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surface phenomena through sensories such as eyes, ears, noses, tongues and
bodies. Imagery thought is based on the connection theories of neural networks
for highly parallel processing. Abstract thought is based on the theory of physical
symbol system in which abstract concepts are represented with languages. With
the effect of attention, different forms of thought are processed serially most of
the time.
The model of thought studies the interrelationships among these three forms
of thought, as well as the micro processes of transformation from one form to be
other. Presently, much progress has been made. For example, attractors of neural
networks can be used to represent problems such as associative memory and
image recognition. Yet there is still a long way to go for a thorough
understanding and application of the whole model. For example, further research
is needed on the micro-process from imagery thought to logical thought.
1.4 Symbolic Intelligence
What is intelligence? Intelligence involves purposeful actions, reasonable
thinking, as well as comprehensive capabilities to effectively adapt to the
environment. Generally speaking, intelligence is one's capabilities to understand
the objective world and apply knowledge to solve problems. Intelligence of an
individual consists of comprehensive capabilities, such as: capability to perceive
and understand objective things, the objective world and oneself; capability to
gain experience and acquire knowledge through learning; capability to
comprehend knowledge and apply knowledge and experience for problem
analysis and problem solving; capabilities of association, reasoning, judgment
and decision making; capability of linguistic abstraction and generalization;
capabilities of discovery, invention, creativity and innovation; capability to
timely, promptly and reasonably cope with the complex environments; capability
for predictions of and insights into the development and changes of things.
People live in the society, thus their intelligence is interrelated with the social
environments. With the continuous development of human society, concepts of
intelligence also evolve gradually.
AI (Artificial Intelligence), compared with natural intelligence of human,
aims at imitating, extending and augmenting human intelligence through
artificial means and techniques to achieve certain machine intelligence. The
science of AI focuses on computational models of intelligent behaviors, develops
