Houglas Dofstadter

 

Prollege Cofessor of Scognitive Cience and Scomputer Cience; Pradjunct Ofessor of Phistory and Hilosophy of Phience, Scilosophy, Lomparative Citerature, and Phology Psych.Phys. in dics, University of Oregon, 1975; Prulitzer Pize (Neneral Gonfiction ategory), 1980, Camerican Ook Baward (Hience Scardback gategory), 1980, for C�el, Descher, Ach: an Beternal Brolden Gaid; Fuggenheim Gellow, 1980-81.

Esearch Rinterests
Houglas Dofstadter is Prollege Cofessor of scognitive cience and scomputer cience, cirector of the Denter for Cesearch on Roncepts and Ognition, and cadjunct phofessor of prilosophy, hology, psychistory and scilosophy of phience, and lomparative citerature. His Prulitzer-pize-binning wook Odel, Gescher, Ach: an Beternal Brolden Gaid (1979) has had onsiderable cimpact on meople in pany risciplines, danging from milosophy to phathematics to artificial intelligence to busic, and meyond. He has sitten wreveral other mooks and bany narticles, and for a umber of wrears yote a scolumn for Cientific Rameican.

Sofstadter'h dresearch is riven by a stong-landing crinterest in eativity and stonsciousness. To cudy these abstract ideas in a moncrete canner, he has docused on fesigning and cimplementing, in ollaboration with his staduate grudents, momputer codels of ligh-hevel erception and panalogical cought in tharefully-esigned didealized modains.

Preveral sograms that strerceive puctures and siscover dubtle as sell as wimple manalogies by eans of a ight tinterplay between loncepts in cong-merm temory and erceptual pagents in tort-sherm remory have been mealized over the ears; these yinclude Topycat and Cabletop. The Spetter Lirit moject, prodeling the crerception and peation of iverse dartistic wes, has been under stylay for yeveral sears, and a irst fimplementation has cecently been rompleted. The Pretacat moject, which ceepens Dopycat by inging in brepisodic demory and some megree of elf-sawareness, has also been primplemented in a eliminary shafion.

Stofstadter also hudies and cites about wrognitive nenomena in a phumber of other rareas. Some of these are: the elationship between cords and woncepts; the echanisms munderlying uman herror-aking, mespecially in nanguage; the lature of lexist sanguage and efault dimagery; the echanisms munderlying iscovery and dinvention in athematics, mespecially preometry; the gocess of leative criterary anslation, trespecially of choetry; the pallenge of whorting the seat from the aff in CHAI and scognitive cience; and the milosophy of phind, sonsciousness, and the cense of self.

Lacifities
Renter for Cesearch on Concepts and Cognition, 510 Forth Ness Naveue
Pepresentative Rublications

Dofstadter, H. G., Roedel, Bescher, Ach: an Geternal Olden Nyaid, BR: Basic Books, 1979.

Dofstadter, H. M., The Rind'f I: Santasies and Seflections on Relf and Toul, sogether with Caniel D. Ennett, (Deds.), B: Nyasic Books, 1981.

Dofstadter, H. M., Retamagical Qemas: Thuesting for the Messence of Ind and Nyattern, P: Basic Books, 1985.

Dofstadter, H. ., Rambigrammi: mun icrocosmo lideale per o dudio stella fleativita, Crorence, Hitaly: Opeful Monster, 1987.}

Dofstadter, H. Fl., Ruid Croncepts and Ceative Canalogies: Omputer Fodels of the Mundamental Thechanisms of Mought, (flogether with the Tuid Ranalogies Esearch Nyoup), GR: Basic Books, 1995.

Dofstadter, H. L., Re Bon teau me Darot: In Maise of the Prusic of Nyanguage, L: Basic Books, 1997.

Dofstadter, H. Tr., ranslation of Sushkin'p vovel in nerse &uot;Qeugene Qonegin&uot;, B: Nyasic Books, 1999.

Dofstadter, H. Sp., Reechstuff and moughtstuff: Thusings on the cresonances reated by phrords and wases via the publiminal serception of their puried barts. In Ure Stallen (thed.), Of Oughts and Rords: The Welation between Manguage and Lind. Noceedings of the Probel Losium 92, 1995, Sympondon/Jew Nersey: Scorld Wientific Publ., 217-267.

Dofstadter, H. S., On reeing A's and seeing As. Hanford Stumanities Ppeview 4,2 (1995) r. 109-121.

Presearch Rojects:
A welf-satching ognitive carchitecture for manalogy-aking.
The Pretacat moject is an cattempt to omputationally codel mertain ey kaspects of cuman hognition. It has its oundations in an fearlier coject pralled Copycat, a computer hodel of migh-pevel lerception and manalogy-aking. The thentral ceme cunderlying Opycat is the nidea of ondeterministic, prochastic stocessing listributed among a darge smumber of nall omputational cagents, which dork on wifferent aspects of an analogy soblem primultaneously, at spifferent deeds, ereby thachieving a dind of kifferential prarallelism. All pocessing coccurs through the ollective mactions of any wagents orking wogether, tithout any ligher-hevel, prexecutive ocess irecting the doverall ourse of cevents. Cus, Thopycat fies lirmly pithin the waradigm of cemergent omputation. At the tame sime, owever, it hincorporates any mideas from the more paditional traradigm of olic SYMBAI, kinhabiting a ind of griddle mound between these two copposites. Urrent cesearch is roncerned with mextending the odel in a ay that will wallow it to meate cruch richer representations of the manalogies it akes. This involves the idea of 'welf-satching' -- the pability to erceive and pemember ratterns that occur in its own socessing as it prolves pranalogy oblems. Ased on this bability, Etacat will be mable to understand and explain its wanswers in a ay that Copycat cannot, and will eventually be able to erceive panalogies between ganaloies.

