Critiquing Systems for Decision Support
Abstract
The purpose of this document is to provide a general introduction to critiquing systems and to discuss their particularities as decision support tools. Critiquing systems (critics) are software programs that take the problem description and the user s partial or final result as inputs and provide a critique of the user-proposed solution as output. This specific type of human-computer interaction, and the fact that critics can operate with limited knowledge, makes these systems very appropriate for open-ended domains where it is impractical to embed complete knowledge or where users are unwilling to cede decision-making. This report provides definitions of critiquing and related concepts; describes the general mechanisms of critiquing systems; examines the adequacy of the critiquing approach with regard to the nature of user tasks and application domains; presents the different intervention strategies used by software critics as well as their user perception; discusses the user-adaptation of critiques and the joint use of critiques and explanation/argumentation; and finally identifies the distinctive features of critiquing systems in terms of cognitive support, which comprise transfer of decision control to the user, collaborative problem-solving, and detection and correction of errors and biases.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA605035
Entities
People
- H. Irandoust
Organizations
- DRDC Valcartier