GENERALIZATION As SEARCH / 517 Generalization as Search

We learn (memorize) multiplication tables, learn (discover how) to walk, learn (build UP an understanding of, then an ability to synthesize) languages. Many subtasks and capabilities are involved in these various kinds of learning. One capability central to many kinds of learning is the ability to generalize: to take into account a large number of specific observations, then to extract and retain the important common features that characterize classes of these observations. This generalization problem has received considerable attention for two decades in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Psychology, and Pattern Recognition (e.g., [Bruner, 1956],