---
abstract: 'The Symbol Grounding Problem is related to the problem of how words get their meanings, and of what meanings are. The problem of meaning is in turn related to the problem of consciousness, or how it is that mental states are meaningful.'
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chapter: ~
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creators_id:
- 63
creators_name:
- family: Harnad
given: Stevan
honourific: ''
lineage: ''
date: 2003
date_type: published
datestamp: 2003-06-19
department: ~
dir: disk0/00/00/30/18
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eprint_status: archive
eprintid: 3018
fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/text_html.png;/3018/1/symgro.htm
full_text_status: public
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ispublished: inpress
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keywords: 'categorization, computation, consciousness, language, meaning, perceptio, sensorimotor function, reference, robotics, Turing test'
lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:55:18
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metadata_visibility: show
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number: 4
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pubdom: FALSE
publication: Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science
publisher: 'MacMillan: Nature Publishing Group'
refereed: FALSE
referencetext: |
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http://cogprints.soton.ac.uk/documents/disk0/00/00/20/36/index.html
Cangelosi, A.; Greco, A.; Harnad, S. From robotic toil to symbolic theft: grounding transfer from entry-level to higher-level categories. Connection Science, June 2000, vol.12, (no.2):143-62.
http://cogprints.soton.ac.uk/documents/disk0/00/00/16/47/index.html
Frege, G. (1952/1892). On sense and reference. In P. Geach and M. Black, Eds., Translations of the Philosophical Writings of Gottlob Frege. Oxford: Blackwell
Harnad, S. (1990) The Symbol Grounding Problem. Physica D 42: 335-346. http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Papers/Harnad/harnad90.sgproblem.html
Harnad, S. (1994) Computation Is Just Interpretable Symbol Manipulation: Cognition Isn't. Special Issue on "What Is Computation" Minds and Machines 4:379-390
http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Papers/Harnad/harnad94.computation.cognition.html
Harnad, S. (2000) Minds, Machines and Turing: The Indistinguishability of Indistinguishables, Journal of Logic, Language, and Information 9(4): 425-445. (special issue on "Alan Turing and Artificial Intelligence") http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Papers/Harnad/harnad00.turing.html
Harnad, S. (2001a) What's Wrong and Right About Searle's Chinese Room Argument? In: M. Bishop & J. Preston (eds.) Essays on Searle's Chinese Room Argument. Oxford University Press. h ttp://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Papers/Harnad/harnad00.searle.html
Harnad, S. (2001b) No Easy Way Out. The Sciences 41(2) 36-42.
http://cogprints.soton.ac.uk/documents/disk0/00/00/16/24/index.html
Pylyshyn, Z. W. (1984) Computation and cognition. Cambridge MA: MIT/Bradford
Searle, John. R. (1980) Minds, brains, and programs. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3 (3): 417-457 http://www.bbsonline.org/documents/a/00/00/04/84/index.html
Turing, A.M. (1950) Computing Machinery and Intelligence. Mind 49 433-460 [Reprinted in Minds and machines. A. Anderson (ed.), Engelwood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall, 1964.]
http://cogprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/archive/00000499/
Barsalou LW Perceptual symbol systems BEHAV BRAIN SCI 22: (4) 577-+ AUG 1999
Bartell, B. & Cottrell, G. W. (1991). A model of symbol grounding in a temporal environment. In AAAI Spring Symposium Workshop
on Connectionism and Natural Language Processing: 142-147.
Chris Malcolm and Tim Smithers. Symbol grounding via a hybrid architecture in an autonomous assembly system. In Pattie Maes, editor, Designing Autonomous Agents, pages 145--168. MIT Press, 1990.
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Glenberg, AM; Robertson, DA. Symbol grounding and meaning: A comparison of high-dimensional and embodied theories of meaning. JOURNAL OF MEMORY AND LANGUAGE, 2000 OCT, V43 N3:379-401.
Grumbach, A. Grounding symbols into perceptions. Artificial Intelligence Review, April 1996, vol.10, (no.1-2):131-46.
Jackson SA, Sharkey NE Grounding computational engines ARTIF INTELL REV 10: (1-2) 65-82 APR 1996
Jackson, S.A.; Sharkey, N.E. Grounding computational engines. Artificial Intelligence Review, April 1996, vol.10, (no.1-2):65-82.
Jung, D.; Zelinsky, A. Grounded symbolic communication between heterogeneous cooperating robots. Autonomous Robots, June 2000, vol.8, (no.3):269-92.
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MacDorman, K. F. (1998). Feature learning, multiresolution analysis, and symbol grounding. A peer commentary on Schyns, Goldstone, and Thibaut's 'The development of features in object concepts'. Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
MacDorman, KF. Feature learning, multiresolution analysis, and symbol grounding. BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES, 1998 FEB, V21 N1:32+. Pub type: Editorial.
McKevitt, P. From Chinese rooms to Irish rooms: new words on visions for language. Artificial Intelligence Review, April 1996, vol.10, (no.1-2):49-63.
Plunkett, Kim; Sinha, Chris; Moller, Martin F.; Strandsby, Ole. Symbol grounding or the emergence of symbols? Vocabulary growth in children and a connectionist net. Connection Science: Journal of Neural Computing, Artificial Intelligence & Cognitive Research, 1992, v4 (n3-4):293-312.
Prem, E. (1995). Symbol grounding and transcendental logic. In Niklasson L. & Boden M. (eds.), Current Trends in Connectionism, Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 271-282.
Sun, Ron. Symbol grounding: A new look at an old idea. Philosophical Psychology, 2000 Jun, v13 (n2):149-172.
Takeuchi, I.; Furuhashi, T. Acquisition of manipulative grounded symbols for integration of symbolic processing and stimulus-reaction type parallel processing. Advanced Robotics, 1998, vol.12, (no.3):271-87.
Tani, J. (1996) Does Dynamics Solve the Symbol Grounding Problem of Robots? An Experiment in Navigation Learning. Learning in Robots and Animals - Working Notes. AISB'96 workshop, Brighton, UK.
Thompson E. Symbol grounding: a bridge from artificial life, to artificial intelligence. Brain and Cognition, 1997 Jun, 34(1):48-71.
Thompson, E. Symbol grounding: A bridge from artificial life to artificial intelligence. BRAIN AND COGNITION, 1997 JUN, V34 N1:48-71.
relation_type: []
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reportno: ~
rev_number: 8
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status_changed: 2007-09-12 16:47:57
subjects:
- comp-sci-robot
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suggestions: ~
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title: Symbol-Grounding Problem
type: bookchapter
userid: 63
volume: LXVII