STS 350
Read and respond exercise (a somewhat longer one)
Due: Wednesday, March 22 (in class).
Begin by re-reading the paper by Turing and the material in Marr on
representation. Finally go to the ACM portal on the library's web site (Research Gateway -> ACM
Portal) for the paper "Computer Science as Empirical Inquiry: Symbols and
Search" in the Communications of the ACM, March 1976, Vol 19 #3 pp 113 - 126.
Read this paper (it may take two or three readings) and reflect on it in a short essay which responds to
the following issues (together with any others that you want to
include):
- What is a physical symbol system? Please put this (and the
following) in your own words, as you would in explaining the idea
to someone you know). Avoid quoting too much.
- The Physical Symbol System Hypothesis says that a PPS has the
necessary and sufficient means for intelligent action. What is meant by "necessary" and what is
meant by "sufficient" in that
statement?
- What (in Newell and Simon's paper) is the role of search in
problem-solving?
- What is the thesis of the Newell and Simon paper? Justify your
answer with references to the text of the paper.