Thinking Backward for Knowledge Acquisition

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Citation: Ross D. Shachter and David Heckerman. (1986) Thinking Backward for Knowledge Acquisition. In KSL-86-50, Fall,1986.

Publication techreport ( Edit )
type Technical Report
bibtype techreport
Bibtex basics
author Ross D. Shachter and David Heckerman
title Thinking Backward for Knowledge Acquisition
number KSL-86-50
institution Knowledge Systems, AI Laboratory
year 1986
month Fall
Bibtex more
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abstract This article examines the direction in which knowledge bases are constructed for diagnosis and decision making. When building an expert system, it is traditional to elicit knowledge from an expert in the direction in which the knowledge is to be applied, namely, from observable evidence toward unobservable evidence - because this direction reflects causal relationships. Therefore, we argue that a knowledge base be constructed following the expert's natural reasoning direction, and then reverse the direction for use. This choice of representation direction facilitates knowledge acquisition in deterministic domains and is essential when a problem involves uncertainty. We illustrate this concept with influence diagrams, a methodology for graphically representing a joint probability distribution. Influence diagrams provide a practical means by which an expert can characterize the qualitative and quantitative relationships among evidence and hypotheses in the appropriate direction. Once constructed, the relationships can easily be reversed into the less intuitive direction in order to perform inference and diagnosis. In this way, knowledge acquisition is made cognitively simple; the machine carries the burden of translating the representation.

KSL Technical Report ID: KSL-86-50
Facts about Thinking Backward for Knowledge AcquisitionRDF feed
Abstract This article examines the direction in whi … This article examines the direction in which knowledge bases are constructed for diagnosis and decision making. When building an expert system, it is traditional to elicit knowledge from an expert in the direction in which the knowledge is to be applied, namely, from observable evidence toward unobservable evidence - because this direction reflects causal relationships. Therefore, we argue that a knowledge base be constructed following the expert's natural reasoning direction, and then reverse the direction for use. This choice of representation direction facilitates knowledge acquisition in deterministic domains and is essential when a problem involves uncertainty. We illustrate this concept with influence diagrams, a methodology for graphically representing a joint probability distribution. Influence diagrams provide a practical means by which an expert can characterize the qualitative and quantitative relationships among evidence and hypotheses in the appropriate direction. Once constructed, the relationships can easily be reversed into the less intuitive direction in order to perform inference and diagnosis. In this way, knowledge acquisition is made cognitively simple; the machine carries the burden of translating the representation. burden of translating the representation.
Author Ross D. Shachter and David Heckerman  +
Bibtype techreport  +
Has author Ross D. Shachter and David Heckerman  +
Has identifier KSL-86-50  +
Has publishing details Fall,1986  +
Has title Thinking Backward for Knowledge Acquisition  +
Has where published KSL-86-50  +
Has year 1986  +
Institution Knowledge Systems, AI Laboratory  +
Ksl tr id KSL-86-50  +
Month Fall  +
Number KSL-86-50  +
Process note YES  +
Title Thinking Backward for Knowledge Acquisition  +
Year 1986  +
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