Re: Finding useful functions- part 1

From: Wolf Kirchmeir (wwolfkir_at_sympatico.ca)
Date: 10/28/04 

Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 19:13:08 -0400

patty wrote:

> Wolf Kirchmeir wrote:
>
>> patty wrote:
>>
>>> Wolf Kirchmeir wrote:
>>
>>
>> [...]
>>
>>>> No, Glen says discriminations of environmental contingencies cause
>>>> learning.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I'm just curious about the language here. If i substitute "are
>>> changes in the NN" for "cause learning" in your sentence as follows
>>> "Discriminations of environmental contingencies are changes in the
>>> NN", is it still true ?
>>>
>>> patty
>>>
>>
>> Why change "cause" to "are"?
>>
>
> Because there may not be any distinction between the changes in the NN
> and the discriminations of environmental contingencies. They may be
> different descriptions of the same thing. The morning star doth not the
> evening star cause. Now certainly they are descriptions of different
> (aspects?) of a some thing, but that does not change the (fact?) that
> they are the same thing. Does it? Now if they are not the same thing,
> then what is the distinction?
>
> patty
>

Point taken.

IMO you are identifying the process of discriminating contingencies with
learning. I'm not sure about that. I prefer to claim that discriminating
contingencies causes learning, if the a organism responds. But we can't
tell whether it discriminated contingencies if it didn't respond. And if
it doesn't respond it will not learn. So we may say that the
contingencies caused learning, but that's a shortcut. Hence I'm not sure
about your identification.

H'm.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Finding useful functions- part 1
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