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Trends, Networks, and Critical Thinking in the 21st Century

Learning Module: Week 13 & 14
I. TITLE OF THE LESSON
Neural and Social Networks
II. INTRODUCTION OR THE OVERVIEW OF THE LESSON
This lesson discusses the nature of neural networks. It explains how neural networks can be likened to the
functions of the human brain. It looks into the characteristics of neural networks and its application in today’s software
technology. The lesson also discusses the connection of social networks with neural networks.

III. OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the module, the learners should be able to:
1. define social networks and neural network.
2. illustrate how the brain or neural network works.
3. compare neural networks with social network.

IV. PRE-TEST
Activity: Part 1
Concept Diagnosis
What is a neural network? What word can you associate with neural network? Write your
answers using the network tree below. (12 points)

Neural
Networ
k

V. Discussion
Social Networks and Neural Networks
Social networks and neural networks are interrelated concepts because both deal with identifying and tracing
patterns, trends, connections, and relations. Social network looks into the relations of a group of social entities and any
information with regard to each actor including the relations within the network while nueral networks develop
meaning from complex or inaccurate patterns. Neural networks can be considered as an application of the social
network analysis because neural networks can be used to effectively identify connections and relations. It can be utilized
to extract patterns and trace trends and connections that are very complicated for humans to process.

The Brain and the Nervous System as a Neural Network

Simon Haykin (1999,2) defines neural network as “a massively parallel distributed processor made up of simple
processing units, which has a natural propensity for storing experimental knowledge and making it available for use.” A
nueral network can be likened to the brain in two ways. First, knowledge is acquired by the network from its
environment through a learning process. And second, interneuron connection strengths, known as synaptic weights,
store the acquired knowledge (Haykin 1999, 2). Shiffman (2012) considers the human brain as a biological neural
network which is made up of an “interconnected web of neurons transmitting elaborate patterns of electrical signal.”
The dendrites accept the input signals and from these inputs, release an output signal through the axon.
1|P a g e SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL // Prepared by: Ms. Jesaleeh Dulay // Revised by: Mr. Enrico Z. Santiago TRENDS, NETWORKS, AND CRITICAL THINKING IN THE 21ST CENTURY // MODULE 13&14
 The Dendrite and the Axon
Try to visit the link:
https://youtu.be/bfmFfD2RIcg
Neural Network In 5 Minutes |
What Is A Neural Network? |
How Neural Networks Work |
Simplilearn

The basic computing units of the nervous system are called neurons or nerve cells. In understanding neural
networks, connections are necessary. Each neuron in the human brain contains hundreds and even thousands of
connections to other neurons whose total number could reach up to times 1014 to 1015. Neurons are very sensitive that
is why they readily respond to any form of pressure. This characteristic of the neuron serves as the basis for a number of
sensory receptors.
These are other types of cells in the nervous system. The most common of these classes of cells which are
intermixed with neurons in the central nervous system are the glia or glue cells. These cells serve as an important
support function for neurons, both metabolic and physical, because they form a matrix in which neurons grow
(Anderson 1995, 5-6).
The human nervous system can be considered as a three-staged system. The human brain is the center of the
system. It is represented by the neural or nerve net which acts as the receiver of information called stimulus. It also
perceives the information gathered and makes appropriate decisions to the stimulus.

A Representation of the Nervous System

Source:https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tarun_Chheepa2/publication/318788352/figure/download/fig1/
AS:522115402211328@1501493420016/Fig-1-Block-Diagram-of-a-Human-Nervous-System.png

The diagram above provides a representation of the nervous system. The two sets of a arrow in the figure shows
the transmission and feedback system within the process. The right pointing arrows illustrate the forward transmission
of information-bearing signals through the system while the left pointing arrows show the feedback in the system. The
receptors translate stimuli from the human body or any external environment into electric impulses that relay the
information to the neural net or the brain. The effectors convert the electric impulses produced by the neural net into
visible responses as system outputs.

