Inferred Functions of Performance and Learning : 9780805845402

The objective of this book is to identify what the intelligent system that produces
responses must do to perform as it does. The analysis starts with the
performance variables that must be in place for the organism that does not
learn, and then overlays the functions required for learning. At one end of
the performance-learning spectrum is the simplest performance machine
and the simplest organism that is incapable of learning. At the other end is
the human with its amazing learning-performance capabilities. The analysis
applies to all organisms and machines within this spectrum. The overriding
rule for the analysis is that the task requirements are the same for any organism
or machine that performs the task. Therefore, any organism or machine
that does not meet all the requirements could not possibly perform
the task. Bipedal walking presents a set of basic requirements for any organism
that performs it or any machine that performs it in the same manner
the organisms do.

The book presents a series of meta-blueprints, which do not specify nuts
and bolts or circuits, but rather articulate the steps, content or specific information,
and logical operations required for the system to perform the
specified tasks. In other words, by designing specific machinery based on
the various meta-blueprints, it would be possible to design machines that
perform in