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--- learning_theories:connectionism [2013/09/30 16:47]
jpetrovic [What is connectionism?]
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-====== Connectionism ======
-===== General =====
-Connectionism, today defined as an approach in the fields of artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, cognitive science and philosophy of mind which models mental or behavioral phenomena with networks of simple units(([[http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Connectionism|wordiQ: Connectionism - Definition]])), is not a theory in frames of [[learning_paradigms:behaviorism]], but it **preceded** and influenced behaviorist school of thought. Connectionism represents psychology's first comprehensive theory of learning(([[ http://www.scribd.com/doc/41760294/Educational-Psychology-a-Century-of-Contributions|Mayer, Richard E. E. L. Thorndike’s Enduring Contributions to Educational Psychology. In Educational psychology: a century of contributions. Routledge, 2003.]])). It was 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** although its roots date way back.
-===== What is connectionism? =====
-Connectionism was based on [[chunks:principles of associationism]], mostly claiming that elements or ideas become associated with one another through experience and that complex ideas can be explained through a set of simple rules. But connectionism further expanded these assumptions and introduced ideas like [[:glossary#distributed_representations|distributed representations]] and 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.
-Thorndike, the most commonly cited connectionist, summed his ideas on learning into three laws of learning, which should have accounted for both human and animal learning:(([[http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/finalprojects/annie/thorndike%27slaw.html|Foreman, Kim. Learning Laws of Thorndike - brief overview.]] Retrieved June 24, 2011. Link obsolete.))
-^  Laws of learning  ||
-^  1. Law of exercise  | (Also: //as law of use// or //law of frequency//) The stimulus-response (S-R) associations are strengthened through **repetition** or weakened through lack of repetition. |
-^  2. Law of effect  | 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 positive reinforcing stimulus, the connection will be strengthened and vice versa. |
-^  3. Law of readiness  | Learning is facilitated by learner's readiness (emotional and motivational) to learn. This potential to learn leads to frustration if not satisfied. |
-This laws have set the basic principles of behaviorist **stimulus-response learning**, which was according to Thorndike the key form of learning.
-Thorndike also performed a number of [[chunks:Thorndikes_experiment|experiments on animals]] concluding that learning is **incremental** and **not [[:glossary#insightful_learning|insightful]]**. Established S-R connections or knowledge, according to Thorndike also cause and determine intelligence.
-Thorndike later changed some of his views admitting that he was wrong and that negative reinforcement (punishment) does not facilitate nor lead to learning. This had great influence on educational process helping to end the practice of punishing the students for incorrect answers.(([[http://www.scribd.com/doc/41760294/Educational-Psychology-a-Century-of-Contributions|Mayer, Richard E. E. L. Thorndike’s Enduring Contributions to Educational Psychology. In Educational psychology: a century of contributions. Routledge, 2003.]]))
-Another point of Thorndike's interest in the first two decades of 20th century was the **[[:glossary#transfer|transfer of practice]]**, later often referred to as //transfer of learning//. Idea of transfer of practice is to generalize the knowledge or skills and apply them for another problem. Thorndike performed experimental studies showing that transfer of learning will not occur unless learned problem and given problem have many common characteristics.(([[http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Thorndike/Transfer/transfer1.htm|Thorndike, E. L., and R. S. Woodworth. The influence of improvement in one mental function upon the efficiency of other functions (I). Psychological Review, no. 8: 247-261, 1901.]]))(([[http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Thorndike/Transfer/transfer2.htm|Thorndike, Edward L., and R. S. Woodworth. The influence of improvement in one mental function upon the efficiency of other functions (II). Psychological Review, no. 8: 384-395, 1901.]])) This was the opposite of what school systems mostly suggested at the time: that some school subjects like Latin language and mathematics improve student's mind in general (//doctrine of formal discipline//).
-Guided by the principle that "//whatever exists at all exists in some amount//"((Thorndike, Edward L. Individual differences. Psychological bulletin. 1918.))Thorndike has introduced a number of tests of knowledge and intelligence. His //CAVD// (Completion, Arithmetic, Vocabulary and Directions) test set the major principles and standards of modern intelligence tests.
