Description
Book SynopsisNewell introduces Soar, an architecture for general cognition. A pioneer system in AI, Soar is the first problem-solver to create its own subgoals and learn continuously from its own experience. Its ability to operate within the real-time constraints of intelligent behavior illustrates important characteristics of human cognition.
Trade ReviewRanges authoritatively over 40 years of research in psychology, artificial intelligence and computer science… Lively, lucid and persuasive. -- John Fox * Nature *
If you want to understand mental architecture, you must read this book. -- Philip N. Johnson-Laird, Princeton University
It is an understatement to say that [this book] is indispensable reading for both established and budding cognitive scientists—and for researchers in the neighboring domains of neuroscience and artificial intelligence as well. -- Herbert A. Simon, Carnegie Mellon University
An extremely important contribution to the foundations of cognitive science… Because Newell tackles this integration head on, he has set an agenda for the next twenty years of cognitive science. -- George A. Miller, Princeton University
Table of ContentsIntroduction The Nature of Theories What Are Unified Theories of Cognition? Is Psychology Ready for Unified Theories? The Task of the Book Foundations of Cognitive Science Behaving Systems Knowledge Systems Representation Machines and Computation Symbols Architectures Intelligence Search and Problem Spaces Preparation and Deliberation Summary Human Cognitive Architecture The Human Is a Symbol System System Levels The Time Scale of Human Action The Biological Band The Neural Circuit Level The Real-Time Constraint on Cognition The Cognitive Band The Level of Simple Operations The First Level of Composed Operations The Intendedly Rational Band Higher Bands: Social, Historical, and Evolutionary Summary Symbolic Processing for Intelligence The Central Architecture for Performance Chunking The Total Cognitive System RI-Soar: Knowledge-Intensive and Knowledge-Lean Operation Designer-Soar: Difficult Intellectual Tasks Soar as an Intelligent System Mapping Soar onto Human Cognition Soar and the Shape of Human Cognition Summary Immediate Behavior The Scientific Role of Immediate-Response Data Methodological Preliminaries Functional Analysis of Immediate Responses The Simplest Response Task (SRI) The Two-Choice Response Task (2CRT) Stimulus-Response Compatibility (SRC) Discussion of the Three Analyses Item Recognition Typing Summary Memory, Learning, and Skill The Memory and Learning Hypothesis of Soar The Soar Qualitative Theory of Learning The Distinction between Episodic and Semantic Memory Data Chunking Skill Acquisition Short-Term Memory (STM) Summary Intendedly Rational Behavior Ciyptarithmetic Syllogisms Sentence Verification Summary Along the Frontiers Language Development The Biological Band The Social Band The Role of Applications How to Move toward Unified Theories of Cognition References Name Index Subject Index
