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Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010
Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA
Society 1st Edition A. V. Samsonovich Digital Instant
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Author(s): A. V. Samsonovich; K. R. Jóhannsdóttir; A. Chella
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 BIOLOGICALLY INSPIRED COGNITIVE
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Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
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Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
 Biologically Inspired Cognitive
Architectures 2010
Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society

Edited by
Alexei V. Samsonovich
George Mason University, USA

Kamilla R. Jóhannsdóttir
University of Akureyri, Iceland

Antonio Chella
University of Palermo, Italy
and
Ben Goertzel
Novamente LLC, USA
Copyright © 2010. IOS Press, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Amsterdam • Berlin • Tokyo • Washington, DC

Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
 © 2010 The authors and IOS Press.

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Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
 Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 v
A.V. Samsonovich et al. (Eds.)
IOS Press, 2010
© 2010 The authors and IOS Press. All rights reserved.

Preface
This volume documents the proceedings of the First International Conference on Bio-
logically Inspired Cognitive Architectures (BICA 2010), which is also the First Annual
Meeting of the BICA Society. This conference was preceded by 2008 and 2009 AAAI
Fall Symposia on BICA that were similar in content (indeed, the special issue of the
International Journal of Machine Consciousness1 is composed of a selection of papers
and abstracts from all three events, and it is an official complement of this Proceedings
volume). The 2008–2009 BICA symposia in turn were preceded by a sequence of the
DARPA BICA meetings in 2005–2006 (see below). However, BICA 2010 is the first
independent event in the BICA series: it has the status of the first annual meeting of the
just established BICA society (further information is available at http://bicasociety.org).
Like the 2008 and 2009 BICA Symposia, the present BICA 2010 conference con-
tains a wide variety of ideas and approaches, all centered around the theme of under-
standing how to create general-purpose humanlike artificial intelligence using inspira-
tions from studies of the brain and the mind. BICA is no modest pursuit: the long-term
goals are no less than understanding how human and animal brains work, and creating
artificial intelligences with comparable or greater functionality. But, in addition to
these long-term goals, BICA research is also yielding interesting and practical research
results right now.
A cognitive architecture, broadly speaking, is a computational framework for the
design of intelligent and even conscious agents. Cognitive architectures may draw their
inspiration from many sources, including pure mathematics or physics or abstract theo-
ries of cognition. A biologically inspired cognitive architecture (BICA), in particular, is
one that incorporates formal mechanisms from computational models of human and
animal cognition, drawn from cognitive science or neuroscience. The appeal of the
BICA approach should be obvious: currently human and animal brains provide the only
Copyright © 2010. IOS Press, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

physical examples of the level of robustness, flexibility, scalability and consciousness

that we want to achieve in artificial intelligence. So it makes sense to learn from them
regarding cognitive architectures: both for research aimed at closely replicating human
or animal intelligence, and also for research aimed at creating and using human-level
artificial intelligence more broadly.
Research on the BICA approach to intelligent agents has focused on several differ-
ent goals. Some BICA projects have a primary goal of accurately simulating human
behavior, either for purely scientific reasons – to understand how the human mind
works – or for applications in domains such as entertainment, education, military train-
ing, and the like. Others are concerned with even deeper correspondence between mod-
els and the human brain, going down to neuronal and sub-neuronal level. The goal in
this approach is to understand how the brain works. Yet another approach is concerned
with designing artificial systems that are successful, efficient, and robust at performing

1
A.V. Samsonovich (guest editor): International Journal of Machine Consciousness, special issue on Bio-
logically Inspired Cognitive Architectures, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2010.

Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
 vi

cognitive tasks that today only humans can perform, tasks that are important for practi-
cal applications in the human society and require interaction with humans. Finally,
there are BICA projects aimed broadly at creating generally intelligent software sys-
tems, without focus on any one application area, but also without a goal of closely
simulating human behavior. All four of these goals are represented in the various pa-
pers contained in this volume.
The term BICA was coined in 2005 by Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA), when it was used as the name of a DARPA program administered
by the Information Processing Technology Office (IPTO). The DARPA BICA program
was terminated in 2006 (more details are available at the DARPA BICA web page at
http://www.darpa.mil/ipto/programs/bica/bica.asp). Our usage of the term “BICA” is
similar to its usage in the DARPA program; however, the specific ideas and theoretical
paradigms presented in the papers here include many directions not encompassed by
DARPA’s vision at that time. Moreover, there is no connection between DARPA and
the BICA Society.
One of the more notable aspects of the BICA approach is its cross-disciplinary na-
ture. The human mind and brain are not architected based on the disciplinary bounda-
ries of modern science, and to understand them almost surely requires rich integration
of ideas from multiple fields including computer science, biology, psychology and
mathematics. The papers in this volume reflect this cross-disciplinarity in many ways.
Another notable aspect of BICA is its integrative nature. A well-thought BICA has
a certain holistic integrity to it, but also generally contains multiple subsystems, which
may in some cases be incorporated into different BICAs, or used in different ways than
the subsystem’s creator envisioned. Thus, the reader who is developing their own ap-
proach to cognitive architectures may find many insights in the papers contained here
useful for inspiring their own work or even importing into their own architecture, di-
rectly or in modified form.
Finally we would like to call attention to the relationship between cognition, em-
bodiment and development. In our view, to create a BICA with human-level general
intelligence, it may not be necessary to engineer all the relevant subsystems in their
mature and complete form. Rather, it may be sufficient to understand the mechanisms
of cognitive growth in a relatively simple form, and then let the mature forms arise via
Copyright © 2010. IOS Press, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

