Chapter 3: The Psychology of Thinking
- the example of the ant on the beach:
global sense of direction, close horizon, detours; the ant's path
is irregular, complex, hard to describe ---> its complexity
is a complexity in the surface of the beach, not a complexity
in the ant
- An ant viewed as a behaving system, is quite
simple. The apparent complexity of its behavior over time is largely
a reflection of the complexity of the environment in which it
finds itself.
- Hypotheses: A human
viewed as a behaving system, is quite simple. The apparent complexity
of his behavior over time is largely a reflection of the complexity
of the environment in which he finds himself.
Inner Environment versus Outer Environment
- information packed memory (LTM) is part of the
outer environment (the environment to which the system adapts)
- there are only a few limiting properties of the
inner environment (of the physiological machinery that enables
a person to think)
- most thinking and problem solving behavior is
artificial - is learned and is subject to improvement through
the invention of improved designs and their storage in memory
- the Model Human Processor (from Card/Moran/Newell:
The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction)
Problem Solving and Search
- Cryptarithmetic Problems:
DONALD CROSS
+ GERALD D=5 + ROADS
------------ -------------
ROBERT DANGER
- sophisticated strategy (= more knowledge) --->
less search
- brute force search: 10! = 3,628,800 possibilities
- with D = 5 ---> 9! = 362,880
Problem Solving and Search - Cryptarithmetic
Problems
DONALD
+ GERALD D=5
------------
ROBERT
------------------------------------------------------------------\
-----------------------------
(1) D = 5 ---> T = 0
(2) R = 2L + 1 ---> R is odd
(3) R = 5 + G ---> R > 5 (R = 7 or
9)
(4) O + E = O ---> E = 0 or 9
(5) T = 0 ---> E = 9 and R = 7
(6) A + A = 9 ---> A = 4 and a carry
(7) 2L = 17 ---> L = 8
(8) 5 + G = 7 ---> carry is there --->
G = 1
trial and error: N = 6, B = 3, O = 2
Memory
Bodenseeschifffahrtskapitaensmuetze
de Groots/Simon chess experiments
STM ===> important parameter: 7 +/- 2
LTM ===> basically unlimited size; associative
visual memory (Number Scrabble versus Tic-Tac-Toe)
Number Scrabble
- two person game
- nine cards: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
- cards are placed face up
- players draw alternately, one at a time, selecting
any of the remaining cards
- goal: to have drawn cards so three of them add
up to 15 (before the opponent can do so)
Natural Language Processing
- I saw the woman in the park with the telescope.
- I saw the Grand Canyon flying to New York.
- The city councilmen refused to give the women
a permit for a demonstration because they feared violence.
- The city councilmen refused to give the women
a permit for a demonstration because they advocated violence.
Natural Language Processing in the Context
of Knowledge-Based Systems
- syntax = structure of the visible (or audible)
forms of language
- semantics = systematic relation between structures
in a language and a space of potential meanings
- pragmatics = issues of language use (situational
context, persons involved, .....)
It's cold here!
Do you have tooth-picks?
- natural communication versus natural language
Artificial Languages
- simulation games (Ernie Arias)
- pattern language (Christopher Alexander)