Scripts, Plans, Goals and Understanding An Inquiry into Human Knowledge Structures

✍ Scribed by R.C. Schank, R.P. Abelson

• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Publishers
• Year: 1977
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 130
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book reflects a convergence of interests at the intersection of psychology and artificial intelligence. What is the nature of knowledge and how is this knowledge used? These questions lie at the core of both psychology and artificial intelligence. The psychologist who studies 'knowledge systems' wants to know how concepts are structured in the human mind, how such concepts develop, and how they are used in understanding and behavior. The artificial intelligence researcher wants to know how to program a computer so that it can understand and interact with the outside world. The two orientations intersect when the psychologist and the computer scientist agree that the best way to approach the problem of building an intelligent machine is to emulate the human conceptual mechanisms that deal with language.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents
Preface
1 Introduction 1
1.1 What this book is about 1
1.2 Knowledge: Form and Content 3
1.3 Traditional Points of View 5
1.4 Conceptual Dependency Theory 11
1.5 Memory 17
1.6 The Methodology of Al 20

2 Causal Chains 22
2.1 Understanding Text 22
2.2 Causal Types 24
2.3 Representation of Causation 30
2.4 Causal Propensity 32

3 Scripts 36
3.1 Introduction 36
3.2 The Restaurant Script 42
3.3 Script Application 46
3.4 Interferences and Distractions 51
3.5 Script Interactions 57
3.6 Types of Scripts 67

4 Plans 69
4.1 Introduction 69
4.2 The Elements of Planning 73
4.3 Named Plans 78
4.4 D-Goals 83
4.5 Planboxes 88
4.6 The Relationship Between Plans and Scripts 97

5 Goals 101
5.1 Goal Fate Graphs 101
5.2 Goal Substitutions 108
5.3 Goal Forms 111
5.4 Goals and Beliefs 119
5.5 Goal Initiation 123
5.6 Assorted Goal Issues 125
5.7 The Meaning of Words 129

6 Themes 131
6.1 Introduction 131
6.2 Role Themes 132
6.3 Interpersonal Themes 138
6.4 Life Themes 144

7 Representation of Stories 150
7.1 Representation of Scripts 150
7.2 Representation of Plans 153
7.3 Macroscopic vs. Microscopic Event Description 160
7.4 A Story 167

8 Computer Programs 175
8.1 introduction 175
8.2 SAM 177
8.3 A Computer Run 190
8.4 Skimming Stories 204
8.5 TALESPIN 210
8.6 PAM 217

9 A Case Study in The Development of Knowledge Structures 222
9.1 Learning of Scripts 222
9.2 Early Episode Generalization 225
9.3 Storytelling 227
9.4 Understanding 231
9.5 Plans 234
Bibliography 239
Author Index 244
Subject Index 246