Date: Thu 21 Apr 1988 21:50-PDT From: AIList Moderator Kenneth Laws Reply-To: AIList@KL.SRI.COM Us-Mail: SRI Int., 333 Ravenswood Ave., Menlo Park, CA 94025 Phone: (415) 859-6467 Subject: AIList V6 #77 - Learning, Seminars, Conferences To: AIList@KL.SRI.COM Status: RO AIList Digest Friday, 22 Apr 1988 Volume 6 : Issue 77 Today's Topics: Article - Associative Learning, Seminars - Constrained Reformulation (Rutgers) & Bayesian Spectrum Analysis (NASA), Conferences - AAAI88 Workshop on Knowledge Acquisition & ACL 1988 Annual Meeting Program and Registration & AI and Simulation ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 18 Apr 88 20:13:16 GMT From: mind!harnad@princeton.edu (Stevan Harnad) Subject: Associative learning: Call for Commentators The following is the abstract of a target article to appear in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS). All BBS articles are accompanied by "open peer commentary" from across disciplines and around the world. For information about serving as a commentator on this article, send email to harnad@mind.princeton.edu or write to BBS, 20 Nassau Street, #240, Princeton NJ 08540 [tel: 609-921-7771]. Specialists in the following areas are encouraged to contribute: connectionism/PDP, neural modeling, associative modeling, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, cognitive psychology, behavioral biology, neuroethology. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING: THE NEW HEGEMONY Jaylan Sheila Turkkan Division of Behavioral Biology Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Converging data from different disciplines are showing that the role of classical [associative] conditioning processes in the elaboration of human and animal behavior is larger than previously supposed. Older restrictive views of classically conditioned responses as merely secretory, reflexive or emotional are giving way to a broader conception that includes problem-solving and other rule-governed behavior thought to be under the exclusive province of either operant conditioning or cognitive psychology. There have also been changes in the way conditioning is conducted and evaluated. Data from a number of seemingly unrelated phenomena such as postaddictive drug relapse, the placebo effect and immune system conditioning turn out to be related to classical conditioning. Classical conditioning has also been found in simpler and simpler organisms and has recently been demonstrated in brain slices in utero. This target article will integrate the diverse areas of classical conditioning research and theory; it will also challenge teleological interpretations of classically conditioned responses and will offer some basic principles to guide experimental testing in diverse areas. -- Stevan Harnad harnad@mind.princeton.edu (609)-921-7771 ------------------------------ Date: 15 Apr 88 00:56:26 GMT From: gauss.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!lightning.rutgers.edu!ctong @rutgers.edu (Chris Tong) Subject: Seminar - Constrained Reformulation (Rutgers) The following thesis proposal defense will be held at 10am, Mar. 29, in Hill Center, room 423, Busch Campus, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ., and will be chaired by Chris Tong. CONSTRAINT INCORPORATION USING CONSTRAINED REFORMULATION Wesley Braudaway wes@aramis.rutgers.edu ABSTRACT. The goal of this research is to develop knowledge compilation techniques to produce a problem-solving system from a declarative solution description. It has been shown that a Generate-and-Test problem-solver can be compiled from a declarative language that represents solutions as instances of a (hierarchically organized) solution frame; the generator systematically constructs instances of the solution frame, until one is found that meets all the tests. However, this Generate-and-Test architecture is computationally infeasible as a problem-solver for all but trivial problems. Optimization techniques must be used to improve the efficiency of the resulting problem-solving system. Test Incorporation is one such optimization technique that moves testers, which test the satisfaction of the problem constraints, back into the generator sequence to provide early pruning. This proposal defines a special kind of test incorporation called Constraint Incorporation. This technique modifies the generators so they enumerate only those generator values that satisfy the problem constraints defined by the tests. Because of this complete incorporation, the tests defining the incorporated constraints can be removed from the Generate-and-Test architecture. This results in a significant increase of problem-solving efficiency over test incorporation when the test cannot be partitioned into subtests that affect a single generator. These cases seem to occur when a mismatch exists between the language used to represent (and construct) solutions and the language used to define the problem constraints. To incorporate these constraints, the representations of solutions and problem constraints should be shifted (i.e., reformulated) so as to bridge the gap between them. One method for bridging the gap is to search the space of solution and problem representations until incorporation is enabled. However, because of the difficulties encountered (e.g., the space is large and difficult to generate), an alternative method is proposed that will constrain the reformulation process. This method incorporates constraints by compiling an abstract solution description into a problem-solver. By using an abstract solution description, the system does not commit prematurely to a detailed and biased representation of the solution description. The problem constraints are refined into procedural specifications and merged to form a partial specification of the problem-solver. The problem-solver is partial in that it only generates those solution details mentioned in the constraints. In this way, the compiler is focusing on just those details of the solution language that are relevant to incorporating the constraints. The partial problem-solver is then extended into a complete one by adding generators for the remaining details. Any such extension is guaranteed to have successfully incorporated all the constraints. This method has been applied to a house floorplanning domain, using extensive paper traces. It is currently being implemented, and will be applied to a second domain. