?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Text+and+Discourse+Understanding%3A+The+DISCERN+System&rft.creator=Miikkulainen%2C+Risto&rft.subject=Artificial+Intelligence&rft.subject=Language&rft.subject=Neural+Nets&rft.description=The+subsymbolic+approach+to+natural+language+processing+(NLP)+captures+a+number+of+intriguing+properties+of+human-like+information+processing+such+as+learning+from+examples%2C+context+sensitivity%2C+generalization%2C+robustness+of+behavior%2C+and+intuitive+reasoning.+Within+this+new+paradigm%2C+the+central+issues+are+quite+different+from+(even+incompatible+with)+the+traditional+issues+in+symbolic+NLP%2C+and+the+research+has+proceeded+without+much+in+common+with+the+past.+However%2C+the+ultimate+goal+is+still+the+same%3A+to+understand+how+humans+process+language.+Even+if+NLP+is+being+built+on+a+new+foundation%2C+as+can+be+argued%2C+many+of+the+results+obtained+through+symbolic+research+are+still+valid%2C+and+could+be+used+as+a+guide+for+developing+subsymbolic+models+of+natural+language+processing.+This+is+where+DISCERN+(DIstributed+SCript+processing+and+Episodic+memoRy+Network+(Miikkulainen+1993)%2C+a+subsymbolic+neural+network+model+of+script-based+story+understanding%2C+fits+in.+DISCERN+is+purely+a+subsymbolic+model%2C+but+at+the+high+level+it+consists+of+modules+and+information+structures+similar+to+those+of+symbolic+systems%2C+such+as+scripts%2C+lexicon%2C+and+episodic+memory.+At+the+highest+level+of+natural+language+processing+such+as+text+and+discourse+understanding%2C+the+symbolic+and+subsymbolic+paradigms+have+to+address+the+same+basic+issues.+Outlining+a+subsymbolic+approach+to+those+issues+is+the+purpose+of+DISCERN.+In+more+specific+terms%2C+DISCERN+aims%3A+(1)+to+demonstrate+that+distributed+artificial+neural+networks+can+be+used+to+build+a+large-scale+natural+language+processing+system+that+performs+approximately+at+the+level+of+symbolic+models%3B+(2)+to+show+that+several+cognitive+phenomena+can+be+explained+at+the+subsymbolic+level+using+the+special+properties+of+these+networks%3B+and+(3)+to+identify+central+issues+in+subsymbolic+NLP+and+to+develop+well-motivated+techniques+to+deal+with+them.+To+the+extent+that+DISCERN+is+successful+in+these+areas%2C+it+constitutes+a+first+step+towards+building+text+and+discourse+understanding+systems+within+the+subsymbolic+paradigm.&rft.publisher=Marcel+Dekker%2C+New+York&rft.contributor=Dale%2C+R&rft.contributor=Moisl%2C+H.&rft.contributor=Somers%2C+H.&rft.date=1998&rft.type=Book+Chapter&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpostscript&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F524%2F2%2Fmiikkulainen.nlp-handbook.ps&rft.identifier=++Miikkulainen%2C+Risto++(1998)+Text+and+Discourse+Understanding%3A+The+DISCERN+System.++%5BBook+Chapter%5D++++(In+Press)++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F524%2F