A mathematical theory of semantic development in deep neural networks

An extensive body of empirical research has revealed remarkable regularities in the acquisition, organization, deployment, and neural representation of human semantic knowledge, thereby raising a fundamental conceptual question: what are the theoretical principles governing the ability of neural networks to acquire, organize, and deploy abstract knowledge by integrating across many individual experiences? We address this question by mathematically analyzing the nonlinear dynamics of learning in deep linear networks. We find exact solutions to this learning dynamics that yield a conceptual explanation for the prevalence of many disparate phenomena in semantic cognition, including the hierarchical differentiation of concepts through rapid developmental transitions, the ubiquity of semantic illusions between such transitions, the emergence of item typicality and category coherence as factors controlling the speed of semantic processing, changing patterns of inductive projection over development, and the conservation of semantic similarity in neural representations across species. Thus, surprisingly, our simple neural model qualitatively recapitulates many diverse regularities underlying semantic development, while providing analytic insight into how the statistical structure of an environment can interact with nonlinear deep learning dynamics to give rise to these regularities

Exact solutions to the nonlinear dynamics of learning in deep linear neural networks

Despite the widespread practical success of deep learning methods, our theoretical understanding of the dynamics of learning in deep neural networks remains quite sparse. We attempt to bridge the gap between the theory and practice of deep learning by systematically analyzing learning dynamics for the restricted case of deep linear neural networks. Despite the linearity of their input-output map, such networks have nonlinear gradient descent dynamics on weights that change with the addition of each new hidden layer. We show that deep linear networks exhibit nonlinear learning phenomena similar to those seen in simulations of nonlinear networks, including long plateaus followed by rapid transitions to lower error solutions, and faster convergence from greedy unsupervised pretraining initial conditions than from random initial conditions. We provide an analytical description of these phenomena by finding new exact solutions to the nonlinear dynamics of deep learning. Our theoretical analysis also reveals the surprising finding that as the depth of a network approaches infinity, learning speed can nevertheless remain finite: for a special class of initial conditions on the weights, very deep networks incur only a finite, depth independent, delay in learning speed relative to shallow networks. We show that, under certain conditions on the training data, unsupervised pretraining can find this special class of initial conditions, while scaled random Gaussian initializations cannot. We further exhibit a new class of random orthogonal initial conditions on weights that, like unsupervised pre-training, enjoys depth independent learning times. We further show that these initial conditions also lead to faithful propagation of gradients even in deep nonlinear networks, as long as they operate in a special regime known as the edge of chaos.Comment: Submission to ICLR2014. Revised based on reviewer feedbac

Testing multi-alternative decision models with non-stationary evidence

Recent research has investigated the process of integrating perceptual evidence toward a decision, converging on a number of sequential sampling choice models, such as variants of race and diffusion models and the non-linear leaky competing accumulator (LCA) model. Here we study extensions of these models to multi-alternative choice, considering how well they can account for data from a psychophysical experiment in which the evidence supporting each of the alternatives changes dynamically during the trial, in a way that creates temporal correlations. We find that participants exhibit a tendency to choose an alternative whose evidence profile is temporally anti-correlated with (or dissimilar from) that of other alternatives. This advantage of the anti-correlated alternative is well accounted for in the LCA, and provides constraints that challenge several other models of multi-alternative choice

Systematic Generalization and Emergent Structures in Transformers Trained on Structured Tasks

Transformer networks have seen great success in natural language processing and machine vision, where task objectives such as next word prediction and image classification benefit from nuanced context sensitivity across high-dimensional inputs. However, there is an ongoing debate about how and when transformers can acquire highly structured behavior and achieve systematic generalization. Here, we explore how well a causal transformer can perform a set of algorithmic tasks, including copying, sorting, and hierarchical compositions of these operations. We demonstrate strong generalization to sequences longer than those used in training by replacing the standard positional encoding typically used in transformers with labels arbitrarily paired with items in the sequence. We search for the layer and head configuration sufficient to solve these tasks, then probe for signs of systematic processing in latent representations and attention patterns. We show that two-layer transformers learn reliable solutions to multi-level problems, develop signs of task decomposition, and encode input items in a way that encourages the exploitation of shared computation across related tasks. These results provide key insights into how attention layers support structured computation both within a task and across multiple tasks.Comment: 18 page

Developing the Knowledge of Number Digits in a child like Robot

Number knowledge can be boosted initially by embodied strategies such as the use of fingers. This Article explores the perceptual process of grounding number symbols in artificial agents, particularly the iCub robot—a child-like humanoid with fully functional, five-fingered hands. It studies the application of convolutional neural network models in the context of cognitive developmental robotics, where the training information is likely to be gradually acquired while operating, rather than being abundant and fully available as in many machine learning scenarios. The experimental analyses show increased efficiency of the training and similarities with studies in developmental psychology. Indeed, the proprioceptive information from the robot hands can improve accuracy in the recognition of spoken digits by supporting a quicker creation of a uniform number line. In conclusion, these findings reveal a novel way for the humanization of artificial training strategies, where the embodiment can make the robot’s learning more efficient and understandable for humans

What underlies rapid learning and systematic generalization in humans

Despite the groundbreaking successes of neural networks, contemporary models require extensive training with massive datasets and exhibit poor out-of-sample generalization. One proposed solution is to build systematicity and domain-specific constraints into the model, echoing the tenets of classical, symbolic cognitive architectures. In this paper, we consider the limitations of this approach by examining human adults' ability to learn an abstract reasoning task from a brief instructional tutorial and explanatory feedback for incorrect responses, demonstrating that human learning dynamics and ability to generalize outside the range of the training examples differ drastically from those of a representative neural network model, and that the model is brittle to changes in features not anticipated by its authors. We present further evidence from human data that the ability to consistently solve the puzzles was associated with education, particularly basic mathematics education, and with the ability to provide a reliably identifiable, valid description of the strategy used. We propose that rapid learning and systematic generalization in humans may depend on a gradual, experience-dependent process of learning-to-learn using instructions and explanations to guide the construction of explicit abstract rules that support generalizable inferences.Comment: 22 pages, 48 references, 6 Figures, and one Table, plus S

Toward Online Measurement of Decision State

In traditional perceptual decision-making experiments, two pieces of data are collected on each trial: response time and accuracy. But how confident were participants and how did their decision state evolve over time? We asked participants to provide a continuous readout of their decision state by moving a cursor along a sliding scale between a 100% certain left response and a 100% certain right response. Subjects did not terminate the trials; rather, trials were timed out at random and subjects were scored based on the cursor position at that time. Higher rewards for correct responses and higher penalties for errors were associated with extreme responses so that the response with the highest expected value was that which accurately reflected the participant's odds of being correct. This procedure encourages participants to expose the time-course of their evolving decision state. Evidence on how well they can do this will be presented