Discusses what can be learned from and what should be expected from artificial intelligence research. Focuses on: (1) expert systems; (2) natural language processing; and (3) image processing. (JN)

This paper presents a cognitive account of both the advantages and disadvantages of direct manipulation interfaces, i.e., the use of icons to manipulate and interact directly with data rather than writing programs or calling on a set of statistical subroutines. Two underlying phenomena that give rise to the sensation of directness are identified.…

Discusses the "Regressive Imagery Dictionary," a computerized content analysis technique for evaluating primary process thought in natural language texts. Describes its use in evaluating the King James Bible. Reports that findings are consistent with a fifth degree polynomial function, as suggested by one model of spiritual development…

Reviews research on interactive computer learning. Examines the extent to which learner-computer interaction and learner-learner interaction can interfere with or support one another. Finds that viewing collaborative learning as joint negotiation of a common problem helps to define optimal characteristics of educational software. (CFR)

Artificial Intelligence researchers and cognitive scientists commonly believe that thinking involves manipulating representations. Thinking involves search, inference, and making choices. This is how we model reasoning and what goes on in the brain is similar. Winograd and Flores present a radically different view, claiming that our knowledge is…

Examines the teacher's role in computer-based problem solving using sixth grade students and a computer program called Rocky's Boots. Ways in which the program could be used in thinking skills programs are discussed, program improvements are suggested, and teacher intervention is identified as a critical element in computer-based training. (LRW)

This paper discusses a model of information storage and retrieval, the k-d tree (Bentley, 1975), a binary, hierarchical tree with multiple associate terms, which has been explored in computer research, and it is suggested that this model could be useful for describing human cognition. Included are two models of human long-term memory--networks and…

Discusses current use of psychological theory in software science and reviews recent developments in cognitive psychology relevant to programing (human information processing, expert-novice differences). Critique of Maurice Halstead's model of cognitive aspects of programing and a structured data flow perspective (control flow and data flow…

This report incorporates a literature review, a workshop paper, and discussion by workshop participants on the current status of research on what the users of computer systems know, and how these different forms of knowledge fit together in learning and performance. It is noted that such research is important to the problem of designing systems…

This paper, which addresses the issue of representation as an internal construct corresponding to an external abstract configuration, attempts to extend A. A. DiSessa's phenomenological primitives to mathematics (particularly to the notion of circle). Various acceptations of the word representation are examined, using the notion of a circle as an…

In an increasingly technological society, there is a social need for designing communication technology around the perceptual abilities and cognitive strategies of people. A growing demand for information has created additional pressure on emerging communication technologies to provide electronic alternatives to the printed page. Design depends…

The question of whether human thinking can come to simulate computer intelligence--i.e., AI in reverse--is addressed in this paper. Examples are given of three computer tools which perform several functions that constitute an intellectual partnership between student and tool. Such functions include: (1) assuming part of the intellectual burden in…

The concept of "structured programming" was developed to facilitate software production, but it has not carried over to documentation design. Two concepts of structure are relevant to user documentation for computer programs. The first is based on programming techniques that emphasize decomposition of tasks into discrete modules, while the second…

This document reports on the first year of the STACI (Systems Thinking and Curriculum Innovation) project, a two-year project which is examining the cognitive demands and consequences of using the STELLA (Structural Thinking Experimental Learning Laboratory with Animation) software to teach systems thinking, content knowledge, and problem solving.…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the field of scientific inquiry concerned with designing machine systems that can simulate human mental processes. The field draws upon theoretical constructs from a wide variety of disciplines, including mathematics, psychology, linguistics, neurophysiology, computer science, and electronic engineering. Some of the…