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Associationism and the Hebb Rule

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Associationism and the Hebb Rule 659 Endnotes, page 670 660 The typical associationist method was found radically faulty. i The first English psychologist fully to recognize this was James Ward, and the brilliance and originality of his psychological writings were mainly due to this recognition. He made a devastatingly triumphant attack upon associationism.1 Sir Frederic Bartlett, 1932 What is conspicuous in its absence is any discussion of convincing victories for Hebbian learning, though a few interesting works are listed. It is fair to suggest, however, that Hebbian successes have been modest.2 Jeffrey Foss, 1997 Scientists dream up phantasies and then pursue a highly selective hunt for new facts which fit these phantasies. This process may be described as “science creating its own universe” (as long as one remembers that “creating” here is used in a provocative, idiosyncratic sense). A brilliant school of scholars (backed by a rich society to finance a few well-planned tests) might succeed in pushing any fantastic programme ahead.3 Imre Lakatos, 1978 B. Refutatio: Associationism and the Hebb Rule When an axon of cell A is near enough to excite a cell B The crux of Hebb’s insight, slightly reconstructed, is this: and repeatedly and persistently takes part in firing it, coactivation of connected cells should result in a some growth process or metabolic change takes place in modification of weights so that the probability of the one or both cells such that A’s efficiency, as one of the postsynaptic cell firing given the presynaptic cell fires, is cells firing B, is increased.4 increased. This makes eminently good sense, because it I have made it an essential condition of learning that allows for associated world events to be represented by cell two central events occur together.5 interaction.8 Donald Hebb, 1949 Patricia Churchland & Terrence Sejnowski, 1992 HailiHebb! The idea that information is stored in neural circuits by When two neurons fire at the same time, the synapses changing synaptic links between neurons was first between them get strengthened. (It is easily summarized in proposed in 1949 (Hebb, 1949).9 the phrase “Fire together, wire together.”) We now know Hebb was basically right. Of course, nothing in nature is Robert Plomin, John DeFries, Gerald McClearn, ever quite so simple, and in real brains the details are & Peter McGuffin, 2008 more complicated. Our nervous systems run many variations of Hebb’s learning rule; for instance, some Certain findings can be interpreted as an example of an synapses change their strength in response to small idea first proposed by Donald Hebb in the 1940s: variations in the timing of neural signals, some synaptic Synapses are strengthened when the pre- and post-synaptic changes are short-lived, and some changes are long-lived. elements are synchronously active.10 But Hebb was erecting only a framework for the study of learning, not a final theory, and that framework has been Eric Kandel, Thomas Jessell, & Joshua Sanes, 2000 incredibly useful.6 Jeffrey Hawkins, 2004 Hebb was the first to propose explicitly the conditions under which the change in efficacy would occur.11 The Hebb rule forms the basis of much of the research done on the role of synaptic plasticity in learning and Christof Koch, 1999 memory.7 D.O. Hebb first proposed the mechanism.12 Paul Churchland, 1989 i In Chapters 1 to 13 “associated” was often replaced by “connected.” 661 Hebb was NOT the First to Propose “the Hebb Rule” Sensations A, when impressed alone, shall be able to 18 excite in the Mind, b, c the Ideas of the rest. Now there is a basic law of association by stimulation, David Hartley, 1749 which operates in the case of neuronal activity, of reproductive remembering, and which is the foundation of all links between the memory neurons. We find that a Hartley’s notion that experiences consistently occurring drIve passes over to another, B, if neurons A and B have at together are recorded in the brain as an interrelated some time been simultaneously activated by some other package will make one conscious of the entire package is neurons. Thus a synapse has been facilitated through the remarkably modern. Donald Hebb reached essentially 13 simultaneous activation of A-B. the same conclusion 200 years later.19 Sigmund Freud, 1895 Our perceptions are linked with one another in our Although this rule strongly influenced new memory - first and foremost according to simultaneity of connectionism, it was not original with Hebb. It is based occurrence. We speak of this fact as association.14 on the associative laws of contiguity and frequency that go back at least to Aristotle; and David Hartley Sigmund Freud, 1900 anticipated Hebb in applying these associative principles to neural activity by 200 years. William James also Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) postulated his now famous laws anticipated Hebb’s rule, and Pavlov’s neurophysiological of association. The most basic law of association is the explanation of the