Emerging Symbols

......................................................................................5 Introduction..................................................................................7 1 The Symbol Grounding Problem......................................................10 The Chinese Room Argument.....................................................10 The Symbolic Merry-go-round...................................................12 2 What are Symbols? ......................................................................15 The Meanings of Symbol...........................................................15 Semiotics..................................................................................17 Three Kinds of Signs................................................................19 3 Hierarchy of Signs.........................................................................23 Constructing a Ladder..............................................................23 Sub-symbolic Interpretation........................................................25 Symbolic Interpretation.............................................................27 4 Symbols and Networks...................................................................30 Neural Networks.....................................................................30 Interpreting Networks................................................................33 Emerging Symbols...................................................................35 5 Symbolization, Language and Neural Nets...........................................38 The Chimpanzee Experiment.......................................................38 Naming Objects......................................................................40 Learning Symbols...................................................................44 Comparison of Results..............................................................49 . 6 Stepping down the Merry-go-round...................................................53 Conclusion..............................................................................53 Discussion.............................................................................55 Acknowledgements...........................................................................57 List of References............................................................................59 Date: 30/09/07 Author: Stefan Leijnen [email protected]