an adaptive developmental process. In this approach, one key goal of BICA research
becomes understanding what the key cognitive subsystems are, how do they develop,
and how they become adaptively integrated in a physical or virtual situated agent able
to perform tight interactions within its own body, the other entities and the surrounding
environment. With this sort of understanding in hand, it might well be possible to cre-
ate a BICA with human-level general learning capability, and teach it like a child. Po-
tentially, a population of such learners could ignite a cognitive chain reaction of learn-
ing from each other and from common resources, such as human instructors or the
Internet.
Currently BICA research is still at an early stage, and the practical capabilities of
BICA systems are relatively undeveloped. Furthermore, the relationships between the
ideas of various researchers in the field are not always clear; and there is considerable
knowledge in relevant disciplines that is not yet fully incorporated into our concrete
BICA designs. But BICA research is also rapidly developing, with each year bringing
significant new insights, moving us closer to our ambitious goals. In this sense, the
newborn BICA society, according to the intentions of the Founding Members, will be a
main vehicle for the growth and dissemination of breakthrough research in the field of

Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
 vii

BICA systems. The papers presented in this volume form part of this ongoing process,
as will the papers in the ongoing BICA conferences to follow.

Alexei V. Samsonovich, Kamilla R. Jóhannsdóttir,

Antonio Chella and Ben Goertzel
Editors
Copyright © 2010. IOS Press, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

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 This page intentionally left blank
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Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
 ix

BICA 2010 Conference Committees

Organizing Committee
Chairs
Alexei V. SAMSONOVICH
George Mason University, USA
Kamilla R. JÓHANNSDÓTTIR
University of Akureyri, Iceland

Core
Igor Aleksander (Imperial College London, UK)
Bernard J. Baars (The neurosciences Institute, USA)
Antonio Chella (University of Palermo, Italy)
Ben Goertzel (Novamente LLC, USA)
Stephen Grossberg (Boston University, USA)
Christian Lebiere (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
David C. Noelle (University of California Merced, USA)
Roberto Pirrone (University of Palermo, Italy)
Frank E. Ritter (Penn State University, USA)
Murray P. Shanahan (Imperial College London, UK)
Kristinn R. Thorisson (CADIA; Reykjavik University, Iceland)
Copyright © 2010. IOS Press, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Program Committee
Samuel S. Adams (Watson IBM Research, USA)
Itamar Arel (University of Tennessee, USA)
Son K. Dao (HRL Laboratories, LLC, USA)
Scott E. Fahlman (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
Ian Fasel (University of Arizona, USA)
Stan Franklin (University of Memphis, USA)
Eva Hudlicka (Psychometrix Assoc., USA)
Magnus Johnsson (Lund University Cognitive Science, Sweden)
Alexander A. Letichevsky (Glushkov Institute of Cybernetics, Ukraine)
Ali A. Minai (University of Cincinnati, USA)
Shane T. Mueller (Klein Associates Division / ARA Inc., USA)
Brandon Rohrer (Sandia National Laboratories, USA)
Ricardo Sanz (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain)
Colin T. Schmidt (Le Mans University & Arts et Metiers ParisTech, France)
Josefina Sierra (Technical University of Catalonia, Spain)

Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
 x

Terry Stewart (University of Waterloo, Canada)

Andrea Stocco (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
Bruce Swett (Decisive Analytics Corporation, USA)
Rodrigo Ventura (Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal)
Pei Wang (Temple University, USA)
Juyang (John) Weng (Michigan State University, USA)

Reviewers
James S. Albus Roberto Pirrone
Igor Aleksander Lorenzo Riano
Itamar Arel Frank E. Ritter
Bernard J. Baars Brandon Rohrer
Jonathan Brickliln Paul Rosenbloom
Antonio Chella Alexei Samsonovich
Son K. Dao Ricardo Sanz
Scott E. Fahlman Colin T. Schmidt
Ian Fasel Michael Sellers
Stan Franklin Murray P. Shanahan
Ben Goertzel Josefina Sierra
Stephen Grossberg Terry Stewart
Wan Ching Ho Andrea Stocco
Eva Hudlicka Leopold Stubenberg
Kamilla R. Jóhannsdóttir Bruce Swett
Magnus Johnsson Kristinn R. Thórisson
Benjamin Johnston Peter Tripodes
Christian Lebiere Akshay Vashist
Alexander A. Letichevsky Robert N. VanGulick
Ali A. Minai Craig M. Vineyard
Jonathan H. Morgan Rodrigo Ventura
Copyright © 2010. IOS Press, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Shane T. Mueller Pei Wang

David C. Noelle Mark Waser
Rony Novianto Juyang (John) Weng

BICA 2010 conference was held Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 12–14, 2010,
in Arlington, Virginia, USA.

Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
 xi

Contents
Preface v
Alexei V. Samsonovich, Kamilla R. Jóhannsdóttir, Antonio Chella and
Ben Goertzel
BICA 2010 Conference Committees ix

Conference Papers and Extended Abstracts

Reverse Engineering the Vision System 3

James Albus
Application Feedback in Guiding a Deep-Layered Perception Model 4
Itamar Arel and Shay Berant
NeuroNavigator: A Biologically Inspired Universal Cognitive Microcircuit 10
Giorgio A. Ascoli and Alexei V. Samsonovich
BINAReE: Bayesian Integrated Neural Architecture for Reasoning and
Explanation 17
Robert (Rusty) Bobrow, Paul Robertson and Robert Laddaga
SCA-Net: A Sensation-Cognition-Action Network for Speech Processing 23
Michael Connolly Brady
A Connectionist Model of MT+/Mstd Explains Human Heading Perception in
the Presence of Moving Objects 24
N. Andrew Browning
Discovering the Visual Patterns Elicited by Human Scan-Path 25
Copyright © 2010. IOS Press, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Andrea Carbone
An Architecture for Humanoid Robot Expressing Emotions and Personality 33
Antonio Chella, Rosario Sorbello, Giorgio Vassallo and Giovanni Pilato
An Evolutionary Approach to Building Artificial Minds 40
James L. Eilbert
Explanatory Aspirations and the Scandal of Cognitive Neuroscience 42
Ross W. Gayler, Simon D. Levy and Rens Bod
An Experimental Cognitive Robot 52
Pentti O.A. Haikonen
Dopamine and Self-Directed Learning 58
Seth Herd, Brian Mingus and Randall O’Reilly
Modelling Human Memory in Robotic Companions for Personalisation and
Long-Term Adaptation in HRI 64
Wan Ching Ho, Kerstin Dautenhahn, Mei Yii Lim and Kyron Du Casse

Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
 xii

Assessing the Role of Metacognition in GMU BICA 72

Michael Q. Kalish, Alexei V. Samsonovich, Mark A. Coletti and
Kenneth A. De Jong
Towards Understanding Trust Through Computational Cognitive Modeling 78
William G. Kennedy
An Externalist and Fringe Inspired Cognitive Architecture 79
Riccardo Manzotti
Architecture of the Mind with Artificial Neurons 85
Deepak J. Nath
Online Event Segmentation in Active Perception Using Adaptive Strong
Anticipation 86
Bruno Nery and Rodrigo Ventura
Four Kinds of Learning in One Agent-Oriented Environment 92
Sergei Nirenburg, Marjorie McShane, Stephen Beale, Jesse English
and Roberta Catizone
Attention in the ASMO Cognitive Architecture 98
Rony Novianto, Benjamin Johnston and Mary-Anne Williams
On the Emergence of Novel Behaviours from Complex Non Linear Systems 106
Lorenzo Riano and T.M. McGinnity
GRAVA – Context Programming 113
Paul Robertson and Robert Laddaga
Implementing First-Order Variables in a Graphical Cognitive Architecture 119
Paul Rosenbloom
Cathexis: An Emotional Basis for Human-Like Learning 125
Michael Sellers
Biological and Psycholinguistic Influences on Architectures for Natural
Copyright © 2010. IOS Press, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Language Processing 131

John F. Sowa
A Bio-Inspired Model for Executive Control 137
Narayan Srinivasa and Suhas E. Chelian
Neural Symbolic Decision Making: A Scalable and Realistic Foundation for
Cognitive Architectures 147
Terrence C. Stewart and Chris Eliasmith
The Role of the Basal Ganglia – Anterior Prefrontal Circuit as a Biological
Instruction Interpreter 153
Andrea Stocco, Christian Lebiere, Randall C. O’Reilly and
John R. Anderson
Learning to Recognize Objects in Images Using Anisotropic Nonparametric
Kernels 163
Douglas Summers-Stay and Yiannis Aloimonos

Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
 xiii

Disciple Cognitive Agents: Learning, Problem Solving Assistance, and

Tutoring 169
Gheorghe Tecuci, Mihai Boicu, Dorin Marcu and David Schum
Attention Focusing Model for Nexting Based on Learning and Reasoning 170
Akshay Vashist and Shoshana Loeb
A Neurologically Plausible Artificial Neural Network Computational
Architecture of Episodic Memory and Recall 175
Craig M. Vineyard, Michael L. Bernard, Shawn E. Taylor,
Thomas P. Caudell, Patrick Watson, Stephen Verzi, Neal J. Cohen
and Howard Eichenbaum
Validating a High Level Behavioral Representation Language (HERBAL):
A Docking Study for ACT-R 181
Changkun Zhao, Jaehyon Paik, Jonathan H. Morgan and Frank E. Ritter

Manifesto

Introducing the BICA Society 191

Alexei V. Samsonovich, Kamilla R. Jóhannsdóttir, Andrea Stocco and
Antonio Chella

Review

Toward a Unified Catalog of Implemented Cognitive Architectures 195

Alexei V. Samsonovich

Subject Index 245

Author Index 247
Copyright © 2010. IOS Press, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

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 This page intentionally left blank
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Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
 Conference Papers and Extended Abstracts
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 This page intentionally left blank
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Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
 Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 3
A.V. Samsonovich et al. (Eds.)
IOS Press, 2010
© 2010 The authors and IOS Press. All rights reserved.
doi:10.3233/978-1-60750-661-4-3

Reverse Engineering the Vision System

James ALBUS
Krasnow Institute for Advanced Studies, George Mason University
4400 University Drive MS 2A1, Fairfax, VA 22030-4444, USA
[email protected]

Abstract

The vision system is perhaps the most well understood part of the neocortex. The input
from the eyes consists of a set of images made up of pixels that are densely packed in
the fovea and less so in the periphery. Each pixel is represented by a vector of
attributes such as color, brightness, spatial and temporal derivatives. Pixels from each
eye are registered in the lateral geniculate nucleus and projected to the cortex where
they are processed by a hierarchy of array processors that detect features and patterns
and compute their attributes, state, and relationships. These array processors consist of
Cortical Computational Units (CCUs) made up of cortical hypercolumns and their
underlying thalamic and other subcortical nuclei. Each CCU is capable of performing
complex computational functions and communicating with other CCUs at the same and
higher and lower levels. The entire visual processing hierarchy generates a rich,
colorful, dynamic internal representation that is consciously perceived to be external
reality. It is suggested that it may be possible to reverse engineer the human vision
system in the near future [1].

References
Copyright © 2010. IOS Press, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

[1] J.S. Albus, Reverse Engineering the Brain, International Journal of Machine Consciousness 2 (2010),
193-211.

Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
 4 Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010
A.V. Samsonovich et al. (Eds.)
IOS Press, 2010
© 2010 The authors and IOS Press. All rights reserved.
doi:10.3233/978-1-60750-661-4-4

Application Feedback in Guiding a Deep-

Layered Perception Model
Itamar Arela and Shay Berantb
a
Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, University of Tennessee
b
Binatix, Inc., Palo Alto, CA

Abstract. Deep-layer machine learning architectures continue to emerge as a

promising biologically-inspired framework for achieving scalable perception in
artificial agents. State inference is a consequence of robust perception, allowing
the agent to interpret the environment with which it interacts and map such
interpretation to desirable actions. However, in existing deep learning schemes, the
perception process is guided purely by spatial regularities in the observations, with
no feedback provided from the target application (e.g. classification, control). In
this paper, we propose a simple yet powerful feedback mechanism, based on
adjusting the sample presentation distribution, which guides the perception model
in allocating resources for patterns observed. As a result, a much more focused
state inference can be achieved leading to greater accuracy and overall
performance. The proposed paradigm is demonstrated on a small-scale yet
complex image recognition task, clearly illustrating the advantage of incorporating
feedback in a deep-learning based cognitive architecture.

Keywords. Deep-layered machine learning, perception, spatiotemporal inference.

Introduction

Perception is at the core of intelligent systems. The vast amount of information that
Copyright © 2010. IOS Press, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

humans (and advanced robotic systems) are exposed to every second of the day is
driven by sensory inputs that span a huge observation space. The latter is due to the
natural complexity of the world with which such systems interact. This inestimable
amount of information must be somehow efficiently represented if one is to
successfully function in the real-world. Deep machine learning (DML) is an emerging
field [1] within cognitive computing which may be viewed as a framework for
effectively coping with vast amounts of sensory information.
One of the key challenges facing the field of cognitive computing is perception in
high-dimensional sensory inputs. An application domain in which this challenge clearly
arises is pattern recognition in large images, where an input may comprise of millions
of pixels. These millions of simultaneous input variables span an enormous space of
possible observations. In order to infer the content perceived, a system is required to
map each observation to a possible set of recognized patterns. However, due to a
phenomenon known as the curse of dimensionality [2], the complexity of training a
system to map observations to recognized pattern classes grows exponentially with the
number of input variables. Such growth primarily pertains to the number of examples
the system is required to be presented with prior to becoming adequately proficient.

Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
 I. Arel and S. Berant / Application Feedback in Guiding a Deep-Layered Perception Model 5

A common approach to overcome the curse of dimensionality is to pre-process the

data in a manner that reduces its dimensionality to such a level that can be effectively
processed by a classification module, such as a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) artificial
neural network. Such dimensionality reduction is often referred to as feature extraction.
Its goal is to retain the key information needed to correctly classify the input within a
lower-dimensional space. As a result, it can be argued that the intelligence behind
many pattern recognition systems has shifted to human-engineered feature extraction
processes, which at times are very difficult and highly application-dependent.
Moreover, if incomplete, distorted or erroneous features are extracted classification
performance may degrade significantly.
Some recent neuroscience [3][4] findings have provided insight into the principles
governing information representation in the mammal brain, leading to new ideas for
designing systems that represent information. One of the key findings has been that the
neocortex, which is associated with many cognitive abilities, does not explicitly pre-
process sensory signals, but rather allows them to propagate through a complex
hierarchy of modules that, over time, learn to represent observations based on the
regularities they exhibit. Such hierarchical representation offers many advantages,
including robustness to diverse range of noise and distortions in the data, as well as the
ability to cope with missing or erroneous inputs.
DML continues to emerge as a promising, biologically-inspired framework for
complex pattern inference. A key assumption in DML is that representation is driven
by regularities in the observations. As one ascends the hierarchical architecture of
DML systems, more abstract notions are formed. Hence, in higher layers of the
hierarchy scope is gained while detail is lost. This appears to be a pragmatic trade off,
as well as a biologically plausible one. In the context of artificial general intelligence
(AGI) [5], one can view perception as being identical to modeling data, in the sense
that partial observations of a large visual field are utilized in inferring the state of the
world with which the agent interacts.
In most existing deep learning schemes [6][7] there is either none or weak
relationship between the (unsupervised) training of the model (DML) engine and the
decision making modules. This forces DML systems to form a representation purely
based on regularities in the observation rather than being driven also by the application
Copyright © 2010. IOS Press, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

at hand (e.g. visual pattern recognition). It is well known, for example, that neurons in
layer IV of the neocortex receive all of the synaptic connections from outside the cortex
(mostly from thalamus), and themselves make short-range, local connections to other
cortical layers. This suggests that learning may not be driven exclusively by
regularities in the observations, but rather co-guided by external signals.
In this paper we present an elegant methodology for guiding the representation of a
DML system such that it serves as a more relevant perception engine, yielding
improved classification accuracy. The approach is based on adjusting the DML sample
presentation distribution as it is trained such that relevant salient features can be
hierarchically captured.
The rest of this paper is structured as follows. In section 1 we outline the proposed
deep learning system and its operational modes. Section 2 describes the proposed
feedback-based scheme for guiding DML representation. Section 3 describes the
simulation results while in Section 4 conclusions are drawn.

Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
 6 I. Arel and S. Berant / Application Feedback in Guiding a Deep-Layered Perception Model

1. Deep-layered Inference Engine

The proposed DML architecture comprises of a hierarchy of multiple layers each

hosting a set of identical cortical circuits (or nodes), which are homogeneous to the
entire system, as illustrated in Figure 1. Each node models the inputs it receives in an
identical manner to all other nodes. This modeling, which can be viewed as a form of
lossy compression, essentially represents the inputs in a compact form that captures
only the dominant regularities in the observations. The system is trained in an
unsupervised manner by exposing the hierarchy to a large set of observations and
letting the salient attributes of the inputs be formed across the layers. Next, signals are
extracted from this deep-layered inference engine to a supervised classifier for the
purpose of robust pattern recognition. Robustness here refers to the ability to exhibit
classification invariance to a diverse range of transformations and distortions, including
noise, scale, rotation, displacement, etc.

Deep-layer
Inference Network
Copyright © 2010. IOS Press, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Figure 1. Deep-layered visual perception network comprising multiple layers hosting identical cortical
circuits. The lowest layer of the hierarchy receives raw sensory inputs. Features generated by the cortical
circuits are passed as input to a supervised classifier.

