Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
IRList Digest Volume 2 Number 66
IRList Digest Monday, 1 December 1986 Volume 2 : Issue 66
Today's Topics:
Abstracts - NSF IST Awards for Fiscal Year 1986 - Part 4 of 5
News addresses are ARPANET: fox%vt@csnet-relay.arpa BITNET: foxea@vtvax3.bitnet
CSNET: fox@vt UUCPNET: seismo!vtisr1!irlistrq
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 86 18:38:14 est
From: vtopus!fox (Ed Fox)
Subject: Information on NSF awards, sent by J. Deken at NSF
Fiscal Year 1986 Research Projects
Funded by the Information Science Program
(now Knowledge and Database Systems Program)
Part 4 of 5
IST-8451438
$37,500 - 12 mos.
Kathleen R. McKeown
Columbia University
Presidential Young Investigator Award: Natural Language Interfaces
- - -
This research investigates computer generation of natural language, focusing on
problems which arise in the context of interactive dialogues with users of
computer-based information systems. The primary goal is to develop methods
for tailoring explanations for users of expert systems. A secondary goal is to
investigate problems involved in the choice of words and syntactic structures.
In both cases information about users and their goals is used to constrain and
guide the output. The significance of this research lies in its potential to
improve user interfaces to computer based information systems.
_____
IST-8520217
$115,220 - 12 mos.
Douglas P. Metzler
University of Pittsburgh
An Expert System Approach to Syntactic Parsing and Information Retrieval
- - -
This research examines the role which discovering language structure beyond the
meaning of isolated words can play in improving the effectiveness of
computerized searching for information. This enhanced language use would be a
substantial improvement over present day information retrieval systems, where
the task of finding documents or other relevant source materials is largely done
based on the match (or combination of matches) between individual words in a
searcher's query and words in the target materials. To extract linguistic
information beyond the simple meaning of individual words, the principal
investigator's approach to automated language processing is implemented, using
an "expert-system" architecture in which parallel processors independently
analyze textual material while sharing information through a "blackboard."
Language information discovered by this expert system is then analyzed and
evaluated for its effectiveness in assisting information retrieval tasks. This
research is significant both in the light it will shed on the utility of syntac-
tic information in enhancing information retrieval, and in the ancillary devel-
opment of parsers and other linguistic tools in advance LISP-based environments.
_____
IST-8512736
$137,503 - 24 mos.
David Mumford
Harvard University
The Parsing of Images
- - -
Processes in the human visual system are often divided into two categories,
local processes which are data-driven and global processes which are
knowledge-driven. Some early visual processing, however, seems to involve
analyzing shapes and structure without regard to this categorization; analyses
are made which are global but not knowledge driven. An example of a computer
system which tests this hypothesis is Marr's system in which the Gestalt laws
of organization are used to generate a global analysis in a data-driven way. In
this project three closely related problems which arise when computer systems
are constructing visual analyses are investigated: (1) The development of an
algorithm to divide an image into maximally homogeneous regions with the
shortest possible edges; (2) the development of methods of analyzing texture by
classifying the micro-shapes out of which it is composed and the links between
shapes given by repetion and similarity; (3) the development of computer
algorithms implementing the Gestalt laws. The research will further
understanding of the human visual system and ultimately will aid in the
development of computer vision systems.
_____
IST-8604282
$2,447 - 12 mos.
Kent Norman
University of Maryland at College Park
Developing an Effective User Evaluation Questionnaire for Interactive Systems
- - -
The purpose of this research is to develop a standard test for measuring the
satisfaction users derive from a given interactive computer system. The test is
designed to measure subjective ratings of system quality and performance as
well. Additionally, the test will be valid for a wide range of systems. The
test is constructed by defining ease-of-use as being composed of a large number
of underlying facets such as the quality of the visual display and the speed at
which the system responds to users. Questions are developed to reflect each of
these aspects. The questionnaire is a tool to aid the design of computer
systems. It also is a tool for assessing potential areas of system improvement
and for comparing the ease-of-use of a set of computer systems. This research
therefore contributes to the development of more sophisticated computer systems.
_____
IST-8645347
$80,492 - 12 mos.