-===== What is the practical meaning of connectivism? =====
-Practical implications of Thorndike's ideas are suggested through his laws of learning:
-  * rewards promote learning, but punishments do not lead to learning,
-  * repetition enhances learning, and
-  * potential to learn needs to be satisfied.
-In his book on learning of mathematics((Thorndike, E. The Psychology of Arithmetic. New York: Macmillan. 1922.)), Thorndike suggested problems 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. He also emphasizes importance of **repetition** and insists on repetitive practice of basic arithmetic operations. Some of the principles in this book even seem inconsistent with his views on learning: here he refers to learning as meaningful and insightful. Well-learned basic skills enable learning of higher-order skills.
-Thorndike tried to apply this to learning **mathematics**((Thorndike, E. The Psychology of Arithmetic. New York: Macmillan. 1922.)), **spelling and reading** ((Thorndike, E. The Teacher's Word Book. New York: Teachers College. 1921.)), measurement of **intelligence** ((Thorndike, E. at al. The Measurement of Intelligence. New York: Teachers College Press. 1927.)) and adult learning ((Thorndike, E. et al. Adult Learning. New York: Macmillan. 1928. )) mostly through his laws of learning. He was one of the pioneers of **active learning**, proposing children should learn by themselves rather than being thought.
-===== Criticisms =====
-Thorndike tried to prove that all forms of thoughts and behaviors can be explained through S-R relations with use of repetition and reward, without need for introducing any unobservable internal states, yet this is **today** generally **considered incorrect**. This //learning through response// was later in 20th century replaced by //learning as knowledge construction//. Connectionism was in the first decades of 20th century succeeded by [[learning_paradigms:behaviorism]], but Thorndike's experiments also inspired [[learning_theories:gestalt_psychology|gestalt psychology]].
-===== Keywords and most important names =====
-  * **Connectionism**, **stimulus-response**, **S-R**, **networks of simple units**, **associationism**, **supervised learning**, **law of exercise or use or frequency**, **law of effect**, **incremental learning**, **trial and error**
-  * [[http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/pqrst/spencer_herbert.html|Herbert Spencer]], [[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/james/|William James]], [[http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/thorndike.htm|Edward Thorndike]]
-===== Bibliography =====
-[[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.]]
-[[http://tip.psychology.org/thorn.html|Kearsley, Greg. Connectionism (E. Thorndike). The Theory Into Practice Database.]] Retrieved February 2, 2011.
-[[http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/thorndike.htm|Reinemeyer, E. Edward Lee Thorndike. Muskingum University. May 1999.]]
-[[http://books.google.hr/books?id=bqo5A2nBwHYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Educational+psychology:+a+century+of+contributions&hl=hr&ei=PdSeTfApztvjBpyHtYcD&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false|Zimmerman, Barry J. and Schunk, Dale H. Educational psychology: a century of contributions. Routledge, 2003.]]
-===== Read more =====
-[[http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Thorndike/education.htm|Thorndike, E. The Contribution of Psychology to Education. The Journal of Educational Psychology, 1, 5-12. 1910.]]
-[[http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Thorndike/Transfer/transfer1.htm|E. L. Thorndike and R. S. Woodworth. The influence of improvement in one mental function upon the efficiency of other functions. Psychological Review, no. 8: 247-261. 1901.]]
-[[http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Thorndike/Animal/index.htm|Thorndike, E. Animal Intelligence. 1911.]]
-[[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1284756/|Donahoe, J. Edward L. Thorndike: The Selectionist Connectionist. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 72, no. 3: 451-454, November 1999.]]
-Thorndike, E. Educational Psychology: The Psychology of Learning. New York: Teachers College Press. 1913.
-Thorndike, E. The Psychology of Arithmetic. New York: Macmillan. 1922.
-Thorndike, E. The Fundamentals of Learning. New York: Teachers College Press. 1932.
-Thorndike, E. et al. Adult Learning. New York: Macmillan . 1928.

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