Connectionist technique for on-line parsing

Abstract

A technique is described that permits the on-line construction and dynamic modification of parse trees during the processing of sentence-like-input. The approach is a combination of simple recurrent network (SRN) and recursive auto-associative memory (RAAM). The parsing technique involves teaching the SRN to build RAAM representations as it processes its input item by item. The approach is a potential component of a larger connectionist natural language processing system, and could also be used as a tool in the cognitive modelling of language understanding. Unfortunately, the modified SRN demonstrates a limited capacity for generalization.