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Computer simulations of layers I and II of pirifonn (olfactory) cortex indicate that this biological network can generate a series of distinct output responses to individual stimuli, such that different responses encode different levels of information about a stimulus. In particular, after learning a set of stimuli modeled after distinct groups of odors, the simulated network's initial response to a cue indicates only its group or category, whereas subsequent responses to the same stimulus successively subdivide the group into increasingly specific encoding of the individual cue. These sequences of responses amount to an automated organization of perceptual memories according to both their similarities and differences, facilitating transfer of learned information to novel stimuli without loss of specific information about exceptions. Human recognition performance robustly exhibits such multiple levels: a given object can be …