The internal signals of the cortical circuits comprising the hierarchy may be
viewed as forming a feature space, thus capturing salient characteristics of the
observations. The top layers of the hierarchy capture broader, more abstract, features of
the input data, which are often most relevant for the purpose of pattern recognition.
The nature of this deeply-layered inference architecture involves decomposing
high-dimensional inputs into smaller patches, representing these patched in a compact
manner and hierarchically learning the relationships between these representations
across multiple scales. The underlying assumption is that input signal proximity is
coherent with the nature of the data structure that is being represented. As an example,
two pixels in an image, which are in close proximity, are assumed to exhibit stronger
correlation than that exhibited by two pixels that are very distant. This assumption

Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2010 : Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the BICA Society, edited by A. V.
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=§ BRIDGE COUNTY GEOGRAPHIES CO •S o -CD - ^ jSI

;co =" CAITHNESS AND SUTHERLAND
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Reference to Parishes Caithness 1 Keay 6 J3 2 Thurso 7

Wick 3 Olrig 8 Waiter 4 Dunnet 9 SaUark 5 Canisbay ID IcaJieran.
Sutherland Durnesx 3 Tatujue 4 Ibrr 10 5 Xildsjnan 11 6 LoiK 12
CamJbriA.gt University fi
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PHYSICAL MAP OF CAITHNESS & SUTHERLAND Statute

Afiie* Copyright George FkOip ,6 Soni6!
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CAITHNESS AND SUTHERLAND

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CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS C. F. CLAY, MANAGER

LONDON : FETTER LANE, E.C.4 NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN CO.
BOMBAY | CALCUTTA !- MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD. MADRAS J
TORONTO : THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TOKYO :
MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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CAITHNESS AND SUTHERLAND by H. F. CAMPBELL M.A.,

B.L., F.R.S.G.S. Advocate in Aberdeen With Maps, Diagrams, and
Illustrations CAMBRIDGE AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1920
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Printed in Great Britain ly Turnbull &* Spears, Edinburgh

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CONTENTS CAITHNESS PACK 1. County and Shire. Origin

and Administration of Caithness ...... i 2. General Characteristics ....
4 3. Size. Shape. Boundaries. Surface . . 7 4. Watershed. Rivers.
Lakes . . . 10 5. Geology and Soil . . • . . . . 12 6. Natural History 19
7. Coast Line ....... 25 8. Coastal Gains and Losses. Lighthouses . .
27 9. Climate and Weather . . . . 29 10. The People — Race,
Language, Population . 33 11. Agriculture 39 12. Fishing and other
Industries .... 42 13. Shipping and Trade ..... 44 14. History of the
County . . . . . 46 15. Antiquities . . . . . . 52 1 6. Architecture — (a)
Ecclesiastical . . . 61 17. Architecture — (6) Military, Municipal,
Domestic 62 1 8. Communications . . . . . . 67 19. Roll of Honour 69
20. Chief Towns and Villages of Caithness . . 73
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vi CONTENTS SUTHERLAND PAGE 1. County and Shire.

Origin of Sutherland ., 79 2. General Characteristics . . ... . , J 82 3.
Size. Shape. Boundaries . . -.'-. . 84 4. Surface. General Features . ; .
. 86 5. Watersheds. Rivers. Lakes . - . •, I . 88 6. Geology and Soil . .
„ •:" . . ! . 91 7. Natural History . . . . . , 94 8. The Coast Line.
Coastal Gains and Losses . 100 9. Climate . . . . - . . . 104 10. People
— Race, Language, Population . > 105 n. Agriculture . . . . ... ^ .
108 12. Industries. Manufactures. Mines. Minerals 112 13. Fisheries
and Fishing Stations : . . \ .' 116 14. Shipping and Trade . . . . , 118
15. History of the County . . . . '. 119 16. Antiquities . . . jv ."..;. 127
17. Architecture — (a) Ecclesiastical . / . . 136 1 8. Architecture —
(b) Military ~. .-'..'.' . . 140 19. Architecture — (c) Municipal and
Domestic . 142 20. Communications — Past and Present . . 147 21.
Administrative Divisions . . . - . 151 22. Roll of Honour ... . . . 153
23. Chief Towns and Villages of Sutherland . . 159
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ILLUSTRATIONS CAITHNESS PACE Fishing Boats leaving

Wick Harbour . . 5 John o' Groats ....... 6 Dunnet Head . . . . . . . 9
Palaeospondylus gunni . . . . .16 Castle Nestaig, Stroma . . . . . 17
Puffins, Dunnet Head . . . . . . . 24 Brig o' Trams, Wick 26 Tinkers'
Cave . . . . • . . .28 Bronze Armlet .... -35 Norse Brooch of Bronze . .
. '« . 36 Celtic Brooch . . . . . . . 37 Fish- workers . . . . . . . 38 Wick
Harbour . . . . ... 43 Ogham Stone, Latheron . . . . . 47 Cross with
Runic Inscription, Thurso ... 48 Long Cairn, Yarhouse, No. i . . -. 53
Long Cairn, Yarhouse, No. 2 . ' . • * . 54 View of Passage and
Chamber, Long Cairn, No. i . 55 Short Cairn, Ormiegill . . . . . . 56
Ground Plan of Broch, Yarhouse 58 Silver Tankard from a " Pict's
House " in Canisbay 59 Tortoise Brooch from Castletown . . . . 60
Ackergill Tower . . . . . .63
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viii ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Castles Sinclair and Girnigoe . . .

