Gallagher, Katherine2020-08-272018-052020-03-032018Gallagher, Katherine. 2018. Request Confirmation Networks: A Cortically Inspired Approach to Neuro-Symbolic Script Execution. Master's thesis, Harvard Extension School.https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37364547This thesis examines Request Confirmation Networks (ReCoNs), hierarchical spreading activation networks with constrained top-down/bottom-up recurrency that are proposed as a possible model for cortical activity during execution of neuro-symbolic sensorimotor scripts. ReCoNs are evaluated in the context of the Function Approximator, a showcase implementation that calculates a function value from a handwritten image of the function. Background is provided on biological and artificial neural networks, with emphasis on other biomimetic approaches to machine learning.application/pdfBiomimetic systemsMachine learningThesis or Dissertation2020-08-27