Can robots without Hebbian plasticity make good models of adaptive behaviour?

Behav Brain Sci. 2001 Dec;24(6):1060-1062. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X01330121.

Abstract

No. Animals' primary problem is the shaping of movements, guided by and adapting to sensory signals. This requires a narrower class of biorobotic models than that spanned by Webb's dimensions and examples. We claim that all model variables and mechanisms must have real counterparts, input vectors must model known sensor fields, internal state vectors and transformations must model neurophysiological processes, and output vectors must model coordinated muscle signals.