64 Keiss Castle and Tower 65 Thumster House . . . . ... 66 Sir John
Sinclair . . . . . .71 Wick High School . . . . . . 76 SUTHERLAND
Dornoch . . . . . . , . 80 Seal of Dornoch ..... ., . 81 Scene near the
head of Loch Assynt ... 83 Loch Migdale . . . . . . 90 Olenellus *........
93 Sir Robert Gordon . . . . . . 96 Cape Wrath ....... 101 Dunrobin
Castle in 1812 . . . . . 106 Spinningdale . . '. . . : . : , 113 Lady Jean
Gordon . . . . . .114 Fishwife, Embo . . . . ... 117 Earl's Cross . . . .
••* . , 120 Bishop's Seal .... . ., ; - 121 Bishop's Palace, Dornoch . . .
;' . 122 Seal of William, Fifth Earl of Sutherland ,.;' . 123 Seal of
John, Eighth Earl of Sutherland . . 123 Stone Circle, Aberscross . . . .
. 130 Dun Dornadilla . . . . ....' , 131 Doorway of Dun Dornadilla . . -
•, • . . . 131 Castle Cole , .... 132 Hut Circle, Ascaig . . . . . . 133
Ground Plan of Hut Circle, Ascaig ." . ., . 133 The Farr Stone . . . . .
.*.. . 134
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ILLUSTRATIONS ix PAGE Diagram of the Fair Stone ... 135

Tomb in the Old Church of Durness . . .139 Helmsdale Castle . .141
Creich House . .143 Embo House ... .144 Skibo Castle ... 145
Dunrobin Castle . . . . . . . 146 The Mound 148 John, Thirteenth Earl
of Sutherland . . .154 Lieut. -General Hugh Mackay . . . 155 Dr
Gustavus Aird . . . . .158 The Witch's Stone, Dornoch . . . .160 Smoo
Cave, Durness . . . . . . 161 MAPS AND DIAGRAMS Rainfall Map of
Scotland 32 General Diagrams . . . . . .164 Orographical Map of
Caithness and Sutherland Front Cover Geological Map of Caithness
and Sutherland Back Cover The illustrations on pp. 5, 6, 9, 17, 24,
28, 38, 43, 63, 64, 65, 66, 76 are from photographs by Mr A.
Johnston ; those on pp. 26, 120, 122, 148 from photographs by
Valentine & Sons, Ltd. ; those on pp. 35, 36, 37, 47, 48, 53. 54. 55.
56i 58. 59. 60,130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135 are reproduced by
permission of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland ; those on pp. 83,
139, 146 from photographs by Mr F. Hardie ; that on p. 93 is
reproduced by arrangement with Ch. Griffin £ Co., Ltd. ; those on p.
96, 106, 114, 121, 123, 154 are reproduced by permission of His
Grace the Duke of Sutherland ; those on pp. 101 and 161 are from
photographs by the Geological Survey, Scotland; those on pp. 113,
145, and 158 are from photographs by Mr R. R. Johnstone, Mr D.
Leith, and Mr D. Whyte respectively ; that on p. 144 is reproduced
by permission of Mr J. Macintosh of Embo.
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CAITHNESS i. County and Shire: Origin and Administration

of Caithness The Anglo-Saxon term shire and the Norman-French
county gradually came into use in Scotland during the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries to denote the larger administrative areas.
Though Ross and Caithness had been formed into bishoprics in the
twelfth century neither district had at that time been constituted a
shire. The earliest extant list of the Scottish sheriffdoms is contained
in an " Ordonnance " of Edward I in 1305 for the government of
Scotland. At this period the sheriffdom of Inverness included the
whole of Ross, Sutherland, and Caithness. The country north of the
Oykell was in Gaelic named " Cataobh," which may be connected
with " Catti," Ptolemy's name for the inhabitants in the second
century. Hence the northeast corner of this district got from the
Norse the name " Catey-nes." The first Earl of Caithness of the
Sinclair line received in 1455, besides his earldom, a grant of the
justiciary and sheriffdom of Caithness. In 1503 the Scots Parliament
enacted that, owing to the distance of the northern parts of the
sheriffdom from Inverness, courts might be held at Dornoch and "
Wik," but the jurisdiction of the sheriff of Inverness was expressly
reserved. i
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2 CAITHNESS Important cases, such as the infeftment or

