?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=The+Symbol+Grounding+Problem&rft.creator=Harnad%2C+Stevan&rft.subject=Dynamical+Systems&rft.subject=Computational+Neuroscience&rft.subject=Semantics&rft.subject=Neural+Nets&rft.subject=Perceptual+Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Robotics&rft.subject=Theoretical+Biology&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Language&rft.subject=Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Artificial+Intelligence&rft.subject=Epistemology&rft.description=There+has+been+much+discussion+recently+about+the+scope+and+limits+of+purely+symbolic+models+of+the+mind+and+about+the+proper+role+of+connectionism+in+cognitive+modeling.+This+paper+describes+the+symbol+grounding+problem%3A++How+can+the+semantic+interpretation+of+a+formal+symbol+system+be+made+intrinsic+to+the+system%2C+rather+than+just+parasitic+on+the+meanings+in+our+heads%3F+How+can+the+meanings+of+the+meaningless+symbol+tokens%2C+manipulated+solely+on+the+basis+of+their+(arbitrary)+shapes%2C+be+grounded+in+anything+but+other+meaningless+symbols%3F+The+problem+is+analogous+to+trying+to+learn+Chinese+from+a+Chinese%2FChinese+dictionary+alone.+A+candidate+solution+is+sketched%3A+Symbolic+representations+must+be+grounded+bottom-up+in+nonsymbolic+representations+of+two+kinds%3A+(1)+iconic+representations%2C+which+are+analogs+of+the+proximal+sensory+projections+of+distal+objects+and+events%2C+and+(2)+categorical+representations%2C+which+are+learned+and+innate+feature-detectors+that+pick+out+the+invariant+features+of+object+and+event+categories+from+their+sensory+projections.+Elementary+symbols+are+the+names+of+these+object+and+event+categories%2C+assigned+on+the+basis+of+their+(nonsymbolic)+categorical+representations.+Higher-order+(3)+symbolic+representations%2C+grounded+in+these+elementary+symbols%2C+consist+of+symbol+strings+describing+category+membership+relations+(e.g.%2C+An+X+is+a+Y+that+is+Z).+Connectionism+is+one+natural+candidate+for+the+mechanism+that+learns+the+invariant+features+underlying+categorical+representations%2C+thereby+connecting+names+to+the+proximal+projections+of+the+distal+objects+they+stand+for.+In+this+way+connectionism+can+be+seen+as+a+complementary+component+in+a+hybrid+nonsymbolic%2Fsymbolic+model+of+the+mind%2C+rather+than+a+rival+to+purely+symbolic+modeling.+Such+a+hybrid+model+would+not+have+an+autonomous+symbolic+module%2C+however%3B+the+symbolic+functions+would+emerge+as+an+intrinsically+dedicated+symbol+system+as+a+consequence+of+the+bottom-up+grounding+of+categories'+names+in+their+sensory+representations.+Symbol+manipulation+would+be+governed+not+just+by+the+arbitrary+shapes+of+the+symbol+tokens%2C+but+by+the+nonarbitrary+shapes+of+the+icons+and+category+invariants+in+which+they+are+grounded.&rft.date=1990&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F3106%2F1%2Fsgproblem1.html&rft.identifier=++Harnad%2C+Stevan++(1990)+The+Symbol+Grounding+Problem.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F3106%2F