This paper is a summary of SPRINT project aims and results. The project focus on the use of neuro-computing techniques to tackle various problems that remain unsolved in speech recognition. First results concern the use of feedforward netsfor phonetic units classification, isolated word recognition, and speaker adaptation.

Empirically, generalization between a training and a test stimulus falls off in close approximation to an exponential decay function of distance between the two stimuli in the "stimulus space" obtained by multidimensional scaling. Mathematically, thisresult is derivable from the assumption that an individual takes the training stimulus to belong to a "consequential" region that includes that stimulus but is otherwise of unknown location, size, and shape in the stimulus space (Shepard, 1987). As the individual gains additional information about the consequential region-by finding other stimuli to be consequential or nOl-the theory predicts the shape of the generalization function to change toward the function relating actual probability of the consequence to location in the stimulus space. This paper describes a natural connectionist implementation of the theory, and illustrates how implications of the theory for generalization, discrimination, and classification learning can be explored by connectionist simulation. 1 THE THEORY OF GENERALIZATION Because we never confront exactly the same situation twice, anything we have learned in any previous situation can guide us in deciding which action to take in the present situation only to the extent that the similarity between the two situations is sufficient to justify generalization of our previous learning to the present situation. Accordingly, principles of generalization must be foundational for any theory of behavior. In Shepard (1987) nonarbitrary principles of generalization were sought that would be optimum in any world in which an object, however distinct from other objects, is generally a member of some class or natural kind sharing some dispositional property of potential consequence for the individual. A newly encountered plant or animal might be edible or 665 666 Shepard and Kannappan poisonous.

Function approximation on high-dimensional spaces is often thwarted by a lack of sufficient data to adequately "fill" the space, or lack of sufficient computational resources. The technique of local variable selection provides a partial solution to these problems by attempting to approximate functions locally using fewer than the complete set of input dimensions.

We study the evolution of the generalization ability of a simple linear perceptron withN inputs which learns to imitate a "teacher perceptron". The system is trained on p aN binary example inputs and the generalization abilitymeasured by testing for agreement with the teacher on all 2N possible binary input patterns. The dynamics may be solved analytically and exhibits a phase transition from imperfect to perfect generalization at a 1. Except at this point the generalization ability approaches its asymptotic value exponentially, with critical slowing down near the transition; therelaxation time is ex (1 - y'a)-2.

In salamander retina, the response of On-Off ganglion cells to a central flash is reduced by movement in the receptive field surround. Through computer simulation of a 2-D model which takes into account their anatomical and physiological properties, we show that interactions between four neuron types (two bipolar and two amacrine) may be responsible for the generation and lateral conductance of this change sensitive inhibition. The model shows that the four neuron circuit can account for previously observed movement sensitive reductions in ganglion cell sensitivity and allows visualization and prediction of the spatiotemporal pattern of activity in change sensitive retinal cells.

Images from left to right display the saliency map following the saliency and pairing stages and a number of strongest groups.

We have been studying the performance of a bottlenosed dolphin on a delayed matching-to-sample task to gain insight into the processes and mechanisms that the animal uses during echolocation. The dolphin recognizes targets by emitting natural sonar signals and listening to the echoes that return. This paper describes a novel neural network architecture, called an integrator gateway network, that we have developed toaccount for this performance. The integrator gateway network combines information from multiple echoes to classify targets with about 90% accuracy. In contrast, a standard backpropagation network performed with only about 63% accuracy.

Atkeson Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department and the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 02139 Abstract We examine the ability of radial basis functions (RBFs) to generalize. We compare the performance of several types of RBFs. We use the inverse dynamics ofan idealized two-joint arm as a test case. We find that without a proper choice of a norm for the inputs, RBFs have poor generalization properties. A simple global scaling of the input variables greatly improves performance.

Scott E. Fahlman School of Computer Science Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Abstract Recurrent Cascade-Correlation CRCC) is a recurrent version of the Cascade Correlation learning architecture of FahIman and Lebiere [Fahlman, 1990]. RCC can learn from examples to map a sequence of inputs into a desired sequence of outputs. New hidden units with recurrent connections are added to the network as needed during training. In effect, the network builds up a finite-state machine tailored specifically for the current problem. RCC retains the advantages of Cascade-Correlation: fast learning, good generalization, automatic construction of a near-minimal multi-layered network, and incremental training. Initially the network contains only inputs, output units, and the connections between them.

The development of projections from the retinas to the cortex is mathematically analyzed according to the previously proposed thermodynamic formulation of the self-organization of neural networks. Three types of submodality included in the visual afferent pathways are assumed in two models: model (A), in which the ocularity and retinotopy are considered separately, and model (B), in which on-center/off-center pathways are considered in addition to ocularity and retinotopy. Model (A) shows striped ocular dominance spatial patterns and, in ocular dominance histograms, reveals a dip in the binocular bin. Model (B) displays spatially modulated irregular patterns and shows single-peak behavior in the histograms. When we compare the simulated results with the observed results, it is evident that the ocular dominance spatial patterns and histograms for models (A) and (B) agree very closely with those seen in monkeys and cats.