Cognitive primitives

✍ Scribed by Alain T. Rappaport

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1988
• Weight: 902 KB
• Volume: 29
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7373
• DOI: 10.1016/s0020-7373(88)80076-2

✦ Synopsis

This paper addresses the problem of the level of abstraction at which knowledgebased system computational primitives must be developed so as to facilitate the knowledge acquisition process. Low-level programming or the use of task-level methodologies as they exist now, respectively prevent rapid learning and development and lock the knowledge designer in rigid problem-solving paradigms. We explore the principles underlying the design of a compromise-level set of primitives called cognitive primitives. They are domain and task-independent computational primitives which can be used to map an expert's behaviour into an artificial formalism and integrate it in existing environments. Flexible task-or domain-level functions can emerge from working with these primitives. Examples are presented of the design and use of this computational approach. This new approach leads to the design of tools whose functions more closely match human expert knowledge, which is difficult to decompile and thus to represent in more classic formalisms.