Connectionism and Cognitive Architecture: A Critical Analysis

In this influential paper, Fodor and Pylyshyn challenge connectionist theorists by arguing that connectionist explanations, at best, can only inform us about details of the neural substrate but fail to explain the systematicity and complexity of adult human cognition.

They contend that classical cognitive architectures, which operate on symbols, are necessary to account for the systematic nature of human thought and behavior.

The paper contrasts connectionist models with classical models derived from the structure of Turing and Von Neumann machines, emphasizing the importance of symbolic representations in understanding cognition.