Theory
The main goal of the Soar project is to be able to handle the full range of capabilities of an intelligent agent, from highly routine to extremely difficult open-ended problems. In order for that to happen, according to the view underlying Soar, it needs to be able to create representations and use appropriate forms of knowledge (such as procedural, declarative, episodic). Soar should then address a collection of mechanisms of the mind. Also underlying the Soar architecture is the view that a symbolic system is essential for general intelligence (see brief comment on neats versus scruffies). This is known as the physical symbol system hypothesis. The views of cognition underlying Soar are tied to the psychological theory expressed in Allen Newell's book, Unified Theories of Cognition.
While symbol processing remains the core mechanism in the architecture, recent versions of the theory incorporate non-symbolic representations and processes, including reinforcement learning, imagery processing, and emotion modeling (Laird, 2008).
Although the ultimate goal for Soar is to achieve general intelligence, there is no claim that this goal has already been reached. Advocates of the system recognize that Soar is still missing some important aspects of intelligence. Some examples of missing capabilities include automatically creating new representations on its own, such as through hierarchical clustering.
Read more about this topic: Soar (cognitive Architecture)
Famous quotes containing the word theory:
“There never comes a point where a theory can be said to be true. The most that one can claim for any theory is that it has shared the successes of all its rivals and that it has passed at least one test which they have failed.”
—A.J. (Alfred Jules)
“Everything to which we concede existence is a posit from the standpoint of a description of the theory-building process, and simultaneously real from the standpoint of the theory that is being built. Nor let us look down on the standpoint of the theory as make-believe; for we can never do better than occupy the standpoint of some theory or other, the best we can muster at the time.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)
“The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any- price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.”
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)