1989/01/01 by Allan Collins, Ryszard S. Michalski · 1 citation
Computer Science · #Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge #Semantic Web and Ontologies #Bayesian Modeling and Causal Inference
paper · pdf · doi:10.1207/s15516709cog1301_1
openalex publication_date 1989/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
The paper presents a core theory of human plausible reasoning based on analysis of people's answers to everyday questions about the world. The theory consists of three parts: a formal representation of plausible inference patterns; such as deductions, inductions, and analogies, that are frequently employed in answering everyday questions; a set of parameters, such as conditional likelihood, typicality, and similarity, that affect the certainty of people's answers to such questions; and a system relating the different plausible inference patterns and the different certainty parameters. This is one of the first attempts to construct a formal theory that addresses both the semantic and parametric aspects of the kind of everyday reasoning that pervades. all of human discourse.