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Apr 88 13:45:34 PST From: CHIN%PLU@ames-io.ARPA Subject: Seminar - Bayesian Spectrum Analysis (NASA) National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ames Research Center SEMINAR ANNOUNCEMENT SPEAKER: Dr. George L. Bretthorst University of Washington TOPIC: Bayesian Spectrum Analysis and Parameter Estimation ABSTRACT: Bayesian spectrum analysis is still in its infancy. It was born when E. T. Jaynes derived the periodogram as a sufficient statistic for determining the spectrum of a time sampled data set containing a single stationary frequency. Here we extend that analysis and explicitly calculate the joint posterior probability that multiple frequencies are present, independent of their amplitude and phase and the noise level. This is then generalized to include other parameters such as decay and chirp. Results are given for computer simulated data and for real data ranging from magnetic resonance to astronomy to economic cycles. We find substantial improvements in resolution over previous Fourier transform methods. DATE: Friday TIME: 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. BLDG. 244 Room 103 May 6, 1988 -------------- POINT OF CONTACT: Marlene Chin PHONE NUMBER: (415) 694-6525 NET ADDRESS: chin@pluto.arc.nasa.gov *************************************************************************** VISITORS ARE WELCOME: Register and obtain vehicle pass at Ames Visitor Reception Building (N-253) or the Security Station near Gate 18. Do not use the Navy Main Gate. Non-citizens (except Permanent Residents) must have prior approval from the Director's Office one week in advance. Submit requests to the point of contact indicated above. Non-citizens must register at the Visitor Reception Building. Permanent Residents are required to show Alien Registration Card at the time of registration. *************************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: 16 Apr 1988 1742-EDT From: Alain Rappaport Subject: Conference - AAAI88 Workshop on Knowledge Acquisition From: Brian Gaines Subject: AAAI KAW AAAI-88 WORKSHOP INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION AND PERFORMANCE SYSTEMS Sunday August 21 1988 St Paul, Minnesota CALL FOR PAPERS & PARTICIPANTS One-week Knowledge Acquisition Workshops were held in North America in 1986 and 1987 under AAAI sponsorship, and a third was held in Europe in September 1987. In 1988 the AAAI Workshop will be held at Banff in November and the European one in June. These Workshops have attracted large-scale interest and involvement from those involved in knowledge acquisition studies. However, there are issues of integration at these Workshops that involve other research communities. In particular, the integration of knowledge acquisition and performance tools involves major problems and issues. Expert system shells and knowledge acquisition systems have been developed by different groups with different approaches to knowledge representation, user interfaces and other critical factors. There are also fundamental problems in transforming acquired knowledge intoforms appropriate to existing shells. This Workshop will address the theoretical and practical issues of integrating knowledge acquisition and performance systems. STRUCTURE The one-day Workshop is intended for active participants. It will be based on a number of short position, experience and survey papers leading into group discussion. Contributions on all aspects of the integration of acquisition and performance systems are welcome. In particular, we are looking for some short case histories of experience, both positive and negative, in transfer between acquisition tools and shells. SUBMISSIONS Papers: send 6 copies of a long abstract (at least 6 pages) or a draft paper. Participants: send 6 copies of a short bio, including relevant publications, and a short description of your relevant experience and projects. Submissions should be sent to Alan Rappaport by 1st May 1988. Please send a note or e-mail about the intention to submit and a provisional title as soon as possible. Notification about acceptance of papers and participation will be sent out by the end of May. Final papers and project synopses will be due by the end of June for the Workshop Proceedings. ORGANIZING COMMITTTEE Alan Rappaport, Neuron Data, (Alain.Rappaport@c.cs.cmu) Brian R. Gaines, University of Calgary, (gaines@calgary.cdn) John H. Boose, Boeing Computer Services (john@boeing.com) SUBMISSIONS TO Alan Rappaport Neuron Data 444 High Street Palo Alto CA 94301, USA (415) 321 4488 ------------------------------ Date: 19 Apr 88 02:20:15 GMT From: FLASH.BELLCORE.COM!walker@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Don Walker) Subject: Conference - ACL 1988 Annual Meeting Program and Registration The printed version of the following program and registration information will be mailed to ACL members by the end of the week. Others are encouraged to use the attached form or write for a program flier to the following address: Dr. D.E. Walker (ACL) Bellcore - MRE 2A379 445 South Street - Box 1910 Morristown, NJ 07960-1910, USA or send net mail to walker@flash.bellcore.com or bellcore!walker@uunet.uu.net, specifying "ACL Annual Meeting Information" on the subject line. ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS 26th Annual Meeting 7-10 June 1988 Knox 20, State University of New York at Buffalo (Amherst Campus) Buffalo, New York, USA [This went out on the NL-KR list, so I won't rebroadcast it here. Contact the author if you need a copy. -- KIL] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Apr 88 23:30:15 WUT From: ADELSBER%AWIWUW11.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU Subject: Conference - AI and Simulation The first meeting of the working group (Arbeitskreis) "AI and Simulation" of the German speaking ASIM (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Simulation) will be held 20 - 21 July, 1988 in Vienna at the Technical University. The conference language is German. For further information please contact: Heimo H. Adelsberger ADELSBER at AWIWUW11.bitnet (EARN) ------------------------------ End of AIList Digest ********************