Dandurand, F., Bowen, M. & Shultz, T. R. (2004). Learning by imitation, reinforcement and verbal rules in problem-solving tasks. In the Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL'04) Developing Social Brains. La Jolla, California, USA: The Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Learning by Imitation, Reinforcement and Verbal Rules in Problem Solving Tasks Frédéric Dandurand, Melissa Bowen, Thomas R. Shultz McGill University, Department of Psychology, 1205 Dr. Penfield Ave., Montréal, Québec, H3A 1B1, Canada,
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[email protected] Abstract ponent of intelligence. “The ability to solve problems is one of the most important manifestations of human think- Learning by imitation is a powerful process for ac- ing.” [12]. quiring new knowledge, but there has been little research Information-processing theory is currently the domi- exploring imitation’s potential in the problem solving nant approach to problem solving [12]. Problems are domain. Classical problem solving techniques tend to construed in terms of states, transitions and operators. The center around reinforcement learning, which requires essence of problem solving is a search through the state significant trial-and-error learning to reach successful space for a solution state using the operators available at goals and problem solutions. Heuristics, hints, and rea- each point while satisfying a set of problem-specific con- soning by analogy have been favored as improvements straints. over reinforcement learning, whereas imitation learning has been regarded as rote memorizing. However, re- 1.1. Learning in Problem Solving Tasks search on imitation learning in animals and infants sug- gests that what is being learned is the overall arrange- Several types of learning can occur during problem ment of actions (sequencing and planning).