development of conditioned reflexes law of contiguity, which states that when we think of followed Hartley and James very closely.20 something, we also tend to think of things that were experienced along with it. Aristotle’s laws of association The general idea is an old one, that any two cells or were to become the basis of learning theory for more systems of cells that are repeatedly active at the same than 2000 years. In fact, the concept of mental time will tend to become associated, so that activity in association is still at the heart of most theories of one facilitates activity in the other.21 learning. The belief that one or more laws of association can be used to explain the origins of ideas, the phenomena of memory, or how complex ideas are A Source Amnestic Reentrance of the Hebb Rule formed from simple ones came to be called “associationism.”15 Two maps of neuronal groups receive independent inputs (1 and 2). Map 1 responds to local features (for example, Since Aristotle, Western philosophers have traditionally visually detected angles) that are different from those to thought that learning is achieved through the which map 2 responds (for example, an object’s overall association of ideas. This concept was systematically movement). The two maps are connected by nerve fibers that carry reentrant signals between them. These fibers are developed by John Locke and the British empiricist numerous and dense and serve to “map the maps” to each school of philosophy, important forerunners of modern other. If within some time period the groups in map 1 are psychology.16 reentrantly connected to the groups in map 2, these connections may be strengthened. As a result of reentrant David Hartley (1705-1757) believed that sense signaling, and by means of synaptic change, patterns of impressions produced vibrations in the nerves, which responses in map 1 are associated with patterns of traveled to the brain causing similar vibrations in the responses in map 2 in a “classification couple”. Because of “medullary substance” of the brain. The brain vibrations synaptic change, responses to present inputs are also 22 caused by sense impressions give rise to sensations. After linked to previous patterns of responses. sense impressions cease, there remain in the brain As groups of neurons are selected in a map, other groups in reentrantly connected but different maps may diminutive vibrations that Hartley called “vibratiuncles.” also be selected at the same time. Correlation and 17 It is the vibratiuncles that correspond to ideas. coordination of such selection events are achieved by reentrant signaling and by the strengthening of Any Sensation A, B, C by being associated with one interconnections between the maps another a sufficient Number of Times, get such a Power within a segment of time.23 over the corresponding Ideas a, b, c that any one of the Gerald Edelman, 1992 662 Most Modelers are Politely Loyal to the Royal Rule Hebb’s idea has been incorporated into many models of neuronal competition and cooperation. It is also the basis Most modeling of neural learning networks has been of several mathematical models of activity-dependent based on synapses of a general type described by Hebb competition between afferent fibers from the two eyes. 24 These models simulate with remarkable accuracy the (1949) and Eccles (1953). At a very specific level, segregation of ocular dominance columns during Hebbian learning, as conveyed by the Hebb rule development.29 continues to be applied even in the most recent subsystems.25 Eric Kandel, Thomas Jessell, & Joshua Sanes, 2000 The O’Reilly and Johnson (1994) model provides a good Certain experimentally observed forms of plasticity can example of how connectionism may help us to understand be described at a more abstract level in terms of synaptic architectural biases in neural networks. Once the algorithms, in particular by temporally asymmetrical activation state of the network had reached equilibrium Hebbian learning rules. Such formulations are useful for each position, the weights between all units in the because a great deal is known from the literature on system were adjusted according to an associative Hebbian artificial neural networks about the computational 30 learning rule.26 possibilities of Hebbian synapses. Jeffrey Elman, Elizabeth Bates, Christof Koch, 1999 Mark Johnson, Anette Karmiloff-Smith, Domenica Parisi, & Kim Plunkett, 1996 In this chapter we largely focus on activity-dependent synaptic plasticity of the Hebbian type, meaning plasticity An associative net is an abstract wiring diagram that has based on correlations of pre- and postsynaptic firing. To been studied by theoreticians such as Marr, Christopher ensure stability and to obtain interesting results, we often Longuet-Higgins, Leon Cooper and others. The strength must augment Hebbian plasticity with more global forms of the connection is adjusted “by experience” on the basis of synaptic modification that, for example, scale the 31 of certain well-defined rules, usually so that pathways that strengths of all the synapses onto a given neuron.
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