Accession Number:

ADA076794

Title:

The Interaction of Observation and Inference

Personal Author(s):

Corporate Author:

STANFORD UNIV CA DEPT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

Report Date:

1979-04-01

Abstract:

An intelligent computer program must have both a representation of its knowledge, and a mechanism for manipulating that knowledge in a reasoning process. This thesis examines the problem of formalizing the expression and solution of reasoning problems in a machine manipulable form. It is particularly concerned with analyzing the interaction of the standard form of deductive steps with an observational analogy obtained by performing computation in a semantic model. This dissertation is centered on the world of retrograde analysis chess, a particularly rich domain for both observational tasks and long deductive sequences. A formalization is embodied in its axioms, and a major portion is devoted to both axiomatizing the rules of chess, and discussing and comparing the representational decisions involved in that axiomatization. Consideration was given not only to the necessity for these particular choices and possible alternatives but also the implications of these results for designers of representational systems for other domains. Using a reasoning system for first order logic, FOL, a detailed proof of the solution of a difficult retrograde chess puzzle was constructed. The close correspondence between this formal solution to the problem, and an informal, descriptive analysis a human might present was shown. The proof and axioms were then examined for their relevance to general epistemological formalisms.

Descriptive Note:

Technical rept.

Supplementary Note:

DOI: 10.21236/ADA076794

Pages:

0237

Descriptors:

Identifiers:

Subject Categories:

Communities Of Interest:

Modernization Areas:

Distribution Statement:

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

Contract Number:

MDA903-76-C-0206

Contract Number 2:

ARPA ORDER-2494

File Size:

102.47MB

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