An intelligent decision support system for editors

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24874/1/0000301.pd

Coping with complexity

We offer a new typology of problems according to such attributes as the fuzzy set of possible solutions, the fuzzy set of properties a solution should have, the fuzzy set of knowledge necessary and sufficient to find a solution, deadlines and constraints. Problems are ranked by degree of `structuredness' from well-structured to ill-defined. Some real problems are shown to be ill-defined and the causes of their inherent imprecision are traced. A model for coping with ill-defined problems enables us to estimate an optimal degree of precision in both dealing with the problem and in requesting information to help cope with it. This has interesting implications for the design of information systems.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/23346/1/0000288.pd

Coding for recording and recall of information

To explore the potential fruitfulness of the mathematical theory of communication for information science, we examine the question of how to encode a message at the time it is encountered so that it will come to mind at the time it is needed or can be used. After describing some examples of this problem, we propose a prototype computer program and an experiment, and use these to analyze ways of extending or replacing the classical model of communication theory to include multi-channel, multiway networks with store-and-forward memories. Coding is discussed in the context of associational structures. The general purpose nature of information, and the analogy between "energy as an invariant of motion" and "information as an invariant of thinking" is suggested. It is unlikely that the classical mathematical theory of communication will have great potential applicability to information science without major modification, though some of its concepts have already exerted their influence. A central problem of information science on which to test its applicability is how to find representation mappings (encodings) so that increasingly effective plans and acts can be selected, using meaningful, action-oriented maps that stress use of human effort and time in attending to organized cumulative knowledge that can be brought to bear on human needs at strategic times.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25004/1/0000431.pd

Electronic communication: Technology and impacts : Madeline M. Henderson and Marcia J. MacNaughton, (eds), Praeger, Westview Press, Boulder Colorado: 1980, xvii + 178 pp. $18.50. ISBN: 0-89158-845-0

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25397/1/0000846.pd

Representations and algorithms for cognitive learning

This is a report summarizing our progress towards a theory of cognitive learning. It is concerned with an algorithm that recognizes, selects and formulates in an internal language problems that arise in an external environment. This algorithm revises its representation of the environment and uses it to cope with self-selected problems.The algorithm depends on the formation of hypotheses and their use to select actions. The key ideas of this project are major new additions to a theory of representation of knowledge built on an inductive predicate logic.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22261/1/0000698.pd

The structure of acquaintance nets and rates of societal development

Selected steps in progress on the "small world problem" are reviewed, to show the difficulty of finding models that can produce the spectrum of clusters that is observed in contact nets rather than a single large cluster. Empirical work now in progress in the Philippines and in Hong Kong to correlate the structure of the acquaintance nets with rates of economic, political and societal development is presented and related to next steps in modelling. The relation of both empirical and theoretical findings to networking is brought out, as is the potential of computer conferencing for such network-supported applications as the provision of support in health maintenance.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25476/1/0000016.pd

Enhancement of coping through blurring

When problem situations are imprecise, people use mental processes closer to coping than to exact, logical-deductive reasoning. We sketch new ways of explicating the process of coping. This leads to a broader definition of complexity than is generally used in computer science. We present at the essence of coping a normative model for shifting and changing focus of attention. To cope is to transform a complex situation into blurred representations that are simpler and less worrisome. The process of "thinking of" such shifts in problem-representation is also improved when the level of specificity and precision in the focus of attention varies.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/23660/1/0000628.pd

Interaction of libraries and publishers

Libraries and publishers have evolved together. Publishers rely on libraries as a minimum market for their scholarly products. Inflationary pressures have caused publishers to increase prices that, in turn, strain library budgets that have not increased as fast, and which, in turn, undermine the minimal demand publishers can count on, adding to inflationary pressure.A simple mathematical model for the dynamics of the interaction between libraries and publishers is analyzed. It derives a function for the supply curve of scholarly publications, and is used to estimate when an institution will have to spend as much per person on library support as on his or her salary if present trends continue. This is used to argue that present trends are unlikely to continue, but that a discontinuous shift in the production of scholarly output is likely to occur within a decade or two. Likely new forms of communication among scholars in "communicating classes" involving nearly simultaneous communication and a new kind of organized cumulative record are discussed. The implication for institutional changes not only in libraries and publishers and their interrelation but of new kinds of institutions are sketched.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24542/1/0000822.pd

Introduction

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68468/2/10.1177_107554708600800101.pd

A model for learning global properties

This paper reports developments in a mathematical model of cognitive learning. The model describes the processes of formation, testing, and revision of hypotheses held by a learner attempting to understand an environment. The fundamental assumption is that learning proceeds by a feedback cycle, where hypotheses are tested for validity against external reality and reweighted according to the outcome. A particular application of this model to the case of a mechanical "beetle", mapping a geometrical environment, yields results of interest in artificial intelligence and robot design, including results on the computability of several geometrical predicates.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24559/1/0000839.pd