Managing system complexity with a motivated interface: examining the effects parameter variation has on system stability

In order to understand how decision-making processes may differ from reasoning processes, the author examines how information maintained in a knowledge base may be affected by the interface between it and a user, the decision-maker. The knowledge domain studied relates to the identification and purchasing of a personal computer system. The interface represents a functional model of motivation. The implementation of the model examines how decision-making is the result of a set of operators interacting within a problem domain and in unison with available knowledge. Consequently, the author questions whether the discrete conclusions generated by reasoning systems differ from the varied conclusions of decision-making systems due to the influence of a layer of control in the processing.<>