service of the leading nobles, were still taken at Inverness. Sir
Robert Gordon's success in getting Sutherland made a shire in 1631
seems to have stimulated the Earl of Caithness to secure similar
privileges for his own county. In 1641 Parliament granted a
Ratification to the town of Wick, declaring it to be the head burgh of
the sheriffdom of Caithness. The Earl of Caithness was nominated
sheriff of the new shire, and towards the end of the seventeenth
century this heritable jurisdiction was sold to Sinclair of Ulbster. At
the date of the abolition of these jurisdictions in 1747 a sum of
£5000 was paid to Sinclair of Ulbster in compensation for the loss of
the heritable jurisdiction of Caithness. The sheriff depute (known
after 1829 as the sheriff principal) was formerly appointed by the
heritable sheriff, but the appointment now belongs to the crown. In
1853 the counties of Sutherland and Caithness were united into one
sheriff dom. In 1870 Caithness was detached from Sutherland and
joined to Orkney and Shetland, while Sutherland was united with
Ross and Cromarty. In the administration of public health and
education it would seem that ancient relations between Caithness
and Sutherland bid fair to be revived, and the two counties were in
1918 united into one parliamentary constituency. The parishes of the
county, nearly all created in the time of Bishop Gilbert (1223-45),
have for seven centuries formed the limits of the local ecclesiastical
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COUNTY AND SHIRE 3 jurisdictions. The county contains

ten parishes constituting the presbytery of Caithness. The two
presbyteries of Dornoch and Tongue in Sutherland and the
presbytery of Caithness form the Synod of Sutherland and Caithness,
which is co-extensive with the ancient bishopric of Caithness. The
parishes form the areas for Parish Councils, created in 1894.
Education is administered by the County Education Authority,
created in 1918. The Higher Grade Schools in Wick and Thurso are
practically secondary schools, while those at Halkirk, Castletown, and
Lybster prepare pupils up to the intermediate stage. Soon after the
erection of Caithness into a shire in 1641, Commissioners of the
shire were appointed to provide supplies of men and equipment for
the Scots Army which fought against Charles I. These
Commissioners of Supply became the administrative authority for the
county and continued to be so until the creation of County Councils
by the Local Government (Scotland) Act of 1889. The chief executive
officers of the county are the Lord-Lieutenant — head of the Court
of Lieutenancy — and the Sheriff. Under the Disarming Acts passed
in 1716 and 1724 and other older statutes the Lord-Lieutenant
possessed a certain military jurisdiction, but in 1907 the County
Territorial Force Association took over the military administration of
the territorial forces within the county. Prior to the war these forces
in Caithness were attached to the Seaforth Highlanders, with
headquarters for the regulars at Fort George and for territorials at
Golspie.
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4 CAITHNESS The administration of the police of the county

is vested in a Joint Committee appointed by the County Council and
the Commissioners of Supply. The County Road Board consists of
members of the County Council and representatives of the Parish
Councils. Public Health is administered by the County Council in the
county and by the Town Council in Wick, the only royal burgh in
Caithness. Thurso, a burgh of barony, possesses its own burghal
administration for general purposes. The administration of state
insurance is vested in a County Insurance Committee. Under the
Licensing Acts there is a County Licensing Court, composed partly of
county councillors and partly of justices of the peace. In the
administration of mental deficiency Caithness is associated with a
southern District Board instead of with the neighbouring counties of
Inverness, Ross, and Sutherland. For the purposes of agricultural
education the county is included in the district of the North of
Scotland College of Agriculture. 2. General Characteristics Stretching
in a north-easterly direction between the North Sea and the Pentland
Firth, the lowland part of Caithness, wind-swept and treeless, has
few scenic features to delight the eye. Yet it has its compensations.
It is the same bountiful land, rich in cornfield and meadow, which
ages ago attracted the hungry Vikings of barren Norway. The upland
moors, the resort of
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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS 5 the red grouse, the curlew,

and the golden plover, possess the same fascination that yearly
attracts thousands of tourists to the Scottish Highlands. These
uplands culminate in the striking peaks of Scaraben (2054) and
Morven (2313), the latter a familiar landmark to Fishing Boats
leaving Wick Harbour the fishermen and seamen who frequent the
Moray Firth. The feature of the Caithness coast region is its rock
scenery. The Atlantic breakers beating on some of the bolder
northern cliffs at a time of heavy gales form an imposing spectacle,
and at such times the harbours of Scrabster and Wick experience the
terrific forces of nature.
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6 CAITHNESS Industrially the Wick herring fishing, though

shorn somewhat of its former dimensions, remains the most
prominent feature. The outgoing or returning herring fleet is a most
attractive spectacle though the newer motor boats and drifters
yield* in picturesqueness to the old sailing fleet. Caithness has a
considerable John o' Groats export and import trade, so that the
harbour of Wick has for fully a century been a busy centre of
industry. The people of Caithness, whether engaged in seafaring
pursuits, in agriculture, or in commerce, have long enjoyed a
reputation for sturdy energy and industry. They are upright and
straightforward in all their dealings. The county also possesses a
goodly
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