A view on the architecture and design of highly autonomous and situated agents

The architecture and design process of a highly autonomous, situated agent is described. The architecture consists of a population of agents which are designed in an incremental, bottom-up fashion according to what we call a behavioural engineering approach. The agents operate in parallel and have a close coupling between perception and action. Emergent behaviour and memory-based learning determine the level of adaptability of our approach

A guided-propagation model of reading

A model of reading based on a guided-propagation connectionist network is proposed. First, the basic principles of the guided-propagation model are specified, followed by a description of the connectionist reading model. Second, we describe how this connectionist model successfully models some basic results from the reading research, i.e., the word-frequency effect and the word preview effects. Finally, limitations and future extensions of the model are discussed

Advancing education by proper technology

Abstract: The major trends emerging from a review of the first 25 volumes in the NATO Series on Educational Technology are a convergence on Intelligent Tutoring Systems and on microworld simulation tools. In both approaches a radical reform of the entire educational system is generally favored. In this paper the relative merits and drawbacks of these systems are critically reviewed, also with respect to the educational context in which they will have to be operative. The general conclusion is that both empirical validity and evaluation are seriously lacking. This picture does not hold for the field as a whole, however. Though small in number, various authors produce fascinating and new accounts of learning processes made observable in interactive learning environments, of developing mental models, of learning strategies and social interaction in learning. Recommendations for future research go in this direction and stress the importance of fundamental research on learning, systematic student-centered evaluation and the design of effective instructional dialogues and interfaces. The fact that the most successful computer-based instructional system to date, the flight simulator, has not been mentioned once in the series provides an interesting case in this respect