In this section, I'll skip back to 1968 and then run quickly through the 70's, leading up to some work that emphasises the importance of representation.
Start with Minsky's introduction in Chapter 1 of [Semantic Information Processing]. This is a typical account of AI from the viewpoint of 1968. Read the chapter once, noting Minsky's views on the important developments within AI, the direction it has taken since 1960, and its relation to psychology.