Distributed Activation, Search, and Learning by ART and ARTMAP Neural Networks

Abstract

Adaptive resonance theory (ART) models have been used for learning and prediction in a wide variety of applications. Winner-take-all coding allows these networks to maintain stable memories, but this type of code representation can cause problems such as category proliferation with fast learning and a noisy training set. A new class of ART models with an arbitrarily distributed code representation is outlined here. With winner-take-all coding, the unsupervised distributed ART model (dART) reduces to fuzzy ART and the supervised distributed ARTMAP model (dARTMAP) reduces to fuzzy ARTMAP. dART automatically apportions learned changes according to the degree of activation of each node, which permits fast as well as slow learning with compressed or distributed codes. Distributed ART models replace the traditional neural network path weight with a dynamic weight equal to the rectified difference between coding node activation and an adaptive threshold. Dynamic weights that project to coding nodes obey a distributed instar leaning law and those that originate from coding nodes obey a distributed outstar learning law. Inputs activate distributed codes through phasic and tonic signal components with dual computational properties, and a parallel distributed match-reset-search process helps stabilize memory.National Science Foundation (IRI 94-0 1659); Office of Naval Research (N00014-95-1-0409, N00014-95-0657