Donald E. Nute
University of Georgia
Discourse Representation for Natural Language Processing
- - -
The purpose of this research is to integrate two recently developed theories of
discourse, discourse representation and conversational scorekeeping, and to
develop from them computationally feasible procedures for natural language
understanding. The procedures developed are applied in experimental computer
programs for automated extraction of data from texts and in natural language
front ends for database construction and querying. The integration of these two
theories of discourse should make possible considerable more powerful
techniques for discourse understanding then have so far been applied to computer
processing of natural language.
_____
IST-8645348
$49,211 - 12 mos.
Donald E. Nute
University of Georgia
Hypothetical Reasoning and Logic Programming
- - -
This research uses work in the area of philosophical logic to enhance the
theoretical basis of logic programming systems. Non-classical intensional
conditional logic is used to represent subjunctive conditionals and reason about
them nonmonotonically. The theoretical results are incorporated into two
existing logic programming systems, PROWESS and N-PROLOG. The significance
of this research is in its potential for improving the techniques of knowledge
representation and automated reasoning used in artificial intelligence systems,
such as expert systems.
_____
IST-8642477
$86,969 - 12 mos.
Robert N. Oddy
Syracuse University
Representations for Anomalous States of Knowledge in Information Retrieval
- - -
A major goal of information retrieval research is the discovery of effective
ways of identifying the relatively few documents in a large collection which an
inquirer will find useful in solving a problem. The ASK (Anomalous State of
Knowledge) hypothesis is that an information need arises from an anomaly in an
individual's state of knowledge and that in many cases a user can not specify
what is needed to resolve the anomaly. This project investigates
representations of ASK's by collecting statements from system users, analyzing
them automatically, comparing the representations to the perceptions of the
users, and determining the relationship between them and the structures of both
individual documents and collections of documents. The implications of the
results for strategy choices in information retrieval systems are also
considered. The significance of this research lies in its potential to improve the
performance of information retrieval systems.
_____
IST-8609201
$44,905 - 12 mos.
Daniel Osherson
Syracuse University
A Computational Approach to Decision-Making
- - -
The purpose of this collaborative research is to develop a theory of how humans
make decisions. The theory is developed as a computational theory, using the
representations and processes currently prevalent in cognitive science and
artificial intelligence research. The theory explains the formation of complex
concepts. Additionally, it accounts for people's incorrect estimates of the
likelihood with which events will occur. The theory is tested through
psychological experimentation. Knowledge about how people make decisions and
estimate probabilities is useful to all decision makers. Additionally, a
computational theory of the process allows the development of computer based
decision-making aids.
_____
IST-8544976
$197,055 - 12 mos.
Charles Parsons and Isaac Levi
Columbia University
The Structure of Information in Science: Fact Formulas and Discussion
Structures in Related Subsciences
- - -
The purpose of this research is to develop a method for reducing the information
contained in a scientific article including data presentations, discussions, and
conclusions to a system of formulas adequate to describe the information for any
given subscience. This system of formulas can be regarded as a "grammar" or
informational structure of a subscience. This work is possible because methods
now exist for studying the word-combinations in scientific writing, which carry
almost all the information in science. This permits the discovery of
fact-structures, argument structures, and the relation of facts to arguments and
the like. These methods are not semantic. Because they are based on observed
work-combinations they are objective, testable by others, applicable in the real
world, and eventually amenable to computer processing. The reduction of the
information to formulas has many advantages for computerized information
storage, manipulation, and retrieval besides the obvious one of reduced storage
space. It will permit the manipulation of the information in order to retrieve
facts, inferences, and hypotheses not previously possible. The significance of
this work lies in its ability to provide a basis for the computer processing of the
specific information in scientific reports. The research team including Zellig
Harris have made numerous and important contributions to the field and the
environment at Columbia provides a supportive setting for such research.
_____
IST-8642841
$12,000 - 12 mos.