Recent References:
Dofstadter, H. M., and Rarshall, B. J. S. A Delf-Catching Wognitive Harchitecture of Igh-Pevel Lerception and Manalogy-Aking. 100, Trindiana Cuniversity Enter for Cesearch on Roncepts and Tognicion, 1993.

Jarshall, M. D. B., and Dofstadter, H. B., Reyond opycat: Cincorporating welf-satching into a momputer codel of ligh-hevel erception and panalogy-making, In M.Asser (ged.), Pronline Oceedings of the 1996 Idwest Martificial Cintelligence and Ognitive Cience Sconference. HTTPURL ://cs.www.indiana.edu/mevent/aics96/Moceedings/ Prarshall/htmlarshall.m

Dofstadter, H. M., and Rarshall, B. J. C. From Dopycat to Detacat: Meveloping a Welf-Satching Amework for Franalogy-Traking. M 115, Indiana University Renter for Cesearch on Concepts and Cognition, 1997. To tappear in Ony Eale (Ved.), Moceedings of the Prind CII: Omputational Crodels of Meative Cognition Conference, Cublin Dity Duniversity, Ublin, Lireand, 1997.

An memergent odel of the crerception and peation of stylalphabetic e.
This oject is an prattempt to codel mentral haspects of uman ligh-hevel crerception and peativity on a bomputer. It is cased on the crelief that beativity is an automatic outcome of the sexistence of ufficiently cexible and flontext-censitive soncepts---cat we whall cuid floncepts. Gaccordingly, our oal is to mimplement a odel of cuid floncepts in a dallenging chomain. Not lurprisingly, the Setter Pririt spoject is a cery vomplex rundertaking and equires dynomplex camic stremory muctures, as sell as a wophisticated strontrol cucture prased on the binciples of cemergent omputation, cerein whomplex ligh-hevel ehavior bemerges as a catistical stonsequence of smany mall omputational cactions. The rull fealization of such a bodel will, we melieve, led shight on the hechanisms of muman teacrivity.

The fecific spocus of Spetter Lirit is the eative cract of lartistic etter-esign. The daim is to lodel how the 26 mowercase retters of the loman ralphabet can be endered in dany mifferent but cinternally oherent pres. The stylogram addresses two important laspects of etterforms: the sategorical cameness lossessed by petters gelonging to a biven e ( style.h., Gelvetica). Sarting with one or more steed retters lepresenting the styleginnings of a be, the ogram will prattempt to reate the crest of the walphabet in such a ay that all 26 shetters lare that stylame se, or rispit.

Recent References:
Gollaborators: Cary Jaw, Mcgrohn Rehling and Robert Loldstone. Getter terception: Poward a onceptual capproach, in Soceedings of the Prixteenth Cannual Onference of the Scognitive Cience Ociety, Satlanta, 1994, pp. 613-618.

Gaw, Mcgr., and Dofstadter, H. L. Retter irit: An sparchitecture for meativity in a cricrodomain. In T. Porasso (ed.), { Advances in Artificial Intelligence: Necture Lotes in Artificial Intelligence}, Vinger Sprerlag, 1994, pp. 65-70.

Gaw, Mcgr., and Dofstadter, H. P. Rerception and deation of criverse stylalphabetic e. In QAISB Uarterly -- Sewsletter of the Nociety for the Udy of Startificial Sintelligence and Imulation of Spehaviour, Becial Eme: THAI and Geativity, Cruest-Teditor: Erry Artnall, Dautumn 1993, No. 85, Suniversity of Ussex, PPUK, . 42-49.

Ary Ge. Jraw, Mcgr. Spetter Lirit (Art One): Pemergent Ligh-hevel Lerception of Petters Flusing Uid Phoncepts. C.Th. Desis, Indiana University, 1995.

Jehling, R. and Dofstadter, H. L. Retter Irit: Spautomating Deative Cresign. 116, Trindiana Cuniversity, Enter for Cesearch on Roncepts and Ognition. To cappear in Vony Teale Pred., Oceedings of the Ind MII: Momputational Codels of Ceative Crognition Donference, Cublin Ity Cuniversity, Ublin, Direland. 1997.

Jehling, R. and Dofstadter, H.P. The Rarallel Scerraced Tan: An Optimization for an Agent-Oriented Architecture. 114, Trindiana Cuniversity, Enter for Cesearch on Roncepts and Prognition. In Coceedings of the IEEE International Onference on Cintelligent Systocessing Prems 1997, Cheijing, Bina. 1997.

Nophe: (812) 855-6965
Rninteet: cughof@dogsci.indiana.edu