Distributed Network Models

Distributed network models have a long history (e.g., Hebb, 1949; Rosen-blatt, 1962) but they did not become influential in cognitive psychology until the mid-1980s (e.g., McClelland & Rumelhart, 1986; Rumelhart & McClelland, 1986). To provide background for the discussion of distributed network models of semantic priming, I begin this chapter with a brief overview of distributed network models of knowledge representation. The development and investigation of distributed network models have become a gigantic enterprise. My modest goal is to summarize a few of the most important characteristics of these models, especially as they may help the reader to understand the models of priming.