Virtual Lateral Inhibition in Parallel Activation Models of Associative Memory

This paper describes a new theory of how spreading a c t i v a t i o n may occur in assoc ia t ive memory models formulated as p a r a l l e l a c t i v a t i o n networks. The theory postu la tes t ha t compet i t ion fo r a c t i v a t i o n by nodes/concepts in a network is a fundamental p r i n c i p l e of memory r e t r i e v a l . Using only exc i t a t o r y connections between concepts, a s p e c i f i c implementation of t h i s model is able to demonstrate " v i r t u a l l a t e r a l i n h i b i t i o n " between compet i tors and other i n t e r e s t i n g behaviors that have requi red use of e x p l i c i t i n h i b i t o r y connections in the pas t .