WK 6 Neural and Social Networks
WK 6 Neural and Social Networks
WK 6 Neural and Social Networks
NEURAL
AND
SOCIAL NETWORKS
• Neural networks (also referred to as connectionist systems) are a computational
approach, which is based on a large collection of neural units (AKA
artificial neurons), loosely modeling the way a biological brain solves problems
with large clusters of biological neurons connected by axons. Each neural unit is
connected with many others, and links can be enforcing or inhibitory in their effect
on the activation state of connected neural units. Each individual neural unit may
have a summation function which combines the values of all its inputs together.
There may be a threshold function or limiting function on each connection and on
the unit itself: such that the signal must surpass the limit before propagating to
other neurons. These systems are self-learning and trained, rather than explicitly
programmed, and excel in areas where the solution or feature detection is difficult
to express in a traditional computer program.
• Neural networks typically consist of multiple layers or a cube design, and the
signal path traverses from front to back. Back propagation is where the forward
stimulation is used to reset weights on the "front" neural units and this is
sometimes done in combination with training where the correct result is known.
More modern networks are a bit more free flowing in terms of stimulation and
inhibition with connections interacting in a much more chaotic and complex fashion.
Dynamic neural networks are the most advanced- in that they dynamically can,
based on rules, form new connections and even new neural units while disabling
others.
• The goal of the neural network is to solve problems in the same way that the
human brain would, although several neural networks are more abstract. Modern
neural network projects typically work with a few thousand to a few million neural
units and millions of connections, which is still several orders of magnitude less
complex than the human brain and closer to the computing power of a worm.
• A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or
organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social
network perspective provides a set of methods for analyzing the structure of whole social
entities as well as a variety of theories explaining the patterns observed in these
structures. The study of these structures uses social network analysis to identify local and
global patterns, locate influential entities, and examine network dynamics.
• Social networks and the analysis of them is an inherently interdisciplinary academic field which
emerged from social psychology, sociology, statistics, and graph theory. Georg Simmel
authored early structural theories in sociology emphasizing the dynamics of triads and "web
of group affiliations". Jacob Moreno is credited with developing the first sociograms in the
1930s to study interpersonal relationships. These approaches were mathematically formalized
in the 1950s and theories and methods of social networks became pervasive in the social and
behavioral sciences by the 1980s. Social network analysis is now one of the major paradigms in
contemporary sociology, and is also employed in a number of other social and formal sciences.
Together with other complex networks, it forms part of the nascent field of network science.
How is neural network related to social network?