Three Short Papers on Language and Connectionism

Abstract : This technical report contains three short articles on different aspects of language and connectionism. Together, the articles illustrate both the promise and the challenges facing the application of connectionist models to central issues in language processing. The first paper, (Reconstructive memory for sentences, by St. John and McClelland) describes a connectionist model in which background knowledge is used to aid recall and fill in missing arguments in sentences. The second, (Parallel distributed processing and role assignment constraints, by J. L. McClelland) discusses the application of connectionist models to the problem of using semantic/pragmatic constraints to processing sentences like 'John ate the cake that his mother baked in the oven' as opposed to 'John ate the cake that his mother baked in the dining room.' The third paper gives a brief overview of the model of past tense learning developed by Rumelhart and McClelland. Keywords: Cognitive psychology, Learning, Language, Connectionism, PDP, PP attachment, Case assignment, Verb tense.

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