Showing papers by "John McDermott published in 1990"

Toward automating recognition of differing problem-solving demands

Abstract: SALT provides a knowledge acquisition framework for the development of expert systems that use propose-and-revise as their problem-solving method. These systems incrementally construct a tentative design, identify constraints on the design and revise design decisions in response to constraint violations. By having an under-standing of the specific problem-solving method used to integrate the knowledge it acquires, it has been previously shown that SALT possesses a number of advantages over less restrictive programming languages. We have applied SALT to a new type of propose-and-revise task, and have identified areas where SALT was too restrictive to adequately permit acquisition of domain knowledge or efficient utilization of that knowledge. Addressing these problems has led to a more “general” SALT and to a better understanding of when it is an appropriate tool.

Knowledge acquisition for evaluation systems

Abstract: KNACK is a specialized knowledge acquisition tooi that generates expert systems for evaluating different classes of designs. An important goal in the development of KNACK is that it acquires knowledge from domain experts without presupposing knowledge engineering skills on their part. During knowledge acquisition KNACK gains power by exploiting a presupposed problem solving method and a domain model. This paper describes KNACK's approach to automating the acquisition of a domain model as part of its knowledge acquisition strategy. To build a model of a domain, general understanding about evaluation is incorporated into KNACK. In an initial questioning session with domain experts KNACK customizes that knowledge and builds a preliminary model of the domain. Critical for KNACK's performance is its general understanding about evaluation and its ability to refine the preliminary domain model into a detailed structural and functional model of a particular domain. To get a better understanding of the means of evaluation and how to derive a domain model, KNACK was used to create a series of application systems in different domains. The experience gained with these tasks resulted in some data describing KNACK's performance and scope.