to new situations) occurs only because of previously encountered situations and that intelligence is just a consequence of learned connections.
 ===== What is the practical meaning of connectivism? =====
-Connectionism was at its time considered a general theory of learning for both humans and animals. Thorndike's ideas which could well be applied for learning are the idea that rewards promote learning and that repetition enhances learning. in his book on learning of mathematics((Thorndike, E. The Psychology of Arithmetic. New York: Macmillan. 1922.)), he suggested problem should children are expected to solve and learn from should be realistic
+Connectionism was at its time considered a general theory of learning for both humans and animals. Thorndike's ideas which could well be applied for learning are the idea that rewards promote learning and that repetition enhances learning. In his book on learning of mathematics((Thorndike, E. The Psychology of Arithmetic. New York: Macmillan. 1922.)), he suggested problem should children are expected to solve and learn from should be realistic. For example, learning to multiply by three should be learned in context of converting feet to yards.
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 [[http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.86.7504&rep=rep1&type=pdf|Medler, David A. A Brief History of Connectionism. Neural Computing Surveys, 1(2), p18-72. 1998.]]
+Zimmerman, Barry J., and Dale H. Schunk. Educational psychology: a century of contributions. Routledge, 2003.
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