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Università degli studi di Udine
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This research project is aimed at developing cognitively plausible models
of competent problem solving behavior in engineering domains.
The approach we followed (called Multimodeling) is based on the key idea of
considering the task of reasoning about a physical system as a cooperative
activity which exploits the contribution of many diverse models each one
encompassing a specific type of knowledge (e.g. structural, behavioral,
functional teleological) and representation. In this frame several critical
problems have been studied, including the identification of a set of
independent "dimensions" that could be used to characterize the space of
possible model,the design of a general framework suitable for supporting
multiple models, the representation languages appropriate for the various
models, the specific tasks that can be performed within each model, and the
identification of cooperation strategies which can be used in order to
integrate the contributions of the different models into the overall
problem solving process.
Particular attention has been devoted to the
investigation of the role that interpretative (i.e. functional and
teleological) models have in diagnostic reasoning and to the model
selection problem, namely how to choose the most appropriate model when the
model base contain models that compete as the basis for performing a task
or for constructing an answer to a question about the modelled system.
Current research work is aimed at applying the Multimodeling approach to
the design of ecological interfaces for supporting decisionmaking in the
operational control of complex process plants.