This research has been motivated by the dominance of the suboptimal symmetric phase in online learning of two-layer feedforward networks trained by gradient descent [2]. This trapping is emphasized for inappropriate small learning rates but exists in all training scenarios, effecting the learning process considerably. We Adaptive Back-Propagation in Online Learning of Multilayer Networks 329 proposed an adaptive back-propagation training algorithm [Eq.

The performance of online algorithms for learning dichotomies is studied. In online learning, the number of examples P is equivalent to the learning time, since each example is presented only once. The learning curve, or generalization error as a function of P, depends on the schedule at which the learning rate is lowered.

The performance of online algorithms for learning dichotomies is studied. In online learning, the number of examples P is equivalent to the learning time, since each example is presented only once. The learning curve, or generalization error as a function of P, depends on the schedule at which the learning rate is lowered.

The performance of online algorithms for learning dichotomies is studied. In online learning, thenumber of examples P is equivalent to the learning time, since each example is presented only once. The learning curve, or generalization error as a function of P, depends on the schedule at which the learning rate is lowered. For a target that is a perceptron rule, the learning curve of the perceptron algorithm can decrease as fast as p-1,if the schedule is optimized. If the target is not realizable by a perceptron, the perceptron algorithm does not generally converge to the solution with lowest generalization error.

This paper presents an approach to learning from situated, interactive tutorial instruction within an ongoing agent. Tutorial instruction is a flexible (and thus powerful) paradigm for teaching tasks because it allows an instructor to communicate whatever types of knowledge an agent might need in whatever situations might arise. To support this flexibility, however, the agent must be able to learn multiple kinds of knowledge from a broad range of instructional interactions. Our approach, called situated explanation, achieves such learning through a combination of analytic and inductive techniques. It combines a form of explanation-based learning that is situated for each instruction with a full suite of contextually guided responses to incomplete explanations. The approach is implemented in an agent called Instructo-Soar that learns hierarchies of new tasks and other domain knowledge from interactive natural language instructions. Instructo-Soar meets three key requirements of flexible instructability that distinguish it from previous systems: (1) it can take known or unknown commands at any instruction point; (2) it can handle instructions that apply to either its current situation or to a hypothetical situation specified in language (as in, for instance, conditional instructions); and (3) it can learn, from instructions, each class of knowledge it uses to perform tasks.

This book review examines Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, by Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1995, 932 pp., $62.90, ISBN 0-13-103805-2.

The 1994 AAAI Robot-Building Laboratory (RBL-94) was held during the Twelfth National Conference on Artificial Intelligence. The primary goal of RBL-94 was to provide those with little or no robotics experience the opportunity to acquire practical experience in a few days. Thirty persons, with backgrounds ranging from university professors to practitioners from industry, participated in the three-part lab.

In its early stages, the field of AI had as its main goal the invention of computer programs having the general problem-solving abilities of humans. Along the way, a major shift of emphasis developed from general-purpose programs toward performance programs, ones whose competence was highly specialized and limited to particular areas of expertise. In this article, I claim that AI is now at the beginning of another transition, one that will reinvigorate efforts to build programs of general, humanlike competence. These programs will use specialized performance programs as tools, much like humans do.

We propose a model of the development of geometric reasoning in children that explicitly involves learning. The model uses a neural network that is initialized with an understanding of geometry similar to that of second-grade children. Through the presentation of a series of examples, the model is shown to develop an understanding of geometry similar to that of fifth-grade children who were trained using similar materials.

The overall goal is to reduce spacecraft weight.