Anthony Robins, Our people, Department of Computer Science

Owheo Building, Room 2.53
Tel +64 3 479 8314
Email anthony.robins@otago.ac.nz

My background is in psychology and linguistics at the University of Canterbury (NZ), and cognitive science at the University of Sussex (UK). I joined the department as a lecturer in artificial intelligence in August 1989. My main areas of research are neural networks and computer science education.

I am interested in neural networks as a tool for modeling cognition, with a particular focus on modeling aspects of memory and forgetting. Much of my research has explored the problem known as "catastrophic forgetting", and whether the "pseudorehearsal" solution that I propose has anything to do with dreams (the consolidation of learning during sleep). I am part of the artificial intelligence group, which includes such topics such as defeasible reasoning.

My second main research focus is computer science education, particularly the teaching and learning of a first programming language. Introductory "CS1" programming courses typically have very rates of both failing and of excellent grades (with fewer "mid-range" grades than usual). I think that we can make sense of this apparent paradox in terms of the mechanisms of learning and the unusually dense / interconnected nature of programming language constructs. I have been involved in two international studies of novice programmers, the Scaffolding and BRACE projects.

I teach and coordinate COMP160, the Department's introductory programming paper (Java), and COSC420 Neural Networks. In 2012 I was awarded an Ako Aotearoa Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award. I love teaching at all levels, and have been involved with many robotics projects for local high schools, including helping to run the annual RoboCup Junior Otago competition.

Selected Publications

Robins, A. V. (2019) Novice programmers and introductory programming. In S. A. Fincher & A. V. Robins (Eds.) The Cambridge Handbook of Computing Education Research. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 327 - 376
Fincher, S. A. & Robins, A. V. (Eds) (2019) The Cambridge Handbook of Computing Education Research. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. [details]
Robins, A. Learning Edge Momentum. In Norbert Seel (Ed) Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Berlin: Springer. Volume 4, 1845 - 1848 (2011)
Robins A. Learning edge momentum: A new account of outcomes in CS1. Computer Science Education, 20, 37 - 71 (2010)
Abraham, C. & Robins A. Memory retention - the synaptic stability versus plasticity dilemma. Trends in Neuroscience, 28(2), 73 - 78 (2005).
Robins, A. & McCallum, S. A robust method for distinguishing between learned and spurious attractors. Neural Networks, 17, 313 - 326 (2004).
Robins, A., Rountree, J. & Rountree, N. Learning and teaching programming: A review and discussion. Computer Science Education, 13(2), 137 - 172 (2003).

For more publications, please check my Google Scholar profile

Publications

Samarasekara, C. K., Ott, C., & Robins, A. (2024). A framework identifying challenges and solutions for high school computing. Education & Information Technologies, 29, 15621-15654. doi: 10.1007/s10639-023-12329-9 Journal - Research Article

McAlister, H., Robins, A., & Szymanski, L. (2024). Prototype analysis in Hopfield networks with Hebbian learning. Neural Computation. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1162/neco_a_01704 Journal - Research Article

Blanchette, G., & Robins, A. (2024). Modelling supra-classical logic in a Boltzmann neural network: II incongruence. Journal of Logic & Computation, 34(1). doi: 10.1093/logcom/exac104 Journal - Research Article

Munasinghe, B., Bell, T., & Robins, A. (2023). Computational thinking and notional machines: The missing link. ACM Transactions on Computing Education. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1145/3627829 Journal - Research Article

Samarasekara, C. K., Ott, C., & Robins, A. (2023). Future scenarios for high school digital technology in New Zealand. Proceedings of the 25th Australasian Computing Education (ACE) Conference. (pp. 21-30). New York, NY: ACM. doi: 10.1145/3576123.3576126 Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

2024

Journal - Research Article

McAlister, H., Robins, A., & Szymanski, L. (2024). Prototype analysis in Hopfield networks with Hebbian learning. Neural Computation. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1162/neco_a_01704

Blanchette, G., & Robins, A. (2024). Modelling supra-classical logic in a Boltzmann neural network: II incongruence. Journal of Logic & Computation, 34(1). doi: 10.1093/logcom/exac104

2023

Journal - Research Article

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

2022

Journal - Research Article

Robins, A. V. (2022). Dual Process Theories: Computing cognition in context. ACM Transactions on Computing Education, 22(4), 41. doi: 10.1145/3487055

