connectionismn.
/kəˈnɛkʃn̩ɪz(ə)m/, /kəˈnɛkʃənɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /kəˈnɛkʃəˌnɪzəm/ Psychology.
The doctrine that mental processes involve a bond or connection between stimulus and response; the theory that learning occurs by the formation of such connections.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > experimental psychology > stimulus-response > connection between stimulus and response > [noun]
connectionism1932
1932 E. L. Thorndike Fundamentals of Learning i. 4 We have tried..to work out..a reasonable solution so far as is possible from existing knowledge. This solution takes the form of a new associationism, or better,..of a new connectionism.
1932 E. L. Thorndike Fundamentals of Learning xvii. 428 Many of the arguments..directed against connectionism are valid only against a narrow and oversimplified connectionism which would assert that mental life was nothing but a series of small isolated elements.
1951 G. Humphrey Thinking iii. 99 The theory..was upheld by Thorndike under the title of ‘connectionism’.
Derivatives
coˈnnectionist adj. and n. (also coˈnnexionist)
ΚΠ
1932 E. L. Thorndike Fundamentals of Learning i. 4 We have studied..[a] case of apparent transcendent activity as part of a general study of systems which organize and direct trains of thought. The results,..justify the connectionist's faith.
1932 E. L. Thorndike Fundamentals of Learning xvii. 428 Many of the criticisms of connectionist psychology made by advocates of various forms of purposive psychology..consist in..the thesis that they can unite many names and the like, and that consequently connectionist psychology is unsound.
1941 Mind 50 415 The connectionist hypothesis is impossible because of Lashley's rats.
1964 W. F. Hill Learning p. ix I find the familiar division into connectionist and cognitive theories still the most useful.
Draft additions January 2005
Psychology and Physiology. Advocacy of or belief in the existence of multiple interconnections between simultaneously active neuronal units as an explanation of intelligence and complex behaviour; (hence also) the use of, or an approach to, a computational process involving a real or simulated network of such interconnected, simultaneously active, processing units. Cf. parallel distributed processing n. at parallel n., adj., and adv. Compounds 2.1981 J. A. Feldman in G. E. Hinton & J. A. Anderson Parallel Models of Associative Memory 53 (caption) Connectionism vs. symbolic encoding.
1986 G. Johnson Machinery of Mind xv. 293 In recognition of this heritage, some AI researchers speak of what they call the New Connectionism.
1999 Sci. Amer. Apr. 77/2 Connectionism is the emerging science of computing with networks of artificial neurons.
2002 S. Pinker Blank Slate (Book Club ed.) iv. 64 Some modelers from the school of cognitive science called connectionism suggest that generic neural networks can account for all of human cognition.
Draft additions January 2005
connectionist adj. and n. Psychology and Physiology (a) adj. relating to or advocating connectionism; (b) n. an advocate of or researcher in connectionism.
ΚΠ
1981 J. A. Feldman in G. E. Hinton & J. A. Anderson Parallel Models of Associative Memory 53 The major point of departure from conventional information-processing models is the explicit adoption of a connectionist framework as opposed to assuming that symbolic information is transmitted along some general channel.
1988 W. Bechtel Philos. Sci. iv. 62 Connectionists are developing models that give realistic performance on numerous cognitive tasks.
1995 G. V. Thomas in C. Hollin Contemp. Psychol. vii. 138 These theories have been called variously neural network models, parallel distributed processing (PDP) models or connectionist models.
2002 S. Pinker Blank Slate (Book Club ed.) v. 78 The connectionists, of course, do not believe in a blank slate, but they do believe in the closest mechanistic equivalent, a general-purpose learning device.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1932