Modeling as Framework for Knowledge Acquisition Methodologies and Tools

Abstract

This article develops a classification of the sources and types of models developed in knowledge engineering, and uses it to provide a framework within which knowledge acquisition methodologies and tools can be discussed and analyzed. Much of the early work on knowledge acquisition assumed that human expertise is based on “mental models” of domains and problem‐solving techniques, and that these can be elicited and transferred to an expert system. The approach taken here is to focus instead on the knowledge engineer's modeling process, his or her conceptual models of systems associated with the expert's skill, and their sources and types. This leads to a comprehensive account of knowledge‐based system development encompassing classical systems analysis, cognitive processes, linguistic representations, and the formalization of knowledge for computer application.