From: dml@philabs.philips.com (Damian M. Lyons)
Newsgroups: news.announce.conferences
Subject: WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT
Summary: WRKSHP ANNNCMNT
Date: 19 Dec 92 03:12:20 GMT
Expires: Mon, 15 Feb 1993 08:00:00 GMT
Organization: Autonomous Systems, Philips Labs, Briarcliff Manor, NY


SCHEMAS AND NEURAL NETWORKS:
INTEGRATING SYMBOLIC AND SUBSYMBOLIC APPROACHES TO
COOPERATIVE COMPUTATION

A Workshop sponsored by the

Center for Neural Engineering
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2520

April 13th and 14th, 1993

Program Committee: Michael Arbib (Organizer), John
Barnden, George Bekey, Francisco Cervantes-Perez,
Damian Lyons, Paul  Rosenbloom, Ron Sun, Akinori
Yonezawa

To design complex technological systems and to
analyze complex biological and cognitive systems,
we need a multilevel methodology which combines a
coarse-grain analysis of  cooperative or
distributed computation (we shall refer to the
computing agents at this level as "schemas") with a
fine-grain model of flexible, adaptive computation
(for which neural networks provide a powerful
general paradigm).  Schemas provide  a language for
distributed artificial intelligence, perceptual
robotics, cognitive modeling, and brain theory
which is "in the style of the brain", but at a
relatively high level of abstraction relative to
neural networks.

The proposed workshop will provide a 2-hour
introductory tutorial and problem statement by
Michael Arbib, and sessions in which an invited
paper will be followed by several contributed
papers,  selected from those submitted in response
to this call for papers.  Preference will be given
to papers which present practical examples of,
theory of, and/or methodology for the design and
analysis of complex systems in which the overall
specification or analysis is conducted in terms of
schemas, and where some but not necessarily all of
the schemas are implemented in neural networks.

A list of sample topics for contributions is as
follows, where a hybrid approach means one in which
the abstract schema level is integrated with neural
or other lower level models:

	Schema Theory as a description language for
	neural networks
	Modular neural networks
	Linking DAI to Neural Networks to Hybrid
	Architecture
	Formal Theories of Schemas
	Hybrid approaches to integrating planning &
	reaction
	Hybrid approaches to learning
	Hybrid approaches to commonsense reasoning by
	integrating neural networks and rule-
	based reasoning (using schema for the
	integration)
	Programming Languages for Schemas and Neural
	Networks
	Concurrent Object-Oriented Programming for
	Distributed AI and Neural Networks
	Schema Theory Applied in Cognitive Psychology,
	Linguistics, Robotics, AI and Neuroscience


Prospective contributors should send a hard copy of
a five-page extended abstract,  including figures
with informative captions and full references
(either by regular mail or fax) by February 15,
1993  to Michael Arbib, Center for Neural
Engineering, University of Southern California, Los
Angeles, CA 90089-2520, USA [Tel: (213) 740-9220,
Fax: (213) 746-2863, arbib@pollux.usc.edu].
Please include your full address, including fax and
email, on the paper.

Notification of acceptance or rejection will be
sent by email no later than March 1, 1993.  There
are currently no plans to issue a formal
proceedings of full papers, but revised versions of
accepted abstracts received prior to April 1, 1993
will be collected with the full text of the
Tutorial in a CNE Technical Report which will be
made available to registrants at the start of the
meeting.   [A useful way to structure such an
abstract is in short numbered sections, where each
section presents (in a small type face!) the
material corresponding to one transparency/slide in
a verbal presentation.  This will make it  easy for
an audience to take notes if they have a copy of
the abstract at your presentation.]

Hotel Information:  Attendees may register at the
hotel of their choice, but the closest hotel to USC
is the University Hilton, 3540 South Figueroa
Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007, Phone:  (213) 748-
4141, Reservation: (800) 872-1104, Fax:  (213) 748-
0043.   A single room costs $70/night while a
double room costs $75/night.  Workshop participants
must specify that they are "Schemas and Neural
Networks Workshop" attendees to avail of the above
rates.

The registration fee of $150 includes a copy of the
abstracts, coffee breaks, and a dinner to be held
on the evening of April 13th.

Those wishing to register should send a check
payable to Center for Neural Engineering, USC for
$150 together with the following information to
Paulina Tagle, Center for Neural Engineering,
University of Southern California, University Park,
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2520, USA.


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SCHEMAS AND NEURAL NETWORKS
Center for Neural Engineering, USC
April 13 - 14, 1992


NAME:  ___________________________________________
ADDRESS: _________________________________________
PHONE NO.: _______________ FAX:___________________
EMAIL: ___________________________________________


I intend to submit a paper: YES  [   ]      NO   [   ]