William J. Rapaport
State University of New York - System Office
Logical Foundations for Belief Representation
- - -
This research investigates the theoretical foundation for the design of computer
systems capable of representing and reasoning about the cognitive attitudes of
intelligent agents. The agents include users, other artificial intelligence
systems, and the system itself. The cognitive attitudes include beliefs,
knowledge, goals, and desires. Particular attention is given to the ability to
handle nested beliefs and self-referential beliefs. The theoretical approach
used is based upon recent work in philosophical logic. The significance of this
research lies in its contribution to the development of intelligent computer
based systems.
_____
IST-8644984
$62,500 - 12 mos.
James A. Reggia
University of Maryland at College Park
Presidential Young Investigator Award: Abductive Inference Models in Artificial
Intelligence
- - -
Abductive inference refers to a mode of reasoning in which a plausible solution
to a problem is derived from related knowledge on a nondeductive basis. A
domain-independent model of abductive inference, parsimonious covering, is
proposed. The theory of parsimonious covering is being extended to address a
number of issues not currently handled, including causal chaining, hierarchial
knowledge structures, and certainty measures. The use of this theory in
diagnostic expert systems and other artificial intelligence systems is being
evaluated by measuring performance on real-world problems and by assessing
the ability of the systems to model human reasoning. The significance of this
research is in its potential to improve the performance of intelligent
computer-based systems.
_____
IST-8644983
$123,221 - 12 mos.
Whitman A. Richards
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Natural Computation: A Computational Approach to Visual Information
Processing
- - -
Natural computation is the study of how man can derive reliable representations
of useful aspects of his environment. These representations may be visual,
auditory, or consist of programs for touch sensing and motor control. At
present, the data under study are the vast arrays of image intensities cast upon
the eye or camera. Given these data, the task is to derive rather simple but
reliable descriptions of objects and events in a three-dimensional world. The
problems involve choice of representation, constraint analysis and explicit
implementation (algorithm) to show that reliable and efficient descriptions can
indeed be computed. The research may be divided roughly into four general
problem areas: (1) 3D surface reconstruction; (2) property-based
representations, (3) integrating depth maps obtained from stereo,
structure-from-notion, and shading; and (4) computing spatial relations between
"parts" and their combination into "object" representations. The significance
of this research is that it will help provide a basic understanding of the
issues involved in the very difficult problem of computer vision.
_____
IST-8604530
$49,953 - 12 mos.
Fred S. Roberts
Rutgers University
Scales of Measurement and the Limitations they Place on Information Processing
- - -
Information processing relies fundamentally on the process of quantification:
Events in the real world must be translated into numbers and other symbols.
These symbols (information) can then be transformed and otherwised processed
by computers and other information processing systems. This research is a
mathematical investigation of how that critical first step, quantification,
limits and influences the way in which information can be used. In particular,
the ways in which different quantifications can lead to different conclusions in
decision making are analyzed. This research is significant as a foundation for
information science. Too often, existing quantifications are taken for granted
in information science or decision analysis, without any theoretical insight as
to the range of significant alternatives.
_____
IST-8603407
$27,000 - 12 mos.
Robert D. Rodman
North Carolina State University
Dialog Processing for Voice Interactive Problem Solving
(see description of award to Biermann)
_____
IST-8640925
$198,800 - 12 mos.
Naomi Sager
New York University
Language As a Database Structure
- - -
The proposal is based on past work of the Principal Investigator and associates,
which include: the development of a computer grammar and program for
analyzing free-text documents and converting their contents into a structured
form; methods of identifying the fact-structures and text- wide regularities in
specific subject domains ("sublanguages"); and experimental results in mapping
the computer-structured textual information into databases of the network and
relational types. The database experiments showed that certain necessary
features of language information did not fit the existing models. This result,
along with the accumulated knowledge of the major mechanisms of language
information, have led to this project to develop a new database model in which
the informational relations of language have a direct correspondence in
constructs of the model. Using the techniques of database design, generalized
Linguistic Schemata (LS's) will be developed for sample computer-structured
language databases; the LS's will be specified in a Linguistic Schemata
Decription Language (LSDL) to be designed for this purpose. Implementation of
some of the schema elements will be undertaken in the form of enhancements to
a relational data model, in particular, for treating the recursive connective
structure of language information and the time-order relations in narrative.
------------------------------
END OF IRList Digest
********************