Journal - Research Other

Jedlicka, P., Tomko, M., Robins, A., & Abraham, W. C. (2022). Contributions by metaplasticity to solving the Catastrophic Forgetting Problem. Trends in Neurosciences, 45(9), 656-666. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2022.06.002

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Samarasekara, C. K., Ott, C., & Robins, A. (2022). Teachers’ Views on the Implementation of a New High School Computing Curriculum. In I. Jormanainen & A. Petersen (Eds.), Proceedings of the 22nd Koli Calling Conference on Computing Education Research. New York, NY: Association for Computer Machinery. doi: 10.1145/3564721.3564732

Samarasekara, C. K., Ott, C., & Robins, A. (2022). Barriers to New Zealand high school CS education: Learners' perspectives. Proceedings of the 53rd Annual SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education. (pp. 927-933). New York, NY: ACM. doi: 10.1145/3478431.3499344

2021

Journal - Research Article

Atkinson, C., McCane, B., Szymanski, L., & Robins, A. (2021). Pseudo-rehearsal: Achieving deep reinforcement learning without catastrophic forgetting. Neurocomputing, 428, 291-307. doi: 10.1016/j.neucom.2020.11.050

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Samarasekara, C. K., Ott, C., & Robins, A. (2021). A decade of CS education in New Zealand’s high schools: Where are we at? Proceedings of the 16th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education (WiPSCE). New York, NY: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/3481312.3481321

Samarasekara, C. K., Ott, C., & Robins, A. (2021). Students' perspectives on high school CS education in NZ. Proceedings of the 26th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE) (Vol. 2). (pp. 646). New York, NY: ACM. doi: 10.1145/3456565.3460070

Munasinghe, B., Bell, T., & Robins, A. (2021). Teachers' understanding of technical terms in a Computational Thinking curriculum. Proceedings of the 23rd Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE). (pp. 106-114). New York, NY: ACM. doi: 10.1145/3441636.3442311

2020

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Lewis, C. M., Bell, T., Blikstein, P., Carter, A. S., Falkner, K., Fincher, S. A., … Haden, P., … Robins, A., … Shephard, K., … Yadav, A. (2020). The Cambridge Handbook of Computing Education Research summarized in 75 minutes. Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE). (pp. 323-324). ACM. doi: 10.1145/3328778.3366988

2019

Edited Book - Research

Fincher, S. A., & Robins, A. V. (Eds.). (2019). The Cambridge handbook of computing education research. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108654555

Chapter in Book - Research

Robins, A. V. (2019). Novice programmers and introductory programming. In S. A. Fincher & A. V. Robins (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of computing education research. (pp. 327-376). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108654555

Fincher, S. A., & Robins, A. V. (2019). An important and timely field. In S. A. Fincher & A. V. Robins (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of computing education research. (pp. 1-8). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108654555

2018

Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report

Atkinson, C., McCane, B., Szymanski, L., & Robins, A. (2018). Pseudo-rehearsal: Achieving deep reinforcement learning without catastrophic forgetting. arXiv. 8p. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/abs/1812.02464

Atkinson, C., McCane, B., Szymanski, L., & Robins, A. (2018). Pseudo-recursal: Solving the catastrophic forgetting problem in deep neural networks (v2). arXiv. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.03875

2017

Chapter in Book - Research

Robins, A. (2017). Learning and teaching programming. In P. A. Laplante (Ed.), Encyclopedia of computer science and technology (Vol. 2). (2nd ed.) (pp. 551-561). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. [Encyclopaedia/Dictionary Entry].

Journal - Research Article

Gorman, C., Robins, A., & Knott, A. (2017). Hopfield networks as a model of of prototype-based category learning: A method to distinguish trained, spurious, and prototypical attractors. Neural Networks, 91, 76-84. doi: 10.1016/j.neunet.2017.04.007

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

McCane, B., Ott, C., Meek, N., & Robins, A. (2017). Mastery learning in introductory programming. Proceedings of the Nineteenth Australasian Computing Education (ACE) Conference. New York, NY: ACM. doi: 10.1145/3013499.3013501

Conference Contribution - Poster Presentation (not in published proceedings)

Mesbah, R., McCane, B., Mills, S., & Robins, A. (2017, November). Improving spatial context in CNNs for semantic medical image segmentation. Poster session presented at the 4th Asian Conference on Pattern Recognition, Nanjing, China.

