A new heuristic factorization scheme uses learning to improve the efficiency of determining the symbolic factorization of multivariable polynomials with interger coefficients and an arbitrary number of variables and terms. The factorization scheme makes extensive use of artificial intelligence techniques (e.g., model-building, learning, and…

The first part of this four-part dissertation reviews conceptual and operational approaches to human communication systems. A new conceptual model for studying communication, General Algorithm for Studying Structuring in Complex Systems (GASSICS), is developed in the second part, and an operational method for applying GASSICS is presented in part…

Reviews the different types of models that can be used in groundwater modeling. Discusses the flow and contaminant transport models in the saturated zone, flow and contaminant transport in variably saturated flow regime, vapor transport, biotransformation models, multiphase models, optimization algorithms, and potentials pitfalls of using these…

Four discussions of test construction based on item response theory (IRT) are presented. The first discussion, "Test Design as Model Building in Mathematical Programming" (T. J. J. M. Theunissen), presents test design as a decision process under certainty. A natural way of modeling this process leads to mathematical programming. General…

This module is designed to apply mathematical models to nuclear deterrent problems, and to aid users in developing enlightened skepticism about the use of linear models in stability analyses and long-term predictions. An attempt is made at avoiding overwhelming complexities through concentration on land-based missile forces. It is noted that after…

The problem of structuring sequences of instructional stimuli such that learning is optimized is modelled as a sequential decision problem with an imbedded mathematical model of learning providing a criterion function. Three types of optimization methods for such a representation are investigated for the specific case of paired-associate learning…