Harmony Theory: Problem Solving, Parallel Cognitive Models, and Thermal Physics.

Abstract : The first paper describes a parallel model designed to solve a class of relatively simple problems from elementary physics, and discusses the implications for models of problem solving in general. The authors show how one of the most salient features of problem solving, sequentiality, can emerge naturally within a parallel model that has no explicit knowledge of how to sequence analysis. This model exploits a new type of parallel distributed processing that employs stochastic processors and is based on a formal mapping between parallel computation and thermal physics. The mathematical theory is this type of processing-harmony theory-is discussed in the second and third papers. (Author)