2016

Journal - Research Article

Ott, C., Robins, A., & Shephard, K. (2016). Translating principles of effective feedback for students into the CS1 context. ACM Transactions on Computing Education, 16(1), 1. doi: 10.1145/2737596

2015

Journal - Research Article

Robins, A. (2015). The ongoing challenges of computer science education research. Computer Science Education, 25, 115-119. doi: 10.1080/08993408.2015.1034350

Ott, C., Robins, A., Haden, P., & Shephard, K. (2015). Illustrating performance indicators and course characteristics to support students’ self-regulated learning in CS1. Computer Science Education, 25(2), 174-198. doi: 10.1080/08993408.2015.1033129

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Robins, A. (2015, December). Artificial neural networks and catastrophic forgetting. Verbal presentation at the Memory Day Conference: Memory and Skill Across Time, Dunedin, New Zealand.

2014

Journal - Research Article

Walles, H., Robins, A., & Knott, A. (2014). A perceptually grounded model of the singular–plural distinction. Language & Cognition, 6(3), 327-369. doi: 10.1017/langcog.2014.9

Bell, T., Andreae, P., & Robins, A. (2014). A case study of the introduction of computer science in NZ schools. ACM Transactions on Computing Education, 14(2), 10. doi: 10.1145/2602485

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Ott, C., Robins, A., & Shephard, K. (2014). An infographic to support students' self-regulated learning. Proceedings of the 14th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education. (pp. 177-178). New York: ACM. doi: 10.1145/2674683.2674705

2013

Journal - Research Article

Rountree, J., Robins, A., & Rountree, N. (2013). Elaborating on threshold concepts. Computer Science Education, 23(3), 265-289. doi: 10.1080/08993408.2013.834748

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Walles, H., Robins, A., & Knott, A. (2013). A neural network model of visual attention and group classification, and its performance in a visual search task. In S. Cranefield & A. Nayak (Eds.), Advances in Artificial Intelligence: Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 8272). (pp. 98-103). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-03680-9_11

Thompson, D., Bell, T., Andreae, P., & Robins, A. (2013). The role of teachers in implementing curriculum changes. Proceedings of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE). (pp. 245-250). ACM. [Full Paper]

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Rountree, J., Robins, A., & Rountree, N. (2013). Fashionable, appealing, illusive, and still evolving: The notion of Threshold Concepts and their place in Computer Science education. In J. McDonald, S.-K. Loke, A. McLean & M. Rajoo (Eds.), Proceedings of the Spotlight on Teaching and Learning Colloquium. (pp. 52). Dunedin, New Zealand: HEDC, University of Otago. [Abstract]

Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report

Walles, H., Robins, A., & Knott, A. (2013). A neural network model of visual attention and object classification: Technical details [Technical Report OUCS-2013-09]. Dunedin, New Zealand: Department of Computer Science, University of Otago. 18p.

Other Research Output

Robins, A. (2013, September). Teaching, learning and the music of memory. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Inaugural Professorial Lecture].

2012

Chapter in Book - Research

Robins, A. (2012). Learning edge momentum. In N. M. Seel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the sciences of learning. (pp. 1845-1848). New York: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Bell, T., Newton, H., Andreae, P., & Robins, A. (2012). The introduction of computer science to NZ high school: An analysis of student work. Proceedings of the 7th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education (WiPSCE). (pp. 5-15). New York: ACM. doi: 10.1145/2481449.2481454

Bell, T., Andreae, P., & Robins, A. (2012). Computer Science in NZ high schools: The first year of the new standards. Proceedings of the 43rd Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE). (pp. 343-348). New York: ACM. doi: 10.1145/2157136.2157240

2011

Journal - Research Article

Dutt-Mazumder, A., Button, C., Robins, A., & Bartlett, R. (2011). Neural network modelling and dynamical system theory: Are they relevant to study the governing dynamics of association football players? Sports Medicine, 41(12), 1003-1017. doi: 10.2165/11593950-000000000-00000

Lamb, P. F., Müendermann, A., Bartlett, R. M., & Robins, A. (2011). Visualizing changes in lower body coordination with different types of foot orthoses using self-organizing maps (SOM). Gait & Posture, 34(4), 485-489. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2011.06.024

Lamb, P. F., Bartlett, R. M., & Robins, A. (2011). Artificial neural networks for analyzing inter-limb coordination: The golf chip shot. Human Movement Science, 30, 1129-1143. doi: 10.1016/j.humov.2010.12.006

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Lamb, P., Müendermann, A., Bartlett, R., & Robins, A. (2011). Artificial neural network analysis of coordination between different types of shoe orthotics. In D. Link & J. Wiemeyer (Eds.), Proceedings of the Sportinformatik trifft Sporttechnologie [Computer science meets sports Sports Technology: 8th Symposium of the dvs Sktion sports computer science in cooperation with the German Interdisciplinary Association of Sports Technology]. (pp. 70-74). Feldhaus. [Full Paper]

Lamb, P., Bartlett, R., & Robins, A. (2011). Assessing coordination stability by means of a second SOM. In D. Link & J. Wiemeyer (Eds.), Proceedings of the Sportinformatik trifft Sporttechnologie [Computer science meets sports Sports Technology: 8th Symposium of the dvs Sktion sports computer science in cooperation with the German Interdisciplinary Association of Sports Technology]. (pp. 65-69). Feldhaus. [Full Paper]

Fincher, S., Tenenberg, J., & Robins, A. (2011). Research design: Necessary bricolage. Proceedings of the Seventh International Workshop on Computing Education Research (ICER). (pp. 27-32). New York: ACM. doi: 10.1145/2016911.2016919

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Ott, C., Robins, A., & Shephard, K. (2011). COMP160: A case for the learning edge momentum? In K. Shephard, T. Harland & A. Cohen (Eds.), Proceedings of the Spotlight on Teaching and Learning Colloquium. (pp. 46). Dunedin, New Zealand: HEDC, University of Otago. [Abstract]

2010

Journal - Research Article

Lamb, P., Bartlett, R., & Robins, A. (2010). Self-organising maps: An objective method for clustering complex human movement. International Journal of Computer Science in Sport, 9(1), 20-29. Retrieved from http://iacss.org/index.php?id=94

Robins, A. (2010). Learning edge momentum: A new account of outcomes in CS1. Computer Science Education, 20(1), 37-71. doi: 10.1080/08993401003612167

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Lamb, P., Bartlett, R., & Robins, A. (2010). Self-organising maps: An objective method for clustering complex human movement. In K. Lyons, A. Baca & A. Lebedew (Eds.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Symposium of the International Association of Computer Science in Sport. (pp. 104-113). University of Canberra, Australia: National Institute of Sport Studies. Retrieved from http://www.box.com/shared/2blgcmfi61

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Lamb, P., Bartlett, R., & Robins, A. (2010, September). Assessing coordination stability by means of a second SOM. Verbal presentation at the Tagung der dvs-Sektion Sportinformatik und der deutschen interdisziplinären Vereinigung für Sporttechnologie, Darmstadt, Germany.

Lamb, P., Bartlett, R., & Robins, A. (2010, September). Artificial neural network analysis of coordination between different types of shoe orthotics. Verbal presentation at the Tagung der dvs-Sektion Sportinformatik und der deutschen interdisziplinären Vereinigung für Sporttechnologie, Darmstadt, Germany.

Robins, A. (2010, July). The elusive ″programmer gene″. Keynote presentation at the Computing and Information Technology Research and Education New Zealand (CITRENZ) Conference, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Atkins, C., Bull, R., Sexton, S., Shedroff, N., Robins, A., McCaw, C., … Mann, S. (2010, July). Mash up: A Pecha-Kucha inspired event. Verbal presentation at the Computing and Information Technology Research and Education New Zealand (CITRENZ) Conference, Dunedin, New Zealand.

2008

Journal - Research Article

Lamb, P., Bartlett, R., Robins, A., & Kennedy, G. (2008). Self-organizing maps as a tool to analyze movement variability. International Journal of Computer Science in Sport, 7(1), 28-39.

Walles, H., Knott, A., & Robins, A. (2008). A model of cardinality blindness in inferotemporal cortex. Biological Cybernetics, 98(5), 427-437.

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Bartlett, R., Lamb, P., & Robins, A. (2008). Use of self organizing maps in technique analysis. Dagstuhl Seminar Proceedings, 8372. Retrieved from http://drops.dagstuhl.de/opus/volltexte/2008/1773

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Basiron, H., Knott, A., & Robins, A. (2008, March). Corrective feedback in language learning. Verbal presentation at the International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Learning: Innovating Minds, Communicating Ideas: Reinventing Language Teaching and Learning, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

2007

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Lamb, P., Bartlett, R., Robins, A., & Kennedy, G. (2007). Self-organizing maps as a tool to analyze movement variability. Proceedings of the 6th International Association on Computer Science in Sport Symposium. (pp. 76-82). [Full Paper]

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Liddle, M., Knott, A., Franz, L., & Robins, A. (2007, November). Perceptual memory for visually tracked objects. Verbal presentation at the Psycolloquy Seminar, Dunedin, New Zealand.

2006

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Robins, A., Haden, P., & Garner, S. (2006). Problem distributions in a CS1 course. Proceedings of the 8th Australian Conference on Computing Education. 52, (pp. 165-173). Darlinghurst, Australia: Australian Computer Society. [Full Paper]

Tolhurst, D., Baker, B., Hamer, J., Box, I., Cutts, Q., de Raadt, M., … Robins, A., … Tutty, J. (2006). Do map drawing styles of novice programmers predict success in programming? A multi-national, multi-institutional study. Proceedings of the 8th Australian Conference on Computing Education. 52, (pp. 213-222). Darlinghurst, Australia: Australian Computer Society. [Full Paper]

Simon, Fincher, S., Robins, A., Baker, B., Cutts, Q., Haden, P., … Tutty, J. (2006). Predictors of success in a first programming course. Proceedings of the 8th Australian Conference on Computing Education. 52, (pp. 189-196). Darlinghurst, Australia: Australian Computer Society. [Full Paper]

Simon, Cutts, Q., Haden, P., Sutton, K., Box, I., Hamer, J., … Robins, A., … Tutty, J. (2006). The ability to articulate strategy as a predictor of programming skill. Proceedings of the 8th Australian Conference on Computing Education. 52, (pp. 181-188). Darlinghurst, Australia: Australian Computer Society. [Full Paper]

2005

Journal - Research Article

Abraham, W. C., & Robins, A. (2005). Memory retention: The synaptic stability versus plasticity dilemma. Trends in Neurosciences, 28(2), 73-78.

Tenenberg, J., Fincher, S., Blaha, K., Bouvier, D., Chen, T.-Y., Chinn, D., … Robins, A., … VanDeGrift, T. (2005). Students designing software: A multi-national, multi-institutional study. Informatics in Education, 4(1), 143-162.

Journal - Research Other

Robins, A. V. (2005). A day in the library. Annals of Research on Engineering Education, 1. Retrieved from http://www.areeonline.org/?id=3928

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Fincher, S., Lister, R., Clear, T., Robins, A., Tenenberg, J., & Petre, M. (2005). Multi-institutional, multi-national studies in CSEd Research: Some design considerations and trade-offs. Proceedings of the First International Computing Education Research Workshop. [Full Paper]

de Raadt, M., Hamilton, M., . . ., Robins, A., & et al (2005). Approaches to learning in computer programming students and their effect on success. Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia. (pp. 407-414). Australia: HERDSA. [Full Paper]

Rountree, J., Rountree, N., Robins, A., & Hannah, R. (2005). Observations of student competency in a CS1 course. In A. Young & D. Tolhurst (Eds.), Proceedings of the Australasian Computing Education Conference. 42, (pp. 145-149). Newcastle, Australia: Australian Computer Society. [Full Paper]

Garner, S., Haden, P., & Robins, A. (2005). My program is correct but it doesn't run: A preliminary investigation of novice programmers' problems. In A. Young & D. Tolhurst (Eds.), Proceedings of the Seventh Australasian Computing Education Conference. 42, (pp. 173-180). Newcastle, Australia: Austalian Computer Society. [Full Paper]

2004

Journal - Research Article

Robins, A. V., & McCallum, S. J. R. (2004). A robust method for distinguishing between learned and spurious attractors. Neural Networks, 17, 313-326.

Robins, A. (2004). Sequential learning in neural networks: A review and a discussion of pseudorehearsal based methods. Intelligent Data Analysis, 8(3), 301-322.

Rountree, N., Rountree, J., Robins, A., & Hannah, R. (2004). Interacting factors that predict success and failure in a CS1 course [Reviewed paper]. Inroads: The SIGCSE Bulletin, 36(4), 101-104.

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Fincher, S., . . ., Robins, A., & et al (2004). A multi-national, multi-institutional study of student-generated software designs. Proceedings of the Fourth Finnish/Baltic Sea Conference on Computer Science Education. (pp. 20-27). Finland: Helsinki University of Technology. [Full Paper]

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Abraham, W. C., & Robins, A. (2004). Does memory retention require synaptic stability or synaptic plasticity? Proceedings of the 22nd International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research. 22. [Abstract]

2003

Journal - Research Article

Robins, A. V., Rountree, J., & Rountree, N. (2003). Learning and teaching programming: A review and discussion. Computer Science Education, 13(2), 137-172.

2002

Journal - Research Article

Rountree, N., Rountree, J., & Robins, A. V. (2002). Predictors of success and failure in a CS1 course. Inroads: The SIGCSE Bulletin, 34(4), 121-124.

2001

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Robins, A. V., & McCallum, S. J. R. (2001). Learned and spurious attractors in Hopfield type networks. In N. K. Kasabov & B. J. Woodford (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fifth Biannual Conference on Artificial Neural Networks and Expert Systems. (pp. 146-150). Dunedin: University of Otago. [Full Paper]

1999

Journal - Research Article

McCallum, S. J. R. J. R., & Robins, A. V. (1999). Mechanisms for memory consolidation. New Zealand Journal of Computing, 7, 13-20.

Robins, A. V., & McCallum, S. J. R. J. R. (1999). The consolidation of learning during sleep: Comparing the pseudorehearsal and unlearning accounts. Neural Networks, 12, 1191-1206.

Frean, M. R., & Robins, A. V. (1999). Catastrophic forgetting in simple networks: An analysis of the pseudorehearsal solution. Network, 10, 227-236.

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Robins, A. V. (1999). Brain like computing is not enough. Emerging Knowledge Engineering and Connectionist-based Information Systems: Proceedings of the ICONIP / ANZIIS / ANNES'99 International Workshop. (pp. 135-138). Dunedin: Department of Information Science, University of Otago. [Abstract]

1998

Chapter in Book - Research

Robins, A. V. (1998). Transfer in cognition. In S. Thrun & L. Pratt (Eds.), Learning to Learn. (pp. 45-67). Dordrecht, Germany: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Journal - Research Article

Frean, M. R., & Robins, A. V. (1998). Catastrophic forgetting and "pseudorehearsal" in linear networks. Australian Journal of Intelligent Information Processing Systems, 5, 44-49.

Robins, A. V., & Frean, M. R. (1998). Local learning algorithms for sequential tasks in neural networks. Advanced Computational Intelligence, 2, 221-227.

Robins, A. V., & McCallum, S. J. (1998). Catastrophic forgetting and the pseudorehearsal solution in Hopfield type networks. Connection Science, 10, 121-135.

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Mundy, M. B., Robins, A. V., & Bilkey, D. (1998). Distance as a location parameter in a model of hippocampal place fields. In N. Kasabov, R. Kozma, K. Ko, R. O'Shea, G. Coghill & T. Gedeon (Eds.), Progress in Connectionist-Based Information Systems: Proceedings of the 1997 International Conference on Neural Information Processing and Intelligent Information Systems. (pp. 71-75). Singapore: Springer. [Full Paper]

Robins, A. V., & Frean, M. R. (1998). Learning and generalisation in a stable network. In N. Kasabov, R. Kozma, K. Ko, R. O'Shea, G. Coghill & T. Gedeon (Eds.), Progress in Connectionist-Based Information Systems: Proceedings of the 1997 Conference on Neural Information Processing and Intelligent Information Systems. (pp. 314-317). Singapore: Springer. [Full Paper]

Frean, M. R., & Robins, A. V. (1998). Catastrophic forgetting and "pseudorehearsal" in linear networks. Proceedings of the Ninth Australian Conference on Neural Networks. (pp. 173-178). Brisbane: University of Queensland. [Full Paper]

Robins, A. V. (1998). Solutions to the catastrophic forgetting problem. Proceedings of The Twentieth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. (pp. 899-904). New Jersey: Lawrence Earlbaum. [Full Paper]

1997

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Robins, A. V. (1997). Maintaining stability during new learning in neural networks. 1997 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Computational Cybernetics and Simulation: Orlando, Florida, USA, October 12-15, 1997. (pp. 3013-3018). Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. [Full Paper]

Robins, A. V. (1997). Towards a framework for consolidation and transfer effects in neural network models. Dynamical cognitive science: Proceedings of the Fourth Australasian Cognitive Science Conference. CD-ROM. Newcastle: University of Newcastle. [Full Paper]

1996

Journal - Research Article

Robins, A. V. (1996). Consolidation in neural networks and in the sleeping brain. Connection Science, 8, 235-251.

Robins, A. V. (1996). Transfer in cognition. Connection Science, 8, 161-179.