ABSTRACT

This book aims to present an overview of the current state of connectionist modelling in cognitive psychology, covering a broad range of areas. All of the authors are specialists in their chosen topic, and most have been actively engaged in connectionist cognitive modelling for many years. In these chapters the reader will find numerous examples of the way in which theories implemented in the form of connectionist models have interacted, and continue to interact, with experimental data in an intellectually productive and stimulating way. I believe these contributions speak for themselves and that there is no need in this introduction to advance or defend any particular conception of the modelling enterprise. Instead, my purpose here is to provide an accessible introduction to some of the basic, and most frequently encountered, features of connectionist cognitive modelling, ones that recur throughout the chapters of the book. Readers new to connectionist modelling, or who encounter difficulty with technicalities in any of the chapters, will hopefully find the discussion presented here of some use.