Re: Aaron Sloman's "The Irrelevance of Turing Machines to AI" article

From: Wolf Kirchmeir (wwolfkir_at_sympatico.ca)
Date: 08/03/04 

Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2004 09:06:55 -0400

Sergio Navega wrote:

> "Wolf Kirchmeir" <wwolfkir@sympatico.ca> escreveu na mensagem
> news:qHePc.2776$Jq2.187205@news20.bellglobal.com...
>
>>All we know is that as children develop, they become capable of
>>discriminating smaller and smaller differences. Objects that were once
>>"judged to be the same" are later on "judged to be different."
>
>
> Actually, the opposite also happens. Infants of less than two months
> are able to discriminate things (in visual and auditory domains) that
> adults aren't capable. In the auditory case it has been demonstrated
> that japanese and western infants have the same ability to perceive
> small phonological differences. With time, japanese children lose
> the distinction between /L/ and /R/, while westerns don't. What we
> can say about discrimination abilities is not that they become
> greater or smaller, but that they *adapt* to the regularities
> present in the environment of the infant.
>
> Sergio Navega.

Granted, in some domains but not in others. Eg, a baby will use "mik"
for any kind of food, then for any kind of drink, then for milk. alone.
My point must be rephrased to: "A baby's ability to discriminate
differences is under the control of the environment, etc."

Relevant Pages

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