Neural Networks
Neural networks are computing systems with interconnected nodes that work much like
neurons in the human brain. Using algorithms, they can recognize hidden patterns and
correlations in raw data, cluster and classify it, and – over time – continuously learn and improve.
The first neural network was conceived of by Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts in 1943.
They wrote a seminal paper on how neurons may work and modeled their ideas by creating a
simple neural network using electrical circuits.
The original goal of the neural network approach was to create a computational system
that could solve problems like a human brain. However, over time, researchers shifted their
focus to using neural networks to match specific tasks, leading to deviations from a strictly
biological approach. Since then, neural networks have supported diverse tasks, including
computer vision, speech recognition, machine translation, social network filtering, playing board
and video games, and medical diagnosis.
The most common examples of artificial neural network consist of three groups or layers of units, called as the
input layer, hidden layer, and output layer. The layer of input units is connected to a layer of hidden units. The hidden
layers are connected to a layer of output units. The activity of the input units represents the raw information that is fed
into the network. The action of each hidden unit depends on the activities of the input units and the weights on the
2|P a g e SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL // Prepared by: Ms. Jesaleeh Dulay // Revised by: Mr. Enrico Z. Santiago TRENDS, NETWORKS, AND CRITICAL THINKING IN THE 21ST CENTURY // MODULE 13&14
connections between the input and the hidden units. The response of the output units is determined by the activity of
the hidden units and the weights between the hidden and output units. This simple example of network is interesting
because the hidden units are free to construct their own representations of the input. The weights between the input
and hidden inputs determine when each hidden unit is active, and so by altering these weights, a hidden unit can select
what it represents (University of Wisconsin, 2007).

The different layers and connections of an artificial neural network.

Source:https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*[email protected]

The Perception
The perception is invented by Frank Rosenblatt at the Corneel Aeronautical Laboratory in 1957. A perception is the
simplest neural network. It is a computational model of a single neuron. A perception is made up of one or more inputs,
a processor, and a single output. A perception follows the “feed-forward” model. In this model, the inputs are sent into
the neuron. Then they are processed and the result are shown in an input (Shiffman, 2012).

Supervised Learning
Supervised Learning Strategy involves a teacher which is considered to be a smarter than the network itself. An example
would be facial recognition. The teacher shows the network a bunch of faces, and the teacher already knows the name
associated with each face. The network makes its guesses, then the teacher provides the network with the answers. The
network can then compare its answers to the known “correct” ones and make adjustments according to its errors.

Unsupervised Learning
This is required when there are no example data sets with known answers. Imagine searching for a hidden pattern in a
data set. An application of this is clustering or dividing a set of elements into groups according to some unknown
pattern.

Source:
1. https://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/neural-networks.html
2.Dela Cruz A. R.D. et al,(2017). Trends, Networks, and Critical Thinking in the 21st Century: Phoenix Publishing House Inc.,
3.https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tarun_Chheepa2/publication/318788352/figure/download/fig1/
AS:522115402211328@1501493420016/Fig-1-Block-Diagram-of-a-Human-Nervous-System.png
4.https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*[email protected]

NAME SECTION
DATE:
: :

VI. ASSESSMENT
Activity Part 1(16 points)
Direction: Write True if the statement is correct and False if it is not.
__________1. Neural network is a massively parallel distributed processor made up of simple processing units, which
has a natural propensity for storing experimental knowledge and making it available for use.
___________2. Neural network looks into the relations of a group of social entities and any information with regard to
each actor including the relations within the network.
___________3. Neural networks are computing systems with interconnected nodes that work much
like neurons in the human brain.
___________4. Social network can be considered as an application of the social network analysis because neural
networks can be used to effectively identify connections and relations.
3|P a g e SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL // Prepared by: Ms. Jesaleeh Dulay // Revised by: Mr. Enrico Z. Santiago TRENDS, NETWORKS, AND CRITICAL THINKING IN THE 21ST CENTURY // MODULE 13&14
___________5. The human nervous system can be considered as a three-staged system.

4|P a g e SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL // Prepared by: Ms. Jesaleeh Dulay // Revised by: Mr. Enrico Z. Santiago TRENDS, NETWORKS, AND CRITICAL THINKING IN THE 21ST CENTURY // MODULE 13&14
___________6. A perception is made up of one or more inputs, a processor, and a single output.
___________7. Supervised Learning Strategy involves a teacher which is considered to be a smarter than the network
itself.
___________8. Glue cells serve as an important support function for neurons, both metabolic and physical, because
they form a matrix in which neurons grow.

Activity Part 2
Direction: Answer the following questions. (15 points)
1. Why do we consider the human brain as a neural network?

2. How are neural systems applied in the twenty-first century technology?

3. How can you explain the connection of social networks and neural networks?

5|P a g e SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL // Prepared by: Ms. Jesaleeh Dulay // Revised by: Mr. Enrico Z. Santiago TRENDS, NETWORKS, AND CRITICAL THINKING IN THE 21ST CENTURY // MODULE 13&14