Jeffrey Elman
Encyclopedia
Jeffrey L. Elman is Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science
at the University of California, San Diego
. He is a well-known psycholinguist
and pioneer in the field of neural networks
.
model of speech perception
in the mid-80s. TRACE remains a highly influential model that has stimulated a large body of empirical research.
In 1990, he introduced the Simple Recurrent neural network
(aka 'Elman network'), which is a widely-used recurrent neural network that is capable of processing sequentially ordered stimuli. Elman nets are used in a number of fields, including cognitive science, psychology, economics and physics, among many others.
In 1996, he co-authored (with Annette Karmiloff-Smith
, Elizabeth Bates
, Mark H. Johnson
, Domenico Parisi, and Kim Plunkett), the book Rethinking Innateness
, which argues against a strong nativist (innate) view on development.
Elman is an Inaugural Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society
, and also was its President, from 1999-2000. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the New Bulgarian University, and is the 2007 recipient of the David E. Rumelhart Prize for Theoretical Contributions to Cognitive Science. He is founding Co-Director of the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind at UC San Diego, Dean of Social Sciences, and holds the Chancellor's Associates Endowed Chair.
The Committee on Academic Freedom of the UC San Diego Academic Senate investigated a 2009 letter sent by Elman to a professor in the Sociology Department regarding an academic dispute with a colleague. In it Elman ordered him not to publish criticism of his colleague, saying it "may damage the reputation of a colleague" and result in "written censure, reduction in salary, demotion, suspension, or dismissal." In May 25, 2011, after hearing a report from the committee, the Senate The University of California San Diego faculty assembly "expressed 'grave concern' about what it deems a violation of academic freedom and called on the administration to acknowledge and correct the situation".
Cognitive science
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
at the University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
. He is a well-known psycholinguist
Psycholinguistics
Psycholinguistics or psychology of language is the study of the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to acquire, use, comprehend and produce language. Initial forays into psycholinguistics were largely philosophical ventures, due mainly to a lack of cohesive data on how the...
and pioneer in the field of neural networks
Neural Networks
Neural Networks is the official journal of the three oldest societies dedicated to research in neural networks: International Neural Network Society, European Neural Network Society and Japanese Neural Network Society, published by Elsevier...
.
Biography
With Jay McClelland, he developed the TRACETrace (psycholinguistics)
TRACE is a connectionist model of speech perception, proposed by James McClelland and Jeffrey Elman in 1986. TRACE was made into a working computer program for running perceptual simulations...
model of speech perception
Speech perception
Speech perception is the process by which the sounds of language are heard, interpreted and understood. The study of speech perception is closely linked to the fields of phonetics and phonology in linguistics and cognitive psychology and perception in psychology...
in the mid-80s. TRACE remains a highly influential model that has stimulated a large body of empirical research.
In 1990, he introduced the Simple Recurrent neural network
Recurrent neural network
A recurrent neural network is a class of neural network where connections between units form a directed cycle. This creates an internal state of the network which allows it to exhibit dynamic temporal behavior. Unlike feedforward neural networks, RNNs can use their internal memory to process...
(aka 'Elman network'), which is a widely-used recurrent neural network that is capable of processing sequentially ordered stimuli. Elman nets are used in a number of fields, including cognitive science, psychology, economics and physics, among many others.
In 1996, he co-authored (with Annette Karmiloff-Smith
Annette Karmiloff-Smith
Annette Karmiloff-Smith is a professorial research fellow at the Developmental Neurocognition Lab at Birkbeck, University of London. Before moving to Birbeck, she was Head of the Neurocognitive Development Unit at Institute of Child Health, University College, London...
, Elizabeth Bates
Elizabeth Bates
Elizabeth Bates was a Professor of psychology and cognitive science at the University of California, San Diego...
, Mark H. Johnson
Mark H. Johnson (professor)
Mark Johnson is a British cognitive neuroscientist who since 1997 is head of the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck, University of London....
, Domenico Parisi, and Kim Plunkett), the book Rethinking Innateness
Rethinking Innateness
Published in 1996 by Jeffrey Elman, Annette Karmiloff-Smith, Elizabeth Bates, Mark Johnson, Domenico Parisi, and Kim Plunkett, Rethinking Innateness: A connectionist perspective on development is a book regarding gene/environment interaction...
, which argues against a strong nativist (innate) view on development.
Elman is an Inaugural Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society
Cognitive Science Society
The Cognitive Science Society is a professional society for the interdisciplinary field of cognitive science. It brings together researchers from many fields who hold the common goal of understanding the nature of the human mind...
, and also was its President, from 1999-2000. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the New Bulgarian University, and is the 2007 recipient of the David E. Rumelhart Prize for Theoretical Contributions to Cognitive Science. He is founding Co-Director of the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind at UC San Diego, Dean of Social Sciences, and holds the Chancellor's Associates Endowed Chair.
The Committee on Academic Freedom of the UC San Diego Academic Senate investigated a 2009 letter sent by Elman to a professor in the Sociology Department regarding an academic dispute with a colleague. In it Elman ordered him not to publish criticism of his colleague, saying it "may damage the reputation of a colleague" and result in "written censure, reduction in salary, demotion, suspension, or dismissal." In May 25, 2011, after hearing a report from the committee, the Senate The University of California San Diego faculty assembly "expressed 'grave concern' about what it deems a violation of academic freedom and called on the administration to acknowledge and correct the situation".