Computation using explicitly structured representations whose elements have identifiable roles, with rules or procedures acting on those structures. Logical planning is an example. This sense concerns symbolic cognitive architectures rather than only computer algebra; it can be implemented by different physical substrates.
A proposal that structured symbolic representation and manipulation provide a basis for general intelligent action. It is a claim about computation to be evaluated empirically, rather than a mathematical theorem equating every particular symbolic program with intelligence.[ref]
Computer science as empirical inquiry: symbols and search by Allen Newell and others. Communications of the ACM 19, pp. 113–126, physical symbol systems and search
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