MEMORY (Associative)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 2068 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
The capacity of various elements or subnets in a network to collectively retrieve and share data existing in the network.
In a quite close sense, M. BODEN speaks of “contextual memory”, through which: “an input pattern can activate not only a similar pattern, but also some aspects of its previous context… An apple in a religious painting may remind you of Eve, whereas an apple in a still-life does not)” (1990, p.119).
It becomes evermore obvious that associative memory is the potential ability which enables the living brain to easily assemble existing data into very complex representations and perform quite difficult chores in very short spans of time. Associative memory seems to be preexistent to its uses, in the form of frames of reference, which express specific aspects of organizational closure.
Parallel distributed processing in connection machines (connectionist architectures) is now trying to emulate this ability.