Textbook of Psychology (Psychology Revivals)

This fourth edition was published in 1987, two years after Hebb's death. Neuroscience is indebted to Professor Donderi for completing this work. In the absence of a fifth edition, it is our closest link with the precious heritage of the 1958 first edition.The book's references to computer simulation are no longer up-to-date now in 2007. In 2006 a book was published that describes how to simulate neural networks in the fundamental sense, using the Hodgkin-Huxley neuron. It is "The NEURON Book", by NicholaS T. Carnevale and Michael L. Hines. Thus networks, like the Hodgkin-Huxley neuron, are reduced to physics, chemistry, thermodynamics and nonlinear differential equations. "The NEURON Book" uses programs that are freely available on the Internet at the NEURON site, and are tied together by a common language named hoc. In the default mode the programs handle the mathematical aspect automatically, but the user must have familiarity with computers.In my opinion, this transforms the study of Hebbian cell assemblies. The factual simulation of the physical and mathematical potentialities of the cell-assembly mechanism is a preview of what evolution can do in living systems.On page 105 of the Hebb-Donderi Fourth Edition it is asserted that "Logical machines like computers are predictable...." That is only true if the computers are programmed to do logical things. If they are programmed to simulate nonlinear differential equations they can make decisions, and the output